Strong Students, Stronger Futures program intends to honour the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee territory upon which campuses are located.
NationTalk: The Standard – Earlier this year, a local community organization didn’t want to tell its young people it couldn’t support their education, so it reached out to Niagara College for help.
The Grand River Post Secondary Education Office explained to the college’s Indigenous education department its band support funding — and ability to financially assist First Nations students attending post-secondary institutions — was running short.
The federal government program helps cover education and living expenses but with the increase in Indigenous youth population, there was not a correlating increase in federal funding.
“As a college we decided for the 2024-25 academic year (we) would provide that bridge funding for these students so there were 20 students from our local community who weren’t going to receive funding so we allocated up to $300,000 to support them so they could come to Niagara College,” said Chris McGrath, vice-president, students.
That was the start of a bigger conversation about how the college could respond to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s calls to action. It became “very clear” one of the most significant barriers for Indigenous people to access post-secondary is tuition and other fees.
At the same time, McGrath said the college was having conversations with Family and Children’s Services Niagara (FACS) about similar barriers facing former youth in care — previously known as crown wards — who are transitioning out of foster care.
Working with Indigenous community members, First Nations representatives and FACS Niagara, the Niagara College team put together a proposal, which was quickly approved.
Starting in fall 2025, every incoming First Nations student and youth transitioning out of care attending Niagara College will be granted a scholarship (covering tuition and fees) for the academic year and every year they are enrolled — regardless of program or academic years.
The Strong Students, Stronger Futures scholarship is a first in Niagara and seeks to enable marginalized and under-represented students to achieve their potential. It is intended to honour the Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee territory upon which its campuses are located.
“This is the 12th post-secondary institution either I’ve worked at or been a student at over the course of my career and it’s the first one that didn’t hesitate to say this is the right thing to do,” said McGrath, who joined the college about eight months ago.
What was crucially important was taking that step forward the right way by centring the voices of community members and ensuring it’s not only offering a scholarship but has the capacity to support students throughout their time at Niagara College.
“Arguably, it was the education system that was one of the architects of residential schools, harm that was done over generations to First Nations people,” said McGrath. “We owe them the trust building, we owe them the extension of our hand, our support so that they can in fact think about coming into structured education and fulfilling their goals and objectives for their careers.”
The college’s outreach and student transition teams are already in the community, working with partners to help promote the scholarship and “to help young people who they are connected to, to wrap their heads around the idea that post-secondary education is a possibility. These young people, despite the barriers that they host, have incredible strength and potential and we want to be able to help them build on that strength and potential,” said McGrath.
The college did an assessment to understand the regional student demand, estimating there are about 70 to 80 students who will benefit from the scholarship. However, it’s available to “every student who is eligible.”
What is key is eligibility will be determined by First Nations communities and FACS Niagara. The college isn’t overlaying a set of bureaucratic criteria as to whether someone qualifies or not and specifically for First Nations communities so “they have agency and autonomy around their identity” and supporting their young people.
During the last five years, the number of youths FACS Niagara has supported at the post-secondary level has doubled. Former youth in care are young adults who have transitioned out of foster care and may be living on their own and in need of personal and financial support to achieve their education and career goals.
In the media release, FACS executive director Anna Bozza said, “these hard-working and talented young people are overcoming what were previously insurmountable odds, since those who have been in the care of Children’s Aid Society are statistically less likely to achieve this crucial milestone.”
The college has already allocated funding from its budget to the Strong Students, Stronger Futures Scholarship fund and through its capital campaign, McGrath said it’s also looking for community members, industry, employers and donors to support “this important initiative.”
“The achievement rates for First Nations youth and youth transitioning from care as compared to young people who are not from those demographics, their achievement rates and attainment rates are abysmally lower in comparison,” said McGrath.
“It’s a really important part of our role as a community college, as a college that is committed to access and inclusion and to the important role that we play in advancing the public good as well as it really leads the way when it comes to truth and reconciliation. This was the most important first step that we could take.”
To learn more about eligibility, dates, deadline and information on how to apply, visit niagaracollege.ca/strongstudents.
Victoria Nicolaou is a reporter with the St. Catharines Standard.
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