Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres · National
The Bill Messenger Scholarship
About this award
The Bill Messenger Scholarship — one of the awards funded by Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres for Indigenous students, administered through Indspire's Building Brighter Futures Bursaries & Scholarships portal. Specific eligibility and award amount details are not posted as a dedicated block on the public Indspire sponsor page; apply via the central Indspire portal and consult Indspire / Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres for full criteria.
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, evaluated against all 360+ Indspire funding pools (including this one). The award is open to Indigenous (First Nations status / non-status, Inuit, or Métis) students; 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. Three Indspire deadlines per year (August 1, November 1, February 1) cover fall, winter, and spring entry cycles; one application is good for any deadline you select. 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. See those entries on FundMyCourse.ca.
Can you get it?
- Indigenous — citizenship requirement
- Post Secondary — study level
- Resident of ON — provincial eligibility
How to apply
Review eligibility and gather your documents~1 hour
Read the official award page end-to-end. Confirm you meet every requirement before you start.
Request your official transcript1–2 weeks
Order through your school registrar — allow 1–2 weeks.
Collect reference letters2 weeks
Give your referees at least two weeks' notice and share your résumé.
Draft and revise your essays~10 hours
Use the STAR framework. Be specific, show impact, proofread twice.
Submit by Aug 1, 2026~1 hour
Double-check every field, save a copy, and submit at least 24 hours early.
More details
Apply through Indspire's Building Brighter Futures Bursaries & Scholarships portal at indspire.ca — one consolidated application is matched against this award and 360+ other Indspire funding pools.
Three deadlines per year (August 1, November 1, February 1) — pick the cycle aligned with your fall, winter, or spring term.
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.