Tourmaline Provides New Funding Infusion for Key Indspire Programs
August 9, 2021.
Indspire is pleased to announce a new partnership with Tourmaline which will provide support to Indigenous students across multiple educational levels. This new funding commitment of $300,000 has two components: one which will support Indigenous high school students and one which will enable Indigenous post-secondary students to fund their education.
The first facet of Tourmaline’s partnership is a $225,000 commitment over three years to assist Indigenous post-secondary students with their education-related expenses. Indspire will manage and distribute the awards through its Building Brighter Futures: Bursaries, Scholarships and Awards program, which enables First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students to pursue post-secondary education and overcome financial barriers to these endeavours.
The other component of Tourmaline’s commitment is a three-year pledge of $75,000 to fund Soaring, Indspire’s Indigenous Youth Empowerment Gathering. Held annually in different venues across the country, Soaring is a gathering for Indigenous high school students to learn about careers and post-secondary educational options by participating in innovative workshops and visiting an extensive tradeshow. It also features engaging performances by notable Indigenous performers, musicians, and speakers.
“We’re so pleased to offer these bursaries to Indigenous students from Alberta and B.C, the two provinces in which Tourmaline operates,” said Michael Rose, Tourmaline’s president and CEO. “We are deeply committed to supporting our communities and future leaders, and hope these financial awards make a meaningful difference in the lives of many students.”
“This new commitment from Tourmaline will not only enable Indspire to continue supporting First Nations, Inuit, and Métis post-secondary students as they pursue their educational goals, it will also enable us to extend our reach to even more Indigenous high school students,” said Dr. Mike DeGagné, President & CEO of Indspire. “By providing support through our BBF program and by becoming one of our Soaring partners, Tourmaline has demonstrated their commitment to ensuring that Indigenous students have the financial means to succeed on their educational journeys.”
The next application deadline for the BBF bursaries is November 1, 2021. Those interested should apply for the bursaries directly through the Indspire website.
About Tourmaline
Tourmaline is Canada’s largest natural gas producer. We are headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, and have significant positions in three of Western Canada’s major resource plays: the Alberta Deep Basin, the northeast British Columbia Montney complex and the Peace River High Charlie Lake complex.
We’re proud to send our natural gas across Canada, into the U.S. and to other markets, warming and powering the lives of many. Our goal is to have the largest, lowest development cost and lowest-emission natural gas supply in North America.
About Indspire
Indspire is an Indigenous national charity that invests in the education of First Nations, Inuit and Métis people for the long-term benefit of these individuals, their families and communities, and Canada. With the support of its funding partners, Indspire provides financial awards, delivers programs and shares resources so that First Nations, Inuit, and Métis students will achieve their highest potential. In 2019-2020, Indspire provided more than $17.8 million through 5,553 bursaries and scholarships to First Nations, Inuit and Métis students across Canada.
For more information, please contact:
Brandon Meawasige
Director, Communications and Marketing
bmeawasige@indspire.ca
647-925-0611
