The Embark Student Foundation Awards $2.7 million to Seven Post-Secondary Schools Across Canada Through Its Major Grant Program

The Embark Student Foundation Major Grant Program will award millions to post-secondary institutions over next five years to enhance the student experience in Canada.

TORONTO, March 12, 2024 /CNW/ - Embark Student Corp. ("Embark"), Canada's education savings and planning company, today announced the inaugural recipients of the Embark Student Foundation Major Grant Program.

Through the program, Embark will award millions to post-secondary institutions over five years to support innovative programs, services and initiatives that have a positive impact on student experiences in Canada. Each post-secondary institution selected will receive between $250,000 and $500,000 to build their programs and realize their goals.

This year, seven recipients were selected as part of the Embark Student Foundation Major Grants Program, with $2.7 million dollars being disbursed to qualifying post-secondary institutions across Canada.

"The Embark Student Foundation Major Grant Program marks our commitment to making the path to and through post-secondary school easier for all Canadians," said Andrew Lo, President and CEO, Embark. "By supporting these innovative programs, we hope to enrich the lives of students and give them the skills they need to thrive both today and in the future."

Concordia University – Gina Cody School of Engineering and Computer Science Innovation Program – This program aims to support student-led projects that have significant potential for commercialization, promoting innovation and allowing students to reimagine and reinvent how we live. Funding through the Embark Student Foundation Major Grants Program will empower and accelerate outstanding projects with real-world impact. Students will gain an unparalleled experience while the products created may lead to startups, industry partnerships, jobs and venture capital investment.

Niagara College – Indigenous Student Success Pathways Project – This pilot project will focus on enabling Indigenous learning outcomes and culture-based content. Lead by a recognized Indigenous educator, the program aims to help Indigenous students realize their potential as whole individuals with agency, fostering self-reflection and building stronger connections with their culture. By providing a comprehensive solution that emboldens Indigenous students and supports their educational and career aspirations before, during and after post-secondary, the Indigenous Student Success Pathways Project will contribute to the broader goals of Indigenous education and employment equity in the Niagara region and beyond.

Northern Alberta Institute of Technology – NAIT Writing Centre – NAIT's Writing Centre pilot was created to provide centralized writing support to all NAIT students. Through the funds received, NAIT will be able to expand on the pilot and increase access to writing supports, a much-needed resource for students. The Writing Centre will provide a safe, inclusive, and cooperative space for students to share and discuss their writing projects – big or small – with professional writing consultants and peer tutors. Building a community of peer writing tutors will give NAIT students the opportunity to develop their academic writing skills while improving their communication, confidence, and leadership abilities. The Writing Centre will help ensure NAIT graduates are equipped with foundational writing skills to excel in the workplace and in their lives.

Toronto Metropolitan University – DMZ – DMZ's Basecamp is a comprehensive eight-week incubation program that cultivates technological innovations to address societal and economic challenges, offering students a platform to transform their ideas into viable business ventures. With the help of the Embark Student Foundation Major Grants Program, Basecamp's scope and reach will be significantly expanded to allow a broader range of students, particularly from underrepresented communities, to participate. Further, the grant will support post-program opportunities, ensuring participants' long-term success well beyond the duration of the Basecamp program through exclusive access to additional DMZ programs, including Masterclass, Launchpad and skill building certifications.

University of Lethbridge – Student Flourishing Initiative – Social isolation and disconnection are a growing concern throughout the world. This is true on university campuses as well. As part of its commitment to being a 'health promoting university', and in recognition of this pressing societal issue and its impact on students, the University of Lethbridge initiated the REC (Refresh, Energize, Connect) Room program in 2022. The intent of the program is to promote factors related to flourishing, including social connection, play and physical activity. Funding will allow the university to enhance and expand this program through the addition of more indoor REC Room spaces, the construction of new outdoor spaces and the development of related programming. These spaces will be enhanced and expanded with a view to promoting accessibility, connection, belonging and health for the university's diverse campus community.

University of Toronto – Enrichment Academy – Launched in 2023, the Enrichment Academy's focus is to engage historically underrepresented domestic students with pathways to accessing and succeeding in the university's direct entry undergraduate programs. This multi-year initiative begins to support students following their completion of grade 8 and is strategically designed to increase the likelihood that a student will access and succeed in post-secondary education. Funding received will go towards facilitating the program, allowing the Enrichment Academy to hire a dedicated group of workshop facilitators, offer paid research or campus-based internship programs and provide transportation and warm meals to all participating students, among other things.

Vancouver Island University – Reducing Barriers to Learning: Catalyst Action to Address Student Hunger – This project will focus on the growing number of students in need at the university. Rising living costs have created sometimes insurmountable obstacles for students trying to meet basic needs. This leaves students unable to continue their studies or barred from excellence due to the competing priorities of survival for themselves and their families. This program will seek to remedy this, eliminating immediate barriers to student retention through innovative, coordinated, and flexible financial and food security supports for students in need.

The Embark Major Grant Program provides funding for innovative programs, initiatives or services that support student success before, during and beyond their post-secondary years. Through this grant program, Embark wishes to partner with post-secondary educational institutions in their efforts to advance access, agency and innovation that will empower students to take hold of their future. Grants of $250,000 to $500,000 are available annually. Efforts are made to represent all types of post-secondary educational institutions and regions in Canada. Applications for 2024 will be accepted starting in Q3 2024. For more information about the program, visit  https://embark.grantplatform.com/.

Embark Student Corp. is Canada's education savings and planning company. With over $6 billion in assets under management, the company is committed to empowering families along their post-secondary journeys by giving them the resources and tools they need to better plan and save for all that comes with an education. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Embark Student Foundation, a not-for-profit Canadian corporation, the company, registered as a Scholarship Plan Dealer across Canada, manages almost 600,000 RESPs for Canadians nationwide and helped approximately 53,600 students through post-secondary studies last year.

SOURCE Embark Student Corp.