Similar to Rugby scholarships in the United States and the United Kingdom, there are quite a handful of Rugby scholarships in Canada. These scholarships will help to reduce the financial burden on recipients and help them to focus more on their Academic and Athletic success.
However, even though these scholarships are mostly concerned about your Athletic Skills, you shouldn’t assume they will ignore your academic performance. You also need good grades to be eligible for them.
Also, some of them put more emphasis on your Rugby achievement and financial need.
Due to how competitive these scholarships are, we would advise you to start applying as early as possible, and when you find scholarships you’re interested in, try and contact their coaches on time (email would be preferred).
We would love to mention that the monetary value of these scholarships is not so high, so you should endeavor to apply for other academic scholarships provided by the school.
Let’s list these scholarships right away
Table of Contents
Rugby Scholarships in Canada
1. Canadian Rugby Foundation Award Funds
The Canadian Rugby Foundation provides three categories of award funds which are;
- Foundation Awards: managed and presented by the Canadian Rugby Foundation.
- Club awards: presented by individual clubs and other fund sponsors.
- Other awards: presented by affiliated organizations.
To apply for any of these awards or Rugby scholarships in Canada you need to be a Canadian Citizen.
2. UBC Rugby Scholarships
The University of British Columbia Rugby provides awards for Academic All Canadians and up to full tuition for senior National Team members. One of the best parts is that international Players are also eligible for additional scholarship funding.
Just like most Canadian Rugby scholarships to meet UBC’s entrance requirement is very competitive
3. Thomas Family Award – Canadian Rugby Foundation
The Thomas Family Scholarship is distributed annually to a Canadian student playing the great game of rugby between 17 to 21 years of age. It’s also important that applicants be enrolled in a full-time degree (graduate or undergraduate), diploma, or certificate program at a Canadian college or university.
If you didn’t receive the scholarship you’re still allowed to apply again in subsequent years.
4. TIRF Rugby
Toronto Inner-City Rugby Foundation believes in removing barriers, including financial issues that prevent young people from reaching their full potential both on-and-off the pitch. There are lots of organizations and families like the Doncaster Foundation, the Webb Family, Eventi Capital Partners, and the Myers Family that align with this belief which makes them generously donate for the cause.
You’ll find different kinds of scholarships created by these donors.
5. University of Waterloo – Nordin Rugby Award
This Rugby scholarship in Canada is worth up to $4,500 and is awarded to members of the varsity men’s rugby team. These scholarships are provided to appreciate athletic talent and contribution to Warrior Athletics and Recreation, their team, and their community.
Whether you’re a Canadian citizen or an international student you are eligible for this Scholarship.
6. University of Manitoba Athletic Scholarships
One of the best things about enrolling in the University of Manitoba is that you will both have access to their academic and Athletic scholarships, which opens the door to more scholarship funds. They award more than $900,000 annually to students who qualify for membership on recognized Canadian Interuniversity Sport University teams.
7. University of Alberta Athletic Scholarships
The University of Alberta provides athletic and Rugby scholarships to both citizens and international students in Canada. Their scholarships are awarded to Golden Bears and/or Pandas student-athlete(s) on Study Permit(s) with satisfactory academic standing registered in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at the University of Alberta.
8. George F. Jones Scholarship
This is among the Rugby scholarships in Canada provided by the Canadian Rugby Foundation worth $500. Just like most scholarships provided by the Canadian Rugby Foundation, you also need to be a Canadian Citizen to apply for this, and need to be between the ages of 17 to 21.
9. Queen’s University Athletic Scholarships
Queen’s University provides two kinds of scholarships for Student-athletes intending to join the Golden Gaels inter-university athletic team. They include;
- Queen’s University Athletic Admission Award
- Queen’s University Athletic Renewable Award
From their names, you can predict that the first one is for student-athletes entering the first year of a direct-entry undergraduate degree program at the school. The second one is a renewable scholarship for three subsequent years provided recipients maintain a minimum GPA of 2.7 (B-)
10. Arthur Irving Athletics Awards
In honor of Chancellor Irving, the family of Irving established this Rugby scholarship in 2019 to be awarded to one prospective or returning male student-athlete; one prospective or returning female student-athlete; one women’s rugby student-athlete; one male student-athlete; one female student-athlete in Acadia University.
11. Rachel Spearing Rugby Bursary
This Rugby scholarship in Canada is valued at $500 and awarded to a Frost Campus, School of Environmental & Natural Resource Sciences, a domestic student on the Fleming College Rugby Varsity team who demonstrates financial need. It’s necessary that the applicant must have resided in Ontario for twelve months prior to beginning their post-secondary studies.
12. Queen’s University Rugby Scholarships
Queen’s University provides different kinds of awards, and one of the ones that will interest you is their automatic Rugby scholarships in Canada. Where student-athletes currently registered at the school will be automatically considered for the following awards;
- Cheesewright Family Award
- Chipman Massey Drury Memorial Award
- Bob Pritchard Rugby Award
- Kate Rocklein Rugby Award
- Laura Jane Sparks Athletic Award
13. University of Guelph Rugby Scholarships
The University of Guelph is another school that provides several Rugby scholarships such as;
- Dr. James (Jim) Atkinson Scholarship: worth $1,000
- Harman Family Scholarship: worth $2,500
- James Wallace Rugby Scholarship: worth $1,000
- Johnston-Hector Rugby Scholarship: worth $1,000
- Mark Yanchus “Yancho” Women’s Rugby Scholarship: worth $5,000
And many others
14. University of Alberta Rugby Scholarships
U of A is undoubtedly among the Top 5 Canadian universities and one of the Top 120 in the world, which means you won’t only receive a top-notch rugby competition, but also a world-class education. They provide three scholarships exclusive for their Rugby student-athletes, which are;
- Pandas Rugby Sports Wall of Fame Award – Second Renewal
- Brian Heffel Memorial Athletic Award
- Pandas Rugby Athletics Alumni Award
15. Alessi and Giddens Rugby Award
The Alessi and Giddens Rugby Award is awarded to only one female student who has demonstrated athletic and leadership abilities in the sport of Rugby. The scholarship is worth $500 and the student must also be in good academic standing and have a minimum annual GPA of 3.3.
Conclusion
These Rugby scholarships in Canada will definitely help you to finance your education and your college Rugby pursuit. And you can see from this list that several organizations and schools provide scholarships to their student-athletes.
However, most of their monetary values are low, so we will advise you again to combine academic scholarships with these too.
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