Embark Student Foundation Awards Over $11M in Grants

Supporting Post-Secondary Student Success on Campuses Across Canada

Since 2023, the Embark Major Grant Program has provided funding to post-secondary institutions to help students continue their education after high school, have the best possible experience while in school and to graduate career-ready, no matter which path they take.

This year’s response was exceptionally strong. Proposals came from institutions across the country and reflected a real commitment to students in every field of study, which made the selection process especially difficult. We’re grateful to every applicant for the time, care, and creativity they put into their submissions.

Congratulations to the following institutions, whose initiatives stood out for their potential to make a meaningful difference in students’ lives.

2026 Embark Major Grant Recipients

About the Embark Major Grant Program

The Embark Major Grant Program provides funding for programs, initiatives or services that support student success before, during and beyond their post-secondary years. Through this grant program, Embark partners with post-secondary educational institutions in their efforts to advance access, agency and innovation that empowers students to take hold of their future.

Embark Student Foundation oversees the Major Grant Program and is a not-for-profit corporation and owner of Embark Student Corp.

About Embark

Embark Student Corp. is a proud resource for education savings and planning in Canada. With over $6 billion in assets under management, the company is committed to empowering families along their post-secondary journeys by giving them the resources and tools they need to better plan and save for all that comes with an education. As a wholly owned subsidiary of Embark Student Foundation, a not-for-profit Canadian corporation, the company, registered as a Scholarship Plan Dealer across Canada, manages almost 600,000 RESPs for Canadians nationwide and helped approximately 53,600 students through post-secondary studies last year.

2026 Embark Major Grant – Program Descriptions

Campaign for Bishop’s Athletics

Bishop’s University

For many student-athletes, scholarships are not simply an advantage; they are the key to accessing higher education. The Campaign for Bishop’s Athletics will provide critical financial support, ensuring that deserving students can choose Bishop’s based on their potential rather than their financial means. In doing so, the University will attract outstanding young leaders who contribute to a vibrant campus experience and continue to make a positive difference in society throughout their lives.

Community Media Lab

Confederation College

The Community Media Lab will enhance opportunities for students from a wide range of academic programs to participate in experiential learning, applied problem-solving, and interdisciplinary research projects that build career-ready skills. At the same time, it will expand the College’s ability to support businesses, municipalities, Indigenous communities, and community organizations across Northwestern Ontario, organizations that often lack the internal applied research and development resources needed to innovate independently.

Embark Immersive Learning Hub

Douglas College

The Hub will create a two-way experiential learning opportunity. Students in participating programs will use immersive simulations to explore complex concepts, practice applied skills, and develop professional judgment in safe, controlled, and repeatable environments. At the same time, Computing Science students will design, develop, test, and refine the underlying AI-enhanced learning applications alongside subject-matter expert faculty members. This creates two connected layers of experiential learning: students in various programs learn through use of the technology, while CS students gain hands-on experience creating technology that addresses authentic educational challenges.

AI-enabled Coding Initiative

McGill University

This multi-faceted program will address AI-enabled coding in practice, from short-form training through to sustained application, prioritizing responsible use and appropriate safeguards. Students will learn not only how to use AI tools to produce code, but how to define problems, evaluate AI-generated solutions, work with domain experts, validate outputs, communicate decisions, identify appropriate safeguards, and assume responsibility for the results. In this way, the initiative will contribute directly to developing responsible AI-ready graduates who can productively combine disciplinary expertise, computational capabilities, and sound judgment in environments where AI is increasingly embedded in professional work.

Embark Success Centre

Memorial University of Newfoundland and Labrador

The Faculty of Business Administration is a significant economic driver, skills-builder for all sectors, and talent pipeline for the Province of Newfoundland.  A high-powered, revitalized Embark Student Success Centre will create meaningful connections between students, staff, and employers that build lasting relationships, align talent with workforce needs, strengthen employer partnerships, and help students launch successful career paths.

Embark on Your Leadership Journey

Mohawk College

The Embark Emerging Leaders Program will build a pipeline of emerging health care leaders through training and mentorship opportunities offered alongside students’ academic programs. By elevating the quality, relevance, and training of students in the Faculty of Health, graduates will enter the workforce as career-ready professionals equipped with the skills, practical experience, and leadership training employers need most. This program will benefit the patients and the families these students will one day serve, ensuring they receive care shaped by confident, compassionate, and capable leaders.

Skills at Work: Transforming Trades Training Spaces

New Brunswick Community College

To advance innovation and improve access, NBCC is undertaking a transformative Saint John Campus Redevelopment project, including a three-storey, eight-bay construction environment mimicking residential plumbing installations, with improved functionality, access, safety, and instructor line of sight. The Embark Major Grant will support this capital project and create the Embark Career Success Fund. This fund is designed to eliminate financial barriers at a key juncture in the student journey, when tuition is paid, training is acquired, and coursework is complete, but expenses for specialized on-the-job clothing, protective equipment, and gear stand between NBCC graduands and their first paycheque.

Indigenous Student Success Pathways 2.0

Niagara College

A 2023 Embark Major Grant supported the establishment of the Indigenous Student Success Pathways initiative which has helped create an environment in which Indigenous students are not simply welcomed at Niagara College – they are supported, celebrated, connected, and empowered to succeed. Continued funding will build on that momentum, allowing Niagara College to reach more students, respond to emerging needs, strengthen retention and persistence, and extend the impact of the initiative well beyond graduation and into students’ careers, communities, and future leadership.

AI-empowered Literacy and Multiliteracy Innovations

Ontario Tech University

Strong reading and writing skills are fundamental to academic success and workforce readiness. Yet research points to a growing literacy crisis among post-secondary students, particularly the first generation to complete their studies in an AI-saturated environment, as well as urban youth navigating a complex web of social and educational challenges. To address these emerging needs, this initiative will leverage AI to develop two long-term programs that strengthen multiliteracy, academic literacy, mentorship, and career aspirations, equipping both youth and Ontario Tech students with the skills and confidence needed to succeed in school, work, and life.

Enhancing a Caring Campus

Red Deer Polytechnic

While open to all Red Deer Polytechnic students, the Embark Student Foundation Wellness Commons will be strategically located in the trades wing on the Polytechnic’s main campus, supporting a predominately young male population that may face barriers to seeking help for mental health challenges. The welcoming, nature-inspired space will offer opportunities to pause, decompress, connect with others and practice healthy approaches to managing stress between classes and practical training activities. While it is not intended to replace professional mental-health care, it will complement RDP’s existing student supports by helping normalize conversations about well-being and creating an environment in which seeking support feels more approachable.

Student Opportunity Ecosystem

St. Francis Xavier University

Every year, StFX students take part in a rich range of academic, experiential, research, community and career-connected opportunities that help them develop skills, confidence, relationships, and readiness for what comes next. Extensive consultation across the university has identified a consistent challenge: these opportunities are distributed across programs, departments, offices, websites, systems, and informal networks, making them harder for students to find, navigate and connect. With support from Embark, StFX will help bring this landscape of opportunity into clearer view. The goal is to make meaningful experiences more visible, connected and equitably accessible to students across programs and backgrounds, while reducing barriers to participation.

Embark Business Academy

Toronto Metropolitan University – DMZ

Embark funding enabled DMZ to launch a free, 14-week virtual career accelerator in 2026, combining live training in business fundamentals, AI fluency, and career readiness with a paid, team-based capstone project for top participants. Results were strong: students reported significantly greater workforce readiness, while employer partners described capstone teams as “genuine strategic assets.” Additional funding will support two more years of programming, enhanced curriculum, increased student compensation, and expanded professional development opportunities.

Embark Student Mental Health Accelerator Fund

Trent University

Supporting students during the transition to university is critical to their academic success, personal well-being, and long-term resilience. The Mental Health Accelerator Fund will be used to transform services with multiple entry points and navigation paths to one ecosystem that provides students with seamless access to digital and human support. With an integrated support ecosystem, students can access four levels of support, from self-service options through to complex case management.

Embark Social Sciences, Humanities & Arts (SSHA) Education-to-Employment Mentorship Program

University of the Fraser Valley – Community Health and Social Innovation (CHASI) Hub

This student-centered, faculty-led program will help social sciences, humanities, and arts (SSHA) students, particularly those from equity-deserving groups, build confidence, gain relevant experience, and navigate the transition from education to employment. Working with students throughout their undergraduate studies, the program will combine evidence-informed mentorship, data-informed career mapping, and applied work experiences to help students identify career pathways and articulate the value of their education. Aligned with UFV’s commitment to preparing students for meaningful careers, the program recognizes the challenges students may face in accessing and sustaining employment after graduation and aims to equip them with the confidence, experience, and in-demand skills needed to succeed in a changing labour market.

Public Sociology Lab

Université Laval

The Laboratory was founded on the belief that sociology should inform public discourse, deepen understanding of pressing social issues, and help build more inclusive, equitable, and resilient communities, while growing as an academic discipline. In an era of increasing inequality and polarized debate, it gives students opportunities to apply their knowledge through projects that engage diverse audiences and make sociological insights more accessible. This commitment to engaged sociology is reflected in a dynamic space for learning, research, and community engagement that strengthens connections between the university and society. Funding will expand program delivery and enable more students to benefit from these high-impact experiential learning opportunities.

Boosting Math Skills for High School Students

University of Manitoba

This innovative partnership between the University of Manitoba and JUMP Math will help more students successfully transition from high school to post-secondary education. Through the Math Skills Booster initiative, students in Grades 10-12 will receive targeted math support and mentorship from university students, strengthening the skills required for admission to many post-secondary programs. By combining JUMP Math’s evidence-based teaching approach with the University of Manitoba’s mentor network, the program addresses critical learning gaps, builds confidence, and expands pathways to higher education and future career success.

Embark Drug Discovery Training Program

University of Toronto Mississauga

Canada’s bio-economy will need 65,000 more skilled workers by 2029, however, the hands-on training that prepares students for drug-discovery careers rarely reaches them before graduate school. Research capacity necessary to achieve pharmaceutical sovereignty starts at the bench with researchers and students who can run the techniques drug discovery depends on, before a drug trial or manufacturing line is contemplated. The Embark Drug Discovery Training Program is a new initiative that will connect existing UTM programs into a single pathway that takes Canadian students from first exposure to a career in drug discovery, through technical training and validation, to the option of founding a company.

EmpowerAbility: Workforce Transitions and Career Readiness for Students with Disabilities

York University

With the support of an Embark Major Grant, York University launched EmpowerAbility in 2025 — the first-of-its-kind career-transition program for students with disabilities. Through the program design and implementation process, new barriers and opportunities have become apparent beyond the scope of the original vision. Additional funding will enable EmpowerAbility to expand its reach on all York U campuses, strengthening its capacity, and deepening its impact through activities shaped by priorities, such as digital skills literacy and certification, identified through the co-design process.