Sports scholarships in Canada for foreign students are provided by leading universities. An important advantage of Canadian universities is more affordable tuition at high quality, tuition in English (with the exception of Quebec universities), and a high level of academic knowledge. For athletes, prestigious Canadian universities offer excellent educational conditions, strong teams, qualified coaches and the opportunity to participate in national level competitions. Understanding what sports scholarships exist and how to apply can greatly facilitate the process of choosing a university in Canada for foreign students.
Thanks to the built-up relationship with educational institutions and sports academies around the world, extensive experience, knowledge of the processes for negotiating admission to educational institutions in Canada, SMAPSE specialists help clients to receive the maximum amount of scholarships that will sponsor their education and sports career abroad. SMAPSE works with clients of almost all ages.
Types of services for athletes:
- Scholarships from schools, sports academies in Canada for foreign students from 10 to 19 years old. (High School / Prep School, a sports academy abroad, which will fully or partially sponsor athlete training).
- Scholarships from college and the University of Canada for international students from 17 to 24 years old. (A college or university that will provide a sports or academic scholarship sponsoring education and additional expenses of an athlete abroad).
Features of sports scholarships in Canada
School and student sports in Canada are developed in much the same way as in the USA: over the past decades, many young athletes, thanks to their achievements, have received funding from American educational institutions or the opportunity to study completely free of charge. Canada is one of the few countries where sport and education are successfully combined.
Scholarship in Canadian boarding schools and universities is a financial incentive for students to pay tuition, compensate for living expenses, meals, textbooks and other possible costs.
The scholarship fund of each student can be formed from different sources, funding is transferred to the account of the educational institution (or allocated from its budget) and is provided in the form of a discount on tuition, in some cases covering up to 100% of the costs. A sports scholarship (athletic scholarship or sports scholarship) is the financing of athletes who will play for the team of an educational institution.
Scholarships in Canada
There are 2 associations in Canada that oversee university athletics: U SPORTS and the Canadian Student Sports Association. U SPORTS calls its scholarships “Sports Financial Awards” (SFA): they are compiled from various sources, and the coach of each institution decides how many awards to give to a particular student.
Sports Scholarship Forms in Canada
| Full | Partial |
| The full format allows you to fully pay for education, including course materials | Partial scholarships may vary, but not exceed the upper limit allowed by U Sports. |
| In the Canadian system, a full scholarship does not apply to housing and other expenses. Each province and each individual institution may establish even stricter rules for the distribution of funds. In addition, each individual university has its own rules and the right to reserve how much money is available and can be provided to their athletes. | The recommendations of the school and trainers help you decide how much administration can give to one athlete.
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A good example of this is Ontario. Ontario universities can offer a maximum AFA of 4,500 CAD $ per year. Moreover, they have the right to allocate less money for scholarships to students by their own decision or because there is simply no money in their program. Partial scholarships can range from less than a thousand dollars to funds that cover the full cost of tuition and compulsory university fees.
Canadian Scholarship Fund Financing
Universities in Canada receive funding in different ways, which means they provide different financial assistance options for athletes. Some universities provide scholarships from their operating budgets, some of them have sponsors who provide scholarships at their discretion, and there are also graduate funds that take on part of the funding.
The size of the scholarship for each specific potential student-athlete may vary depending on the institution, budget, sports results and other factors that the coach takes into account.
How to get a sports scholarship in Canada?
- Students-athletes entering the first year of the university must provide a high school certificate with a minimum average score of 80%. If an athlete is not able to do this, he can receive a sports scholarship at the end of the first year of education, if he scores an average of 65% or higher according to the results of academic education. Similarly, maintaining eligibility for scholarships after entering a university depends on the average level at the beginning of each year. In Ontario, this requirement is slightly higher - 70%.
- Athletic performance is a key factor that affects scholarship size.
- The future bachelor must enter the university immediately after school or college (at the latest - 2 years after graduation).
- The candidate must have academic success: a high GPA certificate (A-) and a score of 7.0 or higher in the IELTS language test.
Sports available for scholarships
The sports that can be applied for a sports scholarship in Canada are not so diverse, but include the most popular kinds:
- Basketball
- Hockey
- Tennis
- Swimming
- Volleyball
- Water polo
- Golf
- European football (sokker)
- American football
- Baseball
- Fencing
- Wrestling
- Athletics
- Horseback Riding
- Rowing
- Cross-country skiing.
Preparation for applying for a scholarship
- Interview with a professional sports trainer, allowing you to get an assessment of the chances of receiving financial assistance
- Selection of universities in Canada that meet the student’s athletic and academic needs
- Formation of a sports portfolio (photo, video, its promotion among Canadian universities)
- Registration on sites, preparation for the necessary tests (IELTS, SAT)
- Comparison of conditions for receiving financial assistance in various provinces and universities of Canada
- Sending an application to the selected institution of higher education
- Preparation of visa applications, purchase of insurance.
TOP-10 Sports Scholarships in Canada
- Global citizen scholarship
- Danida Fellowship Travel Grants
- Conestoga College International Degree Entrance Scholarships
- University Of British Columbia - Killam Postdoctoral Research Fellowships In Canada
- Fulbright US Student Program
- British Council - IELTS Scholarship Scheme
- EZstorit Self Storage Employee Scholarship
- EZstorit Get Ahead Scholarship
- Canadian Francophonie Scholarship Program (CFSP)
- Education Future International Scholarship.
