Click here for a printable guide on how to access funds for your education.
There are four basic sources of money for school:
- Student loans
- Funding
- Internal Awards
- External Awards
Student Loans
A student loan is money that can be used for tuition, books and living expenses. Student loans can come from the government or the banks and it has to be paid back.
Government Loans (Manitoba and Canada Student Loans)
- don’t have to be paid back until after you graduate and generally have a much lower interest rate
- are only paid out once or twice a year
- you automatically apply for various grants (money you don’t have to pay back) at the same time
Manitoba Student Aid provides funding for Manitoba residents. To see if you are eligible, go to: www.manitobastudentaid.ca Maximum assistance is $350 per week of study. Assistance is based on financial need. Repayment begins six months after completion of your studies.
Contact the Manitoba Student Aid office:
Room 401-1181 Portage Avenue
Winnipeg, MB R3G 0T3
(204)945-6321
Rick Lavallee
Manitoba Student Aid
Aboriginal Liaison / Consultant
(204) 945-6339 / 1-800-204-1685
[email protected]
The Canada Student Loans website takes you on a step by step process to help you determine what type of funding is most appropriate for you:
http://www.canlearn.ca/engindex.shtml
Maximum assistance if $210 per week of study. Repayment begins six months after your academic program ends.
Bank Loans
- have to be paid back regularly and have higher interest rates
- are available all the time
- bank loans do not have any grants
Funding
Funding is when you can apply for and potentially receive a regular living allowance, plus tuition and books. Funding comes from an organization. In the case of First Nations students it may come from their bands. Métis students may get it from the Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF). Other students may get it from Employment Insurance.
Funding does not have to be paid back. It varies according to student need, financial ability of the organization and other criteria.
MMF Funding
The MMF delivers a training program on behalf ot the federal government. As part of this program, the MMF can offer funding to students who are Aboriginal students. This includes Métis students, Inuit students and First Nations students who are not Indians under the Indian Act (i.e. not Treaty). There are a variety of eligibility requirements. Please contact the MMF for more information. To apply for funding, call the Education / Employment Counsellor in your region.
Education/Employment Counsellors listed by region:
Winnipeg Region
Winnipeg Métis Association Inc.
412 McGregor St., Wpg, MB, R2W 4X5
Ph: 204-589-4327 or Fax: 204-582-2711
Employment / Education Counsellors
Jacquie McLeod [email protected]
Cathy Buors [email protected]
Interlake Region
Interlake Métis Association Inc.
P.O. Box 390, St. Laurent, MB, R0C 2S0
Ph: 204-646-2706 or Fax: 204-646-4171
Empl/Educ Counsellor – Karen Kosten
[email protected]
Northwest Region
Northwest Métis Council Inc.
40-1st Avenue N.W., Dauphin, MB, R7N 1G7
Ph: 204-638-9485 or Fax: 204-638-3878
Empl/Educ Counsellor – Shirley Mullet
[email protected]
Southeast Region
Southeast Regional Métis Corporation
Box 13, Grand Marais, MB, R0E 0T0
Ph: 204-754-2721 or Fax: 204-754-2687
Empl / Educ Counsellor: Alberta Thomas
[email protected]
Southwest Regional Office
656-6th St., Brandon, MB R7A 3P1
Ph: 204-725-7520 or Fax: 204-725-7528
Empl/Educ Counsellor: Jason Gobeil
[email protected]
The Pas Region Inc.
215-2nd Street P.O. Box 2467, The Pas, MB R9A 1M2
Ph: 204-623-5701 or Fax: 204-623-2825
Empl/Educ Counsellor: Annette Veito
[email protected]
Thompson Regional Office
171 Cree Rd., Thompson, MB R8N 0C2
Ph: 204-677-1430 or Fax: 204-677-2240
Empl/Educ Counsellor: Sandra Trottier
[email protected]
Internal Awards
These are the scholarships and bursaries that are only available to students at a particular school. If you are attending a particular University, you can’t apply for internal awards at the other universities. Each school has many internal awards to choose from and they can be found by going to the school’s website and searching “Financial Aid and Awards”. This will bring you to the awards site. Read it; find everything you are eligible for. Find your school’s Awards Office, browse the brochures and take everything you are eligible for. Ask if there is a booklet of awards or any deadlines coming up right away. Take it all and circle EVERYTHING you are eligible for. And then apply! For all of it!
External Awards
This consists of all of the other awards available outside of what the university offers. There are millions. Royal Bank, Xerox, Folklorama – all give scholarships. These awards are specific to students, not to schools, although in some cases they will only be for students at certain schools. There are many of these and it can be tricky to find them. There will be posters and brochures about these in your awards office. Also try your advisor’s office, Aboriginal Student Centres and student associations.
There are two really good websites that will help your find awards you are eligible for:
www.studentawards.com
www.scholarshipscanada.com
Both of these websites are databases. You sign up for them and enter information about yourself such as school, program, year, grades, extracurricular, ethnicity; basically anything that might be award criteria. After you have signed up, the website will search its database and bring up a list of awards you might be eligible for. It will then send you regular updates by email about new awards. All you have to do is update your information every once in a while.
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