Scholarships and Awards

Undergraduate students who are new to UVic are eligible for a number of scholarships, awards, medals and prizes made available through contributions from donors as well as from the University's operating budget. UVic offers two kinds of entrance scholarships for undergraduate students:

• Automatic scholarships based on admissions average (no application required).
• Scholarships based on admissions average and other criteria (application required).

Visit UVic's Entrance scholarships & awards website to learn more and apply.

How to Apply

To be considered for these in-course scholarships, students must create and submit an application. Apply here by April 30.

Candis Graham Writing Scholarship

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate and/or graduate students in the Department of Writing who achieve excellence in writing that demonstrates originality, accessibility, creativity, or impact. Preference will be given to students with involvement in, or who are supportive of any lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, two-spirit, intersex, asexual, queer, or questioning communities.

Ethel Dent Banks and Margaret Maunsell Award

One or more awards are given to undergraduate women students continuing in either the Department of English or the Department of Writing with demonstrated financial need. Preference will be given to Indigenous women students.

Rita Perry Hammett Award

One or more awards are given to entering or continuing undergraduate students in the Department of Writing.

Rosamund Dashwood Memorial Award in Dramatic Writing

One or more awards are given to undergraduate students entering third or fourth year in the Department of Writing whose focus is dramatic writing and who have demonstrated financial need.

Skeena Scholarship in Creative Writing

For this award, rural northern regions in Canada encompass all of the Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Newfoundland and Labrador. As well, northern communities found above the following lines of parallel in each province will be considered: 50°N for BC, Quebec and Ontario; 54° N for Manitoba; 53° N for Saskatchewan and Alberta. One or more awards are given to transferring or continuing undergraduate students in a BFA in Writing with a focus on creative nonfiction or poetry and who have submitted a writing sample (maximum 2 pages). Preference will be given to applicants in the following order of priority:

1. A woman student who grew up in or has spent the majority of their life in rural and northern communities in Canada. Further preference will be given to a student from Northern British Columbia (North of 50° N).
2. An Indigenous student who grew up or has spent the majority of their life in rural and northern communities in Canada. Further preference will be given to a student from Northern British Columbia (North of 50° N).

How to Apply

No application is required for these GPA-based awards. They are evaluated and awarded every year from their respective pools of eligible candidates.

Gloria Kendal Whelen Prize in Writing

This prize is given by Professor S. W. Jackman in memory of his friend, Gloria Kendal Whelen. The prize is awarded to a student entering third year in the Department of Writing who has completed a second year course in fiction in the department.

Hazel Partridge-Smith Scholarship

A scholarship is awarded to an outstanding second, third or fourth year student in writing.

Mary Aitken Legacy Scholarship in Writing

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students entering their third or fourth year in writing with an interest in using technology to expand the horizons of literature. Preference will be given to students in the Digital and Interactive Media in the Arts Minor program.

Pat Bevan Scholarship in Writing

One or more scholarships are awarded to outstanding students in a major program in the Department of Writing.

Rosalind Hulet Petch Memorial Scholarship in Writing

A scholarship is awarded to an outstanding student in writing, who is continuing studies at the University of Victoria.

W.P. Kinsella Scholarship in Fiction

One or more scholarships are awarded to students in the Department of Writing who are entering the fourth year Advanced Fiction Workshop.

How to Apply

To be considered for these submission-based donor awards, you must apply by July 1 with your name, V#, and applicable documents (detailed below) to writing@uvic.ca.

Keith and Shirley Wagner Prize for Writing

Two prizes donated by Gordon and Ivy Wagner of Comox, B.C., are awarded to students entering the third or fourth year of the writing program for the most outstanding achievement in the field of dramatic writing, stage play, radio play, film script or television script.

Apply with a submission of your CV detailing outstanding achievements in the fields of playwriting or screenwriting.

Lorna Crozier Scholarship

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students in the Department of Writing entering the fourth year Poetry Workshop who have submitted a portfolio of ten pages of poetry that have been deemed to be of high quality.

Apply with a portfolio submission of 10 pages of poetry.

Millen Undergraduate Scholarship

A total of two scholarships are awarded to undergraduate students entering the third or fourth year in writing. Selection of the candidates will be based on high academic standing and an assessment by the Department of Writing: of an original lyric poem, beautiful in form and content, or a prose original, fact or fiction, of not more than thirty-five hundred words, which is beautiful in form and content.

Apply with a submission of lyric poetry, fiction, or nonfiction that is 3,500 words or less.

Philip Pickering Award in Poetry

A scholarship is awarded to an academically outstanding 4th year student in the Department of Writing who has submitted a portfolio of ten pages of poetry that has been deemed to be of high quality.

Apply with a portfolio submission of 10 pages of poetry.

How to Apply

Each of these scholarships and awards have their own specific requirement. Some of these awards require a submission, and application deadlines vary by award.

Edna and Jack Marshall Indigenous Fine Arts Scholarship

Apply here by April 30.

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding Indigenous undergraduate students entering or continuing in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Faculty of Fine Arts Indigenous Annual Student Award

Apply here by April 30.

One or more awards of at least $1,000 each are given to entering, transferring or continuing Canadian-born Indigenous undergraduate students in the Faculty of Fine Arts with demonstrated financial need. In-course students with a GPA of 6.0 or higher in the previous year of study are eligible for this award. Entrance students must meet the minimum GPA requirement for an entrance scholarship. Part-time students (registered in a minimum of 6.0 units for credit in two terms) and graduating students are eligible.

Faculty of Fine Arts Student Community Impact Award

Apply here by April 30. Details below.

One or more awards are given to undergraduate students entering, transferring or continuing in the Faculty of Fine Arts who have demonstrated an outstanding effort in a community-engaged creative activity in Greater Victoria.

The recipient is selected based on nominations received from individuals and/or community organizations and must include:

1. a letter from an individual or organization (maximum 300 words) demonstrating how the student was involved in the community-engaged creative activity,
2. two letters of endorsement of the project (maximum two pages and from different people than #1 who are not related to the nominee), and
3. a resume or portfolio of the student’s work.

Nomination packages must be submitted to the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts by April 30.

Graduating students are eligible for this award. The Award will be presented annually as part of the ProArts Alliance awards event or another suitable event as determined by the Dean, Faculty of Fine Arts and the Dean’s External Advisory Committee.

Faculty of Fine Arts Undergraduate Entrance Scholarship

No application required.

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students entering the Faculty of Fine Arts.

For the Love of Film Scholarship

No application required.

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students transferring or continuing in the Faculty of Fine Arts who are pursuing a Minor in Film Studies.

Frank and Margaret Gibbs Scholarship

No application required.

One or more scholarships are awarded to students continuing in the Faculties of Engineering, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Fine Arts and Education.

Heidi Gowans-Perschau Scholarship

Apply here by April 30.

One scholarship, of at least $1,500, will be awarded to an academically outstanding undergraduate student transferring or continuing in either the School of Environmental Studies or the Faculty of Fine Arts who has demonstrated financial need. Part time students (registered in a minimum of 6.0 units for credit in two terms) are eligible. Selection of the recipient is made by the Senate Committee on Awards upon the recommendation of either the School of Environmental Studies or the Faculty of Fine Arts. The scholarship is given on a rotating basis, beginning with the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Jack Shadbolt Scholarship

No application required.

One or more scholarships are awarded to academically outstanding undergraduate students in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

John Dobereiner Award

Apply here by April 30.

One or more awards are given to undergraduate students in the Faculty of Fine Arts who demonstrate financial need.

Richard and Margaret Beck Student Research Travel Award 

Apply by December 15. Details below.

One award of up to $6,000 is given to an undergraduate or graduate student in Humanities, Social Sciences or Fine Arts to travel to Iceland for the purpose of research or course work related to Icelandic language and literature.

Preference will be given to applicants who have already completed a course or are undertaking a significant research project that is related to Icelandic language and literature. If no eligible applicants apply from Humanities, Social Sciences or Fine Arts, the award may be given to an undergraduate or graduate student in any faculty.

Applications must be submitted to the Dean of Humanities by December 15.

Robert and Norah Wallace Commemorative Scholarship

No application required.

Five scholarships, one each in the Faculties of Education, Fine Arts, Health, Humanities and Science, are awarded to academically outstanding students entering one of the final two years of undergraduate studies.

Stephen Canning Memorial Scholarship

Apply before May 31. Details below.

One or more scholarships are awarded to students who have achieved academic excellence and are entering third or fourth year of a declared major in Environmental Studies, or in Writing, or to students in the Restoration of Natural Systems Diploma program. A letter of application, 1-2 pages, illustrating a record of service and commitment to nature as well as a passion for communicating these interests and values. Please submit you letter to esaward@uvic.ca by May 31.

Victoria Nikkei Cultural Society Award

Apply by May 15. Details below.

One or more awards are given to transferring or continuing undergraduate students in any discipline who are conducting innovative and creative research in Japanese Canadian history, art, culture, and/or language. Applicants must submit the following to the Office of the Dean, Faculty of Humanities, by May 15:

1. A statement of intent (maximum 500 words) outlining their proposed research and describing how their work contributes to, promotes and/or engages with Japanese Canadian history, art, culture, and/or language;
2. A letter of support from the UVic faculty member(s) who will supervise the proposed research; and
   
3. A CV and official UVic transcript.