Federal budget: Indspire receives $10 million for bursaries and scholarships for Indigenous students

TORONTO, March 22, 2013 /CNW/ - The Government of Canada's 2013 budget, presented in Parliament yesterday, contains great news for Indigenous youth across Canada.  The $10 million for Indspire's Building Brighter Futures program, announced by Finance Minister Jim Flaherty, will help thousands of students acquire the education and skills they need to participate in their communities and the Canadian economy.

Roberta L. Jamieson, President and CEO of Indspire, said "Education, skills training and viable careers are of great concern to Indigenous youth. This new investment in Indspire makes it clear that the prosperity of the country is inextricably tied to change for Indigenous education."

"Indspire has been very successful in developing funding partnerships with Canadian corporations, many of which operate in Indigenous communities." said Jamieson.  And, "With the federal government's commitment of $10 million and its endorsement of Indspire's plan to match the funding with investment from the private sector, we'll be able to provide a total of $20 million in new funding for students."

Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries and Scholarship Awards is Indspire's funding program to assist Indigenous students with their education needs.  To date, Building Brighter Futures has awarded more than $50 million in bursaries and scholarship awards to 14,000 First Nation, Inuit and Métis recipients across Canada.

In 2011-2012, Indspire's Building Brighter Futures program provided a record $6,205,100 to 2,220 individual recipients.  Of this amount, the Government of Canada contributed just over $3.8 million.  Jamieson said, "The needs of students are great. In 2011-2012 we met roughly 20% of the identified need from applicants to the program. This sizeable investment from the federal government is a big step in the right direction."

The budget document also acknowledged Indspire's effectiveness, noting, "Indspire, led by Roberta Jamieson, has a proven track record of success, providing scholarships to over 2,200 Aboriginal students annually and raising significant support from a range of corporate donors to help support student success."

About Indspire

Indspire is the former National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation. Its new name combines the key notions of Indigenous and inspiration to highlight its exciting mandate. Indspire is best-known for its many programs that help Indigenous youth succeed. In addition to bursaries and scholarships, Indspire offers career conferences for youth, interactive classroom learning modules, the Indspire Institute and the Indspire Awards. Indspire's focus is on supporting, innovating, and fundamentally transforming Indigenous education. To date, Indspire has provided more than $50M in funding through its Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries and Scholarship Awards.  In 2011-2012, the program provided a record $6,205,100 to 2,220 individual recipients.

SOURCE: National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation

Media Inquiries:
John Ecker, Vice President, Community & Media Relations
Indspire
(B) 416.987.0260
(C) 647.408.5044