Introducing Indspire: Programs, Scholarships, and Resources for Indigenous Students

If you're an Indigenous student in Canada, you need to check out Indspire, an Indigenous national charity.

Are you an indigenous student interested in post-secondary education? Finding funding to help you pay for school, and resources to help you succeed in your education, can be challenging, time consuming, and intimidating. So, Indspire wants to help you. Whether you’ve chosen to go to university or college, they provide resources and scholarship opportunities for you!

What is Indspire?

Indspire is an Indigenous national charity organization that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit, and Métis people. Indspire teams up with funding partners to offer financial awards, programs, and resources with the goal of increasing the graduation rates of Indigenous students. They want you to achieve your highest potential.

Indspire programs

Let’s take a closer look at a couple of the programs Indspire offers:

Rivers to Success: Indigenous Student Mentorship

Intended for First Nations, Inuit, or Métis people, the Rivers to Success: Indigenous Student Mentorship program will give you access to advice, tips and tricks, support, and valuable connections as you pursue your education or career journey. There are three streams of mentorship depending on where you are in your life. Find out which one is for you and what you can expect:

High school

If you’re a high school student in grade 10-12, you can make connections with other students and get advice on how to get to graduation. In this program, you’ll get:

• Quality mentorship in a group setting
• Ongoing support from facilitators such as Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and educators as well as other students in your cohort
• Online resources
• Helpful feedback on essential skills: tips for good study habits, advice about school/home/friends/work balance, choosing the right college or university, and more!

Post-secondary

If you’re in grade 12 and have just been accepted to university or college, or you’re currently in post-secondary studies, then the post-secondary stream is for you to make connection with other students. You’ll receive help like:

• Quality one-on-one mentorship
• Opportunities to connect with other students in similar situations as you
• Ongoing support from facilitators such as Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and educators as well as other students in your cohort
• Online resources
• Practice with essential skills — think study techniques, job interviewing tips, advice about school/home/friends/work balance, and more!

Career transition

If you’re about to graduate and enter the workforce, then the career transition stream will connect you with a mentor who can provide support and advice. Here’s what you can expect:

• Quality one-on-one mentorship
• Opportunities to connect with other students
• Ongoing support from facilitators including Elders, Knowledge Keepers, and educators, as well as other students in your cohort
• Online resources
• Practice at essential skills — think job-hunting advice, interview tips, good habits to help you with personal finances, guidance with career/life balance, and more!

Teach for Tomorrow

Teach for Tomorrow: Indigenous Educator Apprenticeship Program is a partnership between Indspire, Winnipeg School Division (WSD), and the University of Winnipeg’s Faculty of Education. If you’re a First Nations, Inuit, or Métis student in the Winnipeg School Division and you want to become a teacher, then this program is for you!

While in high school, you’ll take college level courses to become certified as an Education Assistant. This will help you gain access to the Bachelor of Education and Arts degrees at the University of Winnipeg. You’ll be inspiring and enriching the next generation of students in no time!

Scholarship opportunities

Those programs are not all that Indspire offers Indigenous students. They also provide financial support for students across Canada to assist them in completing their post-secondary education. Since 1996, Indspire’s Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries, Scholarships, and Awards program has offered more than 59,000 scholarships to students worth over $190 million!

Hear from a previous Indspire bursary winner how the scholarship program helped her:

So, whether you’re a full-time or part-time student in college, university, skilled trades, apprenticeships, or technology programs, there’s a scholarship for you. The best part is you only need to complete one application to be considered for most of Indspire’s scholarships. This application is due August 1, November 1, and February 1 at 11:59pm ET. However, a few scholarships may have a different deadline, so keep your eye out!

Check out one of the many scholarships they offer:

Horatio Alger Indigenous Achievement Scholarship

Award amount: $2,500

You can receive the Horatio Alger Indigenous Achievement Scholarship if you’re a First Nation, Inuit, or Métis student entering your first year of a four-year Canadian university or college program. in the fall. You must be a full-time grade 12 student in a Canadian high school when you apply and your home Indigenous community is in the Northwest or Yukon Territories, or Nunavut.

Indspire wants to enrich Canada through Indigenous education and inspire achievement. So, if you’re an Indigenous student in Canada, then you should take advantage of the programs and resources that Indspire provides.