The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was a private, independent organization created by an act of the
Parliament of Canada
The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
in 1998. It received an initial endowment of $2.5 billion from the federal government to provide awards annually for ten years. The foundation distributed $325 million in the form of bursaries and scholarships each year throughout
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
in support of
post-secondary education
Tertiary education, also referred to as third-level, third-stage or post-secondary education, is the educational level following the completion of secondary education. The World Bank, for example, defines tertiary education as including univers ...
. As well, the foundation conducted research into post-secondary access, via the Millennium Research Program.
Overview
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was created by an Act of Parliament in 1998 by the then
Liberal
Liberal or liberalism may refer to:
Politics
* a supporter of liberalism
** Liberalism by country
* an adherent of a Liberal Party
* Liberalism (international relations)
* Sexually liberal feminism
* Social liberalism
Arts, entertainment and m ...
government under
Jean Chrétien
Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien (; born January 11, 1934) is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 20th prime minister of Canada from 1993 to 2003.
Born and raised in Shawinigan Falls, Quebec, Chrétien is a law graduate from Uni ...
. Branded as Canada's way to marking the new millennium, the Foundation was endowed with CAD$2.5 billion and was given the mandate to 1) improve access to post-secondary education for all Canadians, especially those facing economic or social barriers, to 2) encourage a high level of student achievement and engagement in Canadian society; and to 3) build a national alliance of organizations and individuals around a shared post-secondary agenda.
Since 2000, the Foundation delivered more than half a million bursaries and scholarships worth more than $1.5 billion to students across Canada. Its two best-known scholarship programs were:
* The Millennium Bursary Program, which targeted students with the greatest financial need.
* The Millennium Excellence Award Program, which provided scholarships based on merit (including leadership, innovation, academic achievement and
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performed ...
). Separate sets of awards were provided to entrance and in-course post-secondary students.
Millennium Bursary Program
The Millennium Bursary Program represented 95% of the awards distributed by the Foundation. The value of the Foundation's millennium bursaries was approximately $3,000 on average, but ranged from $1,000 to $4,993.
Millennium Excellence
The Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation also issued merit-based scholarships through its Millennium Excellence Awards Program to deserving youths entering post-secondary studies for the first time. Laureates of these awards all exhibited excellence in community involvement, innovation, leadership and academic achievement. The MEAP was unique because of its Canada-wide reach - whether a student lived in a major metropolitan area or in a remote village, anyone could apply and be evaluated based on their contribution to their community. Excellence Awards represented only 5% of the total scholarship sum awarded by the Foundation. More than 10,000 Excellence Awards were issued since 2000.
Laureates were invited to participate in regional or national conferences hosted by the Foundation. Laureates also had access to project seed money through the Millennium Grants Program.
The Excellence Awards were divided into two groups, the Entrance Awards geared towards students entering their first year of post-secondary education, and the In-Course Awards for those already enrolled in post-secondary studies.
Entrance Awards
As of 2008, there were three different levels of Entrance Awards:
* Local awards: one-time awards of $4,500
* Provincial/territorial awards: $16,000 award, disbursed in annual allotments
* National awards: $20,000 award, disbursed in annual allotments
In-Course Awards
As of 2008, there were three different level of In-Course Awards
* Up to 100 awards of $5,000, renewable for up to one additional year, for a total of $10,000
* Up to 200 awards of $4,000, renewable for up to one additional year, for a total of $8,000
* Up to 900 one-time awards of $4,500.
Exceptional laureates were also allowed to apply for an additional Millennium grant of $2,500 towards a community building project.
Millennium Research Program
The
Millennium Research Program {{prose, date=October 2015
The Millennium Research Program of the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation was launched in 2001 to assist the Foundation in carrying out its mandate to improve access to post-secondary education in Canada and provide ...
was launched in 2001 to assist the Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation in carrying out its mandate to improve access to post-secondary education in Canada and provide students with the educational opportunities they need to prepare themselves for the future. The Research Program advanced the study of barriers to post-secondary education and the impact of policies and programs designed to alleviate them. It ensured that policy-making and public discussion about opportunities in higher education in Canada were informed by rigorous analysis and empirical evidence.
Dissolution and legacy
In February 2008, the federal government decided not to renew the CMSF at the end of its 10-year mandate. It was replaced with the Canada Student Grants Program, which will distribute $350 million per year to post-secondary education students. Much controversy has come to light since the government has announced this program, in which 250,000 students will now benefit per year, as opposed to the approximately 100,000 that are receiving money from the CMSF. Although the amount of money that the federal government will be putting towards post-secondary education has not changed dramatically, the average student award decreased from about $3000 per year to about $1250 per year.
Before the decision was made, Canada's two largest national post-secondary student organizations, the
Canadian Federation of Students
The Canadian Federation of Students (CFS) is the largest student organization in Canada, representing over 530,000 students from across Canada. Formed in 1981, the stated goal of the Federation is to represent the collective voice of Canadian st ...
(CFS) and the
Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
The Canadian Alliance of Student Associations (CASA) is a federally focused student advocacy organization. CASA currently has 24 members, who represent over 275,000 students from across Canada. With a formal partnership with the Quebec Student Un ...
(CASA), took dramatically different views on the fund's future. While CASA fully endorsed the foundation's renewal, on the basis that non-renewal would constitute a significant cut to student financial assistance, the CFS had called for the organization to be replaced with a system of grants based purely on financial need. After the announcement was made, the CFS noted that the new grant program was just "splitting the same amount of grant money among more students".
CanWest News Service: New student grant program has little new money; February 26, 2008
The Millennium Excellence Awards Program, the merit-based component of the scholarship program, was not renewed, thus ending one of the two Canada-wide merit scholarships in existence, with only the Loran Scholars Foundation
Founded in Toronto in 1988, the Loran Scholars Foundation is a national charitable organization awarding scholarships for students entering university in Canada. Loran Scholars receive the country's largest undergraduate merit award on the basis o ...
remaining. However, as of 2009, alumni of the MEAP founded the Millennium Network
A millennium (plural millennia or millenniums) is a period of one thousand years, sometimes called a kiloannus, kiloannum (ka), or kiloyear (ky). Normally, the word is used specifically for periods of a thousand years that begin at the starting ...
, a non-profit organization that is part alumni association, part community action group that aims to help build capacity of existing community actors.
See also
* Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation
Founded in Toronto in 1988, the Loran Scholars Foundation is a national charitable organization awarding scholarships for students entering university in Canada. Loran Scholars receive the country's largest undergraduate merit award on the basis o ...
(Awarded to up to 30 students every year)
* Higher education in Canada
Higher education in Canada includes provincial, territorial, indigenous and military higher education systems.
Higher education systems in Canada
In Canada, the constitutional responsibility for higher education primarily rests with the provi ...
* National Merit Scholarship
The National Merit Scholarship Program is a United States academic scholarship competition for recognition and university scholarships administered by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC), a privately funded, not-for-profit organizati ...
(US equivalent)
References
{{Reflist
External links
Canada Millennium Scholarship Foundation
(defunct)
* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20100404020854/http://www.millenniumnetwork.ca/ Millennium Network(defunct)
Scholarships in Canada
Higher education in Canada
Government scholarships