Hamilton Community Foundation’s scholarship and bursary funds provide assistance and encouragement to promising young students who may be challenged by the costs of education. In all cases, funds are paid directly to the student’s educational institution on their behalf. 

Bursaries available at HCF

Our educational bursaries provide support to students with financial need who are accepted and enrolled in post-secondary studies. These bursaries can be used to assist with tuition, housing and other expenses related to your post-secondary education. You can apply to support your first year as well as subsequent years of studies at college or university.

To be considered for bursaries available at HCF, students must submit their bursary application directly to us, using the links below.

Subject/program	School (CRA -approved)	Bursary	How to apply	Application deadline(s)
Any	Canada or USA	Chaney-Ensign Bursary	Here	October 1 February 1
Music	Canada or abroad	David Davis Memorial Bursary	Here	October 1
Performing arts (voice, drama, dance or musical instrument)	Canada or USA	Geritol Follies Bursary	Here	October 1

Selection criteria for these awards are:

• Student must demonstrate financial need through OSAP application
• Student must be registered and enrolled full-time
• For Chaney-Ensign, student must be a graduate of a publicly funded high school in Hamilton
• For Geritol Follies, student must be a graduate of a publicly funded high school in Hamilton or Burlington

Note: all applicants will be asked to submit information about their expenses associated with attending post-secondary as well as a verification of financial need from their student financial aid office.

Make sure you have the following before you begin your application:

• Social Insurance Number
• Student number

Make sure you have the following ready to upload as attachments:

• Your OSAP Funding Summary
• Statement of tuition payment for current semester (or full academic year if available)
• Transcript of final secondary school marks (first-time applicants only)

For questions about these bursaries or the online application process, please contact us at 905.523.5600

Student awards available at post-secondary institutions

HCF also offers several student awards through post-secondary institutions. In most cases, students apply through their financial aid office for consideration.

McMaster University

Important: Please read guidelines here about accessing student award funding through McMaster’s Financial Aid Office.

Bursaries:

Subject/program	Name of award
Any	Ross F. Webb Bursary
Any	Russell & Elizabeth Lindley Bursary
Business, Commerce or Management (available for students in the DeGroote School of Business)	Bernie Morelli Memorial Bursary*
Music	Hamilton Community Foundation Music Bursary
Undergraduate Medical (available for students in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine)	Frank C. Miller Jr. Bursary

Scholarships:

Subject/program	Name of award
To support studies outside North America (where English is not the first language)	Rundle Foreign Study Scholarship*
This fund supports a full-time, post-doctoral student in the sciences at McMaster University.  Visit the McMaster website for information about applying, here.	The E.B. Eastburn Postdoctoral Fellowship Fund

Mohawk College

Important: please read guidelines here about accessing bursary funding through Mohawk’s Financial Aid Office.

General application bursaries:

Subject/program	Name of award
Child and Youth Care Early Childhood Education Educational Support Social Service Worker Engineering (various programs)	Charlie and Mabel Duncan Memorial Bursary*

*preference will be given to graduates of publicly funded Hamilton high schools.

Other awards available

For some of our student awards, there is no application required as faculty selects the recipients on HCF’s behalf. Details of these awards are listed below:

McMaster University

Subject/program	Name of award
Manufacturing Engineering	Grace Dorothy & William P. Carpenter scholarship award

Mohawk College

Subject/program	Name of award
Tool and Die Design	Grace Dorothy Carpenter Award**
Tool and Die Design	William P. Carpenter Award**
Mechanical and Industrial Technology	Phyllis Mary Carpenter Award**

University of Guelph

Subject/program	Name of award
Environmental Engineering	Phyllis Mary Carpenter Award**

**preference given to the graduates of publicly funded high schools in Hamilton or Burlington