The Bill Messenger Scholarship

What you will need

• ✓ Indspire Building Brighter Futures consolidated online application via indspire.ca
• ✓ Indigenous registration: a copy of the front and back of your valid Status Card, First Nation membership or citizenship card, Métis card, or Inuit enrolment card
• ✓ Acceptance / enrolment letter from a recognized Canadian post-secondary institution

About this award

The Bill Messenger Scholarship is one of the Indigenous-student awards funded by Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres and administered through Indspire's Building Brighter Futures Bursaries & Scholarships program. Indspire is the largest non-government funder of Indigenous post-secondary education in Canada — every Indspire award uses one consolidated student application, considered for all of Indspire's bursaries and scholarships (including this one). The award is open to First Nations, Inuit and Métis students who can prove registration, as Indspire's policy requires; specific eligibility criteria for The Bill Messenger Scholarship (program level, field of study, school, year, GPA threshold, residency, or community-of-origin requirements) are not posted as a dedicated block on the public indspirefunding.ca sponsor page — students should consult Indspire and Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres directly for the full criteria before applying. This award has one deadline a year, August 1. Sibling awards funded by the same Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres sponsorship include: Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres Strong Women Scholarship; Sylvia Maracle Bursary.

Who qualifies

Open to First Nations, Inuit and Métis students who are Canadian citizens and can prove registration: a Status Card, a membership or citizenship card from a First Nation that keeps its own membership list, enrolment in one of the four Inuit land claims, or a card from one of the seven Métis registries Indspire accepts. Self-identification alone is not enough. Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres sets the specific criteria for this award (program level, school, field of study, year of study, residency, community-of-origin, or other requirements). Check this award's own page on indspirefunding.ca for them before you apply. Apply via the central Indspire Building Brighter Futures portal; Indspire matches your single consolidated application to this award and any other Indspire pool you qualify for. Confirm your specific eligibility with Indspire and Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres before applying.

This is what the award's official page said when we last checked. Rules change, so confirm on the award's official page before you apply.

• ✓ Resident of Ontario

How to apply

1. 1

   Read the award's official page

   Check you meet every requirement, and note each document they ask for.

2. 2

   Submit your application

   Save a copy, and submit at least a day before the deadline shown above.

Tips for applying

• Apply through Indspire's Building Brighter Futures Bursaries & Scholarships portal at indspire.ca — one consolidated application is matched with this award and Indspire's other funding pools. One deadline per year (August 1) — have your application in before it. Because the public Indspire page does not post The Bill Messenger Scholarship's specific eligibility as a dedicated block, contact Indspire (1-855-INDSPIRE) or Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres directly before applying to confirm you meet the criteria — saves you a wasted submission. FundMyCourse.ca lists the related sibling awards funded by Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres as separate entries — check those for adjacent pools you may also qualify for.

Questions students ask

Similar awards

• Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship CentresOntario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres Strong Women Scholarship
• Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship CentresSylvia Maracle Bursary