Scholarships
About
A new CIBC poll released in August 2025 highlights the financial pressures faced by many Canadian students. According to the poll, “Canadian students are balancing a range of rising expenses, with top costs including rent or residence fees, groceries and food, transportation, and entertainment or social activities. To help meet these financial demands, students are leveraging multiple funding sources — 78% hope to work during the school year and 53% will take out student loans. Despite these plans, nearly half (48%) say they feel overly dependent on their parents for financial support.”
The Leadership by Design (LBD) program actively encourages students to pursue post-secondary studies and couples this encouragement with practical strategies to address financial barriers. LBD offers financial literacy workshops focused on budgeting and cost-reduction strategies, workshops about student loans and grants (such as the Ontario Student Assistance Program), and workshops on applying for scholarships. While student loans can help counter income disparities, they often result in debt accumulation.
Scholarships are particularly effective in reducing the cost of post-secondary education for families, lowering student debt, and enabling students to dedicate more time to their studies rather than to demanding part-time jobs. The LBD’s scholarship strategy includes the following measures:
- Coaching students to research the landscape of higher education scholarships.
- Providing students with workshops on scholarship applications.
- Encouraging students to apply for the many scholarships offered by universities, corporations, and other institutions.
- Persuading corporate sponsors, organizations, and individuals to sponsor Leader Scholarships for LBD students.
LBD students have a strong track record of attracting scholarship offers. Among those entering post-secondary studies in fall 2025 and responding to our June survey, approximately 50% of LBD students were awarded scholarships. Over the years, top-tier scholarships received by LBD students have included:
- Loran Scholarship ($100,000 over four years): awarded to a student attending the University of Waterloo, Ontario.
- Schulich Leader Scholarship ($80,000 over four years): awarded to a student attending York University.
- Full-ride scholarship spanning eight years: awarded to a student pursuing medicine at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan.
- Full-ride scholarship spanning four years: awarded to a student attending Spelman College, Atlanta, Georgia.
- Leader Scholarships for LBD students sponsored by PepsiCo Canada Foundation.
- Leader Scholarships for LBD students sponsored by CIBC Foundation.
- G. Raymond Chang Scholarships for LBD students sponsored by Donette Chin-Loy Chang, Chancellor, Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).
The Leadership by Design program continues to build partnerships with organizations that award scholarships. The most recent partnership is with the Morehead-Cain Foundation, which grants four-year, full-ride scholarships to eligible students attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Student Voice — Reflections on the impact of scholarships
Gabrielle Forbes-Cultess
LBD Cohort 2020
McMaster University, Year 3 (2025-26), Social Psychology (Research Specialization Option)
CIBC Leader Scholarship Recipient, June 2023
Update (July 30, 2024) — Thank you For Everything
Dear Leadership by Design,
Last year, I was fortunate enough to be one of the C20 scholarship recipients — courtesy of CIBC Bank. I wanted to reiterate my gratitude for the financial support that you have provided towards my first year of university. In celebration and commemoration of the future that you’ve helped shape I wanted to give a small update on my experience thus far.
A full year has elapsed since my graduation from Pickering High School, and I am just one short month away from entering my second year at McMaster University. Highlights included the completion of my first full academic year with an 11.0 CGPA and being accepted into the highly competitive Social Psychology Degree Pathway with a Research Specialization. I credit much of this accomplishment, in part, due to the unwavering support of my family and the financial encouragement of the Afro-Caribbean community in prioritizing my education. I am proud to say I was able to fully pay off my full school year (tuition, room & board, etc.) with over $23,000 in scholarships (including yours), and with minimal governmental assistance.
The freedom provided by not having to worry about bills allowed me to join numerous student groups, attending Black Student Success Centre (BSSC) events, writing for the McMaster blog, The Vault, and being accepted as an Onyx Black Scholar member. I also was invited to return to my former high school to present a scholarship workshop to our seniors in the Black Student Association, where I was a former member. Hearing the numerous financial concerns plaguing the students only reinforced the importance scholarships have on a student’s trajectory and peace of mind.
Along with my social commitments, I had the opportunity to explore new interests outside of my comfort zone by joining the McMaster Musical Theatre as their Hair and Makeup Lead. I had the exhilarating experience of helping to create and run a full-length musical on campus. This opportunity to hone my artistic skills would never have been possible if I had to juggle academics and extracurriculars with paid employment. (I’ve attached some images from the show as well).
In a final update, I recently went through the competitive process to become a Community Advisor, a role that enables second-year students to live in residence with first-year students as entities of support and guidance. In August, I was notified that I was chosen for the position to help ensure a safe and successful first-year university experience for McMaster University students. Additionally, I will be a Community Advisor with the specific role of being the Creative Expressions Living Learning Community Advisor, hosting monthly special events for my students.
Overall, from the bonds I’ve made throughout this year and the skills I’ve mastered, McMaster has truly become a home and a second family for me and I am profoundly grateful to all of you for helping me get here. With the next step in my post-secondary journey approaching, I would love to offer my gratitude and my time. Your kindness and generosity have had a profound impact on my educational pathway, and if there are any opportunities to volunteer within your organization, I would be happy to do so. I will not disappoint or betray the trust you have placed in awarding me a scholarship.
On behalf of myself and my family, I offer my sincere thanks once again.
Gabrielle ‘Gabi’ Forbes-Cultess