Report on Scholarships in Canada 2022

From ScholarshipsCanada.com March 2022

We took a look into our ScholarshipsCanada.com database, which lists over 93,000 awards amassing more than $249 million in financial aid for students. So, we’ve compiled a list of the most important scholarship eligibility factors to give you a better understanding of the ScholarshipsCanada database.

The average scholarship value was $2,668, while the median scholarship value was $1,857.

The data provided below is based on the number of scholarships, not the value.

Scholarships by Field of Study

While 54% of scholarships do not require a specific field of study, the remainder break down across these 16 categories.

Medical and Health 18.1% 18.1%
Humanities and Languages 16.2% 16.2%
Business Administration 14.8% 14.8%
Engineering 10.7% 10.7%
Community Services 8.9% 8.9%
Arts – Creative 6.8% 6.8%
Natural Resources and Environment 5.6% 5.6%
Computer Studies and Math 5.0% 5.0%
Law 5.0% 5.0%
Trades and Apprenticeships 3.7% 3.7%
Research Sciences 1.8% 1.8%
Arts – Performing 1.4% 1.4%
Hospitality Industry 0.8% 0.8%
Communications 0.6% 0.6%
Business Marketing and Sales 0.5% 0.5%
Recreation 0.2% 0.2%

Scholarships by Level of Study

Most scholarships are geared towards students pursuing a Bachelor degree, with the least amount of awards available for students pursuing a post-diploma or high school diploma.

Bachelor 53.2% 53.2%
Diploma 14.8% 14.8%
Certificate 8.7% 8.7%
Master 7.2% 7.2%
Doctorate 6.7% 6.7%
Associate 5.0% 5.0%
Post-diploma 4.0% 4.0%
High School Diploma 0.3% 0.3%

Scholarships by Gender

The vast majority of awards are applicable to any gender, with 89,444 total listings. Second place goes to females, who have 2,125 awards dedicated to them.

Any 97.3% 97.3%
Female 2.3% 2.3%
Male 0.4% 0.4%

Scholarships by Non-Educational Institutions

The majority of scholarships are provided by educational institutions (63% by universities and 21% by colleges), and the remainder are provided by non-educational institutions such as governments, foundations, and companies.

Government 30.5% 30.5%
Foundation 30.1% 30.1%
Company 22.3% 22.3%
Association 14.5% 14.5%
Union 2.6% 2.6%

Scholarships by Academic Average

Believe it or not, most scholarships don’t require an academic average at all!

No average required 78.6% 78.6%
80% and above 12.8% 12.8%
Below 80% 8.6% 8.6%

Scholarships by Heritage

The vast majority of scholarships (97%) do not specify a heritage. Here are the top 6 of 28 heritage designations.

Indigenous 73.6% 73.6%
Any visible minority 7.7% 7.7%
Black 7.0% 7.0%
Polish 2.2% 2.2%
French Canadian 1.9% 1.9%
Muslim/Islamic 1.4% 1.4%

Scholarships by Deadline Month

Of the scholarships with a listed deadline, the most popular months are October and January. The summer months are a slower time for deadline dates.

January 14.3% 14.3%
February 7.7% 7.7%
March 11.7% 11.7%
April 12.0% 12.0%
May 8.5% 8.5%
June 6.9% 6.9%
July 4.1% 4.1%
August 3.8% 3.8%
September 6.5% 6.5%
October 17.5% 17.5%
November 3.2% 3.2%
December 3.8% 3.8%

Scholarships by Year of Study

The majority of scholarships are available to students in any year of study, with second place going to students entering or in first year.

All years 46.3% 46.3%
Entering in or first year 21.4% 21.4%
Entering in or second year 18.0% 18.0%
Entering in or third year 6.8% 6.8%
Entering in or final year 3.5% 3.5%
Upon graduation 1.5% 1.5%

Top 15 Scholarships by Personal Circumstances

While the vast majority of scholarships (96%) don’t ask about personal circumstances, parents, mature students, and refugee are the most common categories.

1. Parent

2. Mature Student

3. Refugee

4. Single Parent

5. General Disability

6. Personal Challenges

7. Foster Child

8. Physical Disability

9. Developmental/Learning Disability

10. LGBTTIQQ2SA

11. Vision Impaired

12. Deaf or Hard-of-hearing

13. Epilepsy

14. Arthritis

15. Mobility Impairments

Top 15 Activities

Activities can be an important part of a scholarship application, with 22% of awards requiring involvement in a particular activity. Academic excellence ranks number one, with community service coming in a close second place.

1. Academic Excellence

2. School or Community Service

3. Leadership

4. Extracurricular Activities

5. Exchange Program

6. Athletics

7. Work/Research Experience

8. Volunteer

9. Hockey

10. Basketball

11. Arts

12. Religious Activities

13. Football

14. Agricultural Involvement

15. Music

Scholarships by Automatic Consideration

Unsurprisingly, most awards require an application, but almost one third of awards do not.

Application required 71.9% 71.9%
Automatic consideration 28.1% 28.1%

Renewable Scholarships

A whopping 88,739 awards in the database are not renewable, meaning they are a one-time source of funds. Renewable scholarships continue to provide funding in upcoming years so long as a student continues to qualify.

Not renewable 95.0% 95.0%
Renewable 5.0% 5.0%

Scholarships by Financial Need

Think most awards require financial need? Think again! Two thirds of awards in the database aren’t concerned with a student’s financial need, while the remaining third are. Financial need is often gauged by a student’s application to provincial student aid, or through a student-submitted household budget.

No financial need 66.0% 66.0%
In financial need 34.0% 34.0%

Full-time or Part-time Scholarships

Not surprisingly, most scholarships are geared towards students in full-time studies, which make up over 46,000 awards in the database.

Full-time 50.0% 50.0%
Full-time or part-time 48.7% 48.7%
Part-time 1.3% 1.3%

Next Steps

To get help with managing and marketing your scholarship, contact us at:

The SchoolFinder Group Team
info@schoolfindergroup.com