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Canada Millennium Scholarships

The key to growth and jobs in the years ahead is access to knowledge and skills. If Canadians are to prosper and achieve high living standards in the 21st century, then they must be equipped to fill the jobs of tomorrow.

This government believes that there is no better investment in the future than investments in education, knowledge and innovation. That is why it is making the single largest investment ever by a federal government to support access to post-secondary education for all Canadians -- the Canada Millennium Scholarships.

Helping 100,000 Students Annually

The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation will manage an initial endowment of $2.5 billion and provide scholarships to more than 100,000 Canadians annually, beginning in the year 2000.

• Scholarships will be awarded to persons who need help financing their studies and who demonstrate merit.
• For full-time students, scholarships will average $3,000 a year; part-time students will also be eligible.
• Scholarships will be available for up to four academic years (or 32 months) of study towards undergraduate degrees, diplomas or certificates.
• Individuals can receive up to $15,000 -- reducing the debt load many recipients would otherwise incur by over half.
• Awards will help recipients of scholarships to study away from home, particularly outside their province, and support limited terms of study abroad.

An Arm's-Length Foundation

• Legislation will be introduced to create the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation as an independent body to manage the endowment and to award scholarships.
• The Foundation will be managed by a board of directors comprised of private citizens, at least one of whom will be a student. The Council of Ministers of Education, Canada -- representing provincial governments as well as the post-secondary education community -- will have a role in identifying directors.
• The Foundation will decide how best to design the scholarships within the mandate they are given by legislation. It will also have the discretion to adjust the average amounts of scholarships over time, as well as the total a person can receive.
• Once established, the Foundation will consult closely with provincial governments and the education community on the design and delivery of the scholarships. The goal will be: to award scholarships by the Foundation to individuals in a manner that avoids duplication with any province, to build on existing provincial needs assessment processes, to complement existing provincial programs and, most importantly, to significantly increase access to post-secondary education everywhere in Canada for low- and middle-income students.
• The Foundation will have the authority, subject to mutually agreed needs, merit and mobility criteria, to contract with appropriate provincial authorities for the selection of those recipients in a province to whom the Foundation will award Canada Millennium Scholarships.

Opportunities for Canadians of All Ages

Canadians of all ages -- studying full- or part-time in publicly funded universities, community colleges, vocational and technical institutes and CEGEPs -- will be eligible for scholarships.

Building Canada for the 21st Century -- The Canadian Opportunities Strategy

Canada Millennium Scholarships are part of the Canadian Opportunities Strategy designed to make knowledge and skills more accessible so that Canadians are better able to find and keep jobs that deliver higher standards of living in the 21st century. The Strategy takes action on seven fronts to:

• promote access to post-secondary education by helping students in financial need cope with rising costs;
• increase assistance for advanced research and for graduate students undertaking research;
• help individuals repaying student loans -- especially those in financial hardship;
• help Canadians upgrade their skills throughout their working lives;
• help families save for their children's education;
• encourage employers to hire young Canadians and help young people make the transition to work; and
• help bring the benefits of information technology into more classrooms and communities across Canada.

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