Grant money for school: How to get the funds to develop your skills—and advance your career

Despite his deep experience—Shin’s been a chef with Cactus Club Café for more than 16 years, across seven of the group’s restaurants—he recognized the many ingredients needed to make an effective leader. That’s why he was among those who took part last year in the Schulich School of Business’s “Developing Executive Presence for Exceptional Leadership” program.

Should you take a course to learn new work skills?

You might expect that kind of program to be geared toward people who spend their time in boardrooms, but Shin has had no problem applying what he’s learned at King Taps, where he works currently.

“As a chef, it’s important for me to be able to influence a large team,” he says. “Learning different ways to communicate responsibilities and tasks clearly and effectively will give me an edge in my field.”

There are plenty of people who might want to gain a similar edge, from PR consultants looking to learn in-demand digital marketing skills to customer service specialists interested in elevating their earning potential through data analytics training.  

According to Statistics Canada, each year of education a person receives is worth an extra 8.3% in annual earnings. If your salary is $60,000, roughly the Canadian average, that amounts to an additional $5,000 per year.  

For certain degrees, that payoff can be even greater—up to 35% for some MBA graduates, for example, according to a recent U.S.-based study. 

If the proportion of Canadians who learn more advanced skills increases—by taking artificial intelligence (AI) courses or even sales courses, for instance—the impact on GDP and national prosperity becomes measurable and significant. 

Great, you might be thinking, but who’s going to pay me to enrich myself and my country? The program Shin took, for example, required a $3,000-plus investment. Fortunately, Wil Leung, Cactus Club Café’s regional director of culinary operations, became aware of the Canada-Ontario Jobs Grant (COJG) through a contact at Schulich ExecEd, the Schulich School of Business’s executive education arm. A federal-provincial initiative, COJG covers two-thirds of training costs up to $10,000 per eligible employee. Employers only have to cover the remaining third.

“It definitely helps a lot,” Leung says. “Any support from added resources or grants goes a long way for us to be able to support our teams and help them take meaningful leadership courses.”

The COJG provides direct financial support to small and medium-sized businesses that provide short-term training for new and existing employees. It’s just one program among many, however. Besides management and leadership training, Canadians could apply available funding to a wide range of subject areas that benefit employees and employers alike.

As you consider the options that follow, don’t forget tried-and-true vehicles like a registered education savings plan (RESP). The earlier you invest, the more tax-sheltered money you could potentially access to supplement or help cover the costs of professional development opportunities in the future. 

So, where can you access financial support for going back to school and upgrading your skills? Keep reading.

Where to find financial support for skills training across Canada 

Check out these programs and see if one or more are right for you.

Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students

Professionals like chef Shin may balance ongoing learning while continuing their day jobs. For others, the best professional development path is to temporarily leave the workforce. That’s where the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students program comes in, offering up to $525 per month (or $4,200 a year) to those enrolled in a qualified program at a designated school.

Access to the Canada Student Grant for Full-Time Students is based on financial need and having a family household income that doesn’t exceed a predefined threshold. You can apply each year as long as you’re taking full-time studies. Note, though, this program isn’t available to Canadians in Quebec, the Northwest Territories, Yukon or Nunavut. There’s a similar grant program for students with disabilities, who can receive up to $2,800 per year if they qualify.  

Canada Graduate Scholarships – Masters

Supporting up to 3,000 students annually in all disciplines, the Canada Graduate Scholarships program is aimed at empowering those who have already completed their undergraduate studies to pursue a higher level of education, including graduate programs in health, engineering, natural sciences and the social sciences and humanities. It’s also another example of a program aimed at full-time students who are enrolled at the graduate level (master’s or doctoral) at a Canadian institution that has been designated to receive the funding.

To qualify for Canada Graduate Scholarship – Masters funding, you need to be enrolled in a program with a strong research component that is required for completing your studies. You can apply in late August or early September of each year with a December 1 application deadline.  

Ontario grant programs

Here is a sampling of grant programs in Ontario. Not living here? Check out your provincial or territorial government employment website for similar programs: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

Better Jobs Ontario

Better Jobs Ontario, formerly known as Second Career, is focused on supporting Ontarians taking courses that last no more than a year, including microcredential courses. It’s aimed at those who have been laid off or who have been unemployed for six months or longer, but recently it was expanded to serve gig workers, youth and people on social assistance. For instance, you can also apply if you receive unemployment insurance or if you receive assistance through Ontario Works or the Ontario Disability Support Program.

The $28,000 available through Better Jobs Ontario can go a long way toward tuition, books and other course materials. To qualify, applicants must have been laid-off, and they are not working or working a temporary job to cover expenses. People who have not been laid-off but who have been unemployed for six months or longer and belong to a low-income household may also qualify. 

Ontario Learn and Stay Grant

Launched in 2023, the Ontario Learn and Stay Grant program was designed to provide full, upfront tuition for those living in communities across the province who are studying practical nursing, paramedical training and medical lab tech skills, for example. Applications for 2024 will open this spring. Already in school? You can still apply after you’ve started a course, as long as you do so 60 days before you finish your studies with an approved institution.

The government is providing $61 billion in funding to be divided among all applicants between now and Spring 2026. The key stipulation here is that you must agree to stay and work within what the province defines as an underserved community after graduation. Grey Bruce and Simcoe counties, for instance, have described the Ontario Stay and Learn Grant as a way to address the many health-care jobs it will have to fill over the next decade.

Ontario Graduate Scholarship 

The Ontario Graduate Scholarship Program (OGS) is similar to the Canada Graduate Scholarship, but is offered at the provincial level. OGS is a merit-based scholarship that assesses applicants based on the ranking criteria of the school you’ve been accepted to attend. In other words, participating schools, which include Queen’s University, Western University, the University of Toronto and the University of Waterloo, and others, will determine who receives scholarships. 

The scholarship amount awarded is based on the number of consecutive terms you’ll be enrolled up to a maximum of six consecutive terms. Up to $10,000 is available for two consecutive study terms or $15,000 for three consecutive study terms. Check for other equivalents to OGS in B.C., Alberta and other provinces. 

Corporate and non-profit funding for school

If you’ve exhausted government funding options or want to go that extra mile to secure dollars you can invest in your education, then there are plenty of corporate scholarships worth considering. The RBC Future Launch scholarship offers $1,500 to those aged 15 to 29 who are taking short-term courses, workshops or certification programs. And BMO Funding Futures Scholarships is a four-year, renewable scholarship that has recently focused on Black Canadians and provided $500,000 to 150 students.

Consider nonprofits like the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), which offers scholarships up to $1,000 to help those working in the charitable sector take courses that improve their skills. Palette Skills, a national not-for-profit helping fuel the talent pipeline for Canada’s most innovative companies, has also unlocked considerable government funding. For example, its subsidized programs in tech sales and digital agriculture, boasting job placement rates of 90%, are being offered for as little as $150 in select provinces. 

Want more from your career?

Even if it takes time to research funding opportunities and go through the application process, Cactus Club Café’s Leung says it’s well worth the effort. In addition to applying to the above programs and grants and scholarships, get ready to bookmark. Online resources like GrantWatch track hundreds of workforce development grants that span both the non-profit and private sector.

“We understand that people are the drivers of our success, and we want to encourage them to take part in education outside our four walls,” Leung says. “Not only does it benefit the individual, but when they come back, they become better leaders to everyone else around them. It has a huge impact on the entire organization.”

And, Shin agrees. “This course helped me realize my leadership style and helped me identify strategies to achieve better results,” he says. 

That’s a recipe for continued career success.  

Read more about careers:

• How to make more money in Canada: 6 side hustle ideas
• Should you change careers and become an investment advisor?
• Common questions from newcomers about working in Canada
• 10 high-paying jobs that don’t require a degree

About Robert Furtado

Robert is the CEO of CourseCompare, Canada’s marketplace for education. His writing and commentary about higher education, technology and careers has appeared in leading publications across North America.

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