Find a Bursary
Financial support for learning opportunities
Bursary Programs
Vantage Point works with various partners to provide a limited number of bursaries to staff and board members of eligible organizations to attend Vantage Point’s workshops and multi-day labs.
Please read the eligibility requirements of each bursary program carefully to ensure you are applying as a qualified recipient.
Currently, these bursaries are available for Vantage Point workshops and/or labs:
- City of Vancouver – Social Policy
- City of Vancouver – Cultural
- City of New Westminster
- BC Community Foundations – Vancouver Foundation
- Vantage Point Bursary
For more information about a particular bursary program, please contact the program coordinator listed in the bursary program information. For general inquiries, please contact us at at info@thevantagepoint.ca
Application Process
Please submit your application a minimum of four weeks before the event date to ensure your application is reviewed. Late applications will be reviewed when possible but cannot be guaranteed to be included for consideration.
- Applications for workshops are reviewed on a rolling basis and are awarded in the order they are received.
- Applications for multi-day labs are reviewed four weeks before event date and are reviewed as a batch. Availability for these programs is often limited and we encourage all applicants to include as much information as is relevant for the program coordinators to make a decision.
Eligibility and selection process will differ depending on the bursary program. See bursary programs for more information.
Please note:
- Bursary seats are limited per event.
- Bursaries cannot be applied to special events or the BOSS conference.
- Submitting an application does not guarantee a bursary award and does not ensure event registration. If you are a successful applicant you will receive a confirmation of bursary award notice, along with a notice of event registration.
- All successful applications are subject to our cancellation policy.
Bursary Programs
City of Vancouver – Social Policy
If your organization is a City of Vancouver, Social Policy grantee, you are eligible to apply for the following:
- Two workshop bursaries per organization per year (April 1 – March 31)
- One multi-day lab bursary per organization per year (April 1 – March 31)
- Vantage Point Training and Consulting Services: Eligible to receive a full or partial bursary to organizational training and consulting such as: standard training, strategic planning, operational planning and custom training session(s). To be reviewed on a case-by-case basis.
Eligibility: To be eligible for this bursary program, your organization must be a Vancouver-based, non-profit, community services or childcare organization that meets one of the following criteria:
- Receives operating support from the City of Vancouver through:
- Childcare Enhancement Grants
- Childcare Reserve Grants
- Core Support Grants (formerly Direct Social Service Grants and Organizational Capacity Building Grants)
- Hastings Legacy Fund
- Neighbourhood Organization Grants
- Sustainable Food System Grants
- Has received a one-time-only project grant in the current or previous calendar year for more than $15,000 from:
- Social Innovation Project Grants
- Social Responsibility Funds
- Capital Project Grants
- Is the primary not-for-profit leaseholder of a City-owned or -leased facility, and has a social service or childcare mandate.
Selection:
- Bursary awards for workshops are awarded to eligible applicants on a rolling basis, space permitting.
- Bursary awards for multi-day labs will be recommended by Vantage Point and selected by the Social Policy team.
- Bursary support for Training and Consulting services is awarded on a case-by-case basis. Please contact the program coordinator for more information.
Read more about this program and your eligibility here.
For more information, please contact:
Social Policy Grants at SocialPolicyGrants@vancouver.ca
City of Vancouver – Cultural Services
If your organization is a City of Vancouver, Cultural Services grantee you are eligible to apply for the following bursaries:
- Two workshop bursaries per organization per year (April 1 – March 31)
At this time, Cultural Services grantees are not eligible for lab bursaries or training & consulting service bursaries.
Eligibility: To be eligible for a bursary, your organization must be a recent City of Vancouver – Cultural Services grantee.
If your organization has received a grant from the City of Vancouver, Cultural Services department in the past three years or your organization is a primary tenant of a City-owned/controlled space, you may be a City of Vancouver grantee and qualify for a bursary.
Selection:
- Bursary awards for workshops are awarded to eligible applicants on a rolling basis, space permitting.
For more information, please contact:
Cheryl Masters at cherryl.masters@vancouver.ca
Cultural Services Division
City of New Westminster
If your organization is eligible, you are able to apply for the following bursaries:
- One workshop or multi-day lab bursary per organization per year.
Eligibility: To be eligible for a bursary, your organization must be a New Westminster based non-profit that is registered as a BC Society or a Canadian Charity.
Selection:
- Bursary awards for workshops are awarded to eligible applicants on a rolling basis, space permitting.
- Bursary awards for multi-day labs will be recommended by Vantage Point and selected by the City of New Westminster team.
After completion of the Lab as a bursary attendee, the City of New Westminster looks forward to learning about the resulting benefits of your participation in the Lab, including positive impact on your individual and organizational capacity, as well as any impacts on the overall community.
For more information, please contact:
Jen Arbo at jarbo@newwestcity.ca
City of New Westminster
BC Community Foundations – Vancouver Foundation
If your organization is eligible, you are able to apply for the following bursaries:
- One half-day workshop bursary per organization per year; OR,
- Partial support for multi-day Labs or Custom Training
Eligibility:
- To be eligible for a bursary, your organization must be a community foundation within British Columbia, supported by Vancouver Foundation.
- Maximum of one bursary per community foundation per year
Selection:
- Bursary awards for workshops are awarded to eligible applicants on a rolling basis, space permitting.
For more information, please contact:
Kerri Kirincic at kerri.kirincic@vancouverfoundation.ca
Vancouver Foundation
Vantage Point Bursary
Our current Strategic Plan set a course for Vantage Point as one of its strategic goals to strive to be a leading contributor to equitable, inclusive, and sustainable practices in the non-profit sector, especially in lifting and strengthening Indigenous, underrepresented, and emerging non-profit leaders in BC.
The Vantage Point Bursary Fund supports this strategic goal to enhance accessibility of our programs and supports to the whole of our diverse community of non-profit leaders across BC.
If your organization is eligible, you may be able to apply for the following bursaries:
- One half-day workshop bursary (open exclusively to BIPOC applicants in 2024, thanks to financial support from Vancity)
- Multi-day Labs: Partial bursaries of 25-50%
Eligible individuals are entitled to a maximum of one workshop and one Lab bursary, annually.
Eligibility: To be eligible for a bursary, you must meet the following criteria:
- A current employee or volunteer at a registered Society in BC or Canadian Charity, operating in BC.
- Identify with one or more of the priorities listed below
- Not yet received a Vantage Point bursary within the current calendar year
The Vantage Point Bursary typically offers partial (25 – 50%) bursaries to our multi-day labs to individuals or organizations who identify with one or more of the following:
- Indigenous people, Black people, people of colour, people with disabilities, and people in the LGBTQ2+ community
- Those from organizations who serve equity-deserving communities [1]
- Those from organizations addressing the climate change crisis
- Those from organizations with operating budgets less than $250k and/or outside the Metro Vancouver area
For 2024, Vancity has partnered with Vantage Point to expand our bursary support for leaders who identify as Black, Indigenous, or Person of colour (BIPOC) to access up to one half-day workshop bursary + one 3-days Lab.
Application Process:
- Submitting an application does not guarantee a bursary spot.
- Bursary applications will be reviewed by Vantage Point staff and evaluated by our scoring criteria.
For more information, please contact:
Bethany Josh at bjosh@thevantagepoint.ca
Education Programs Coordinator, Vantage Point
[1] “As defined by the Canadian Centre for Diversity and Inclusion (CCDI) Glossary of Terms: Groups of people who have been historically disadvantaged and underrepresented. These groups include but are not limited to the four designated groups in Canada – women, visible minorities, Aboriginal Peoples, and people with disabilities – and people in the LGTBQ2+ community/people with diverse gender identities and sexual orientations. Equity-seeking groups identify barriers and unequal access, and actively seek social justice and reparation.”