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Memorial Ribbon Scholarships

Benefitting the Children of Fallen Officers

The Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial Ribbon Society’s Memorial Ribbon Scholarship was created to offer the children of fallen officers the opportunity to attend a post secondary school anywhere in Canada.

On February 3, 2011 the Society and Memorial Ribbon Scholarship Chair, C. Scott M. Shepherd, attended Parliament Hill to officially announce the launch of the Scholarship. Scott Shepherd’s speech to the guests in attendance explained the Scholarship and put forward a challenge to post-secondary institutions to take up the cause of the Memorial Ribbon Scholarship (view text of speech – PDF).

The scholarship will pay for tuition and books, (up to $50,000) for courses or programs of study leading to an undergraduate degree or diploma. The scholarship will be administered by the Memorial Ribbon Scholarship Advisory Council which is a working group of like-minded leaders within the community who support the Memorial Ribbon Society and its objectives.

An overview of scholarship eligibility and other details is provided below. Please review the complete Memorial Ribbon Scholarship Regulations (PDF).

Download Scholarship Application

Eligibility

Any child, born within or outside marriage, including an adopted child, of a Canadian Police or Peace Officer (as defined in the Society By-Laws) who has died in the ‘line of duty’ (as defined in the Society By-Laws), may apply for a scholarship.

The child:

  • Must be between ages of 18-26 years at the time of application.
  • Must be registered, as a full time or part-time student, at an approved post secondary educational institution (university, college, technical college).

An approved post-secondary educational institute means a post-secondary educational institution in Canada that is a designated educational institution in subsection 118.6 (1) (a) (I) of the Income Tax Act (Canada), such as a Canadian university or college of applied arts and technology. (See Definition of Terms in the complete Memorial Ribbon Scholarship Regulations (PDF) for designated educational institution.)

To be considered a post-secondary program for scholarship purposes, the entrance requirements must be:

  1. A Secondary School Diploma (of a secondary school recognized by the Municipality or Province of its location, or equivalent; or
  2. Mature student status as determined by institution policy.

Qualified recipients must apply each year for scholarship to the Scholarship Advisory Council (SAC) using the form supplied via the Memorial Ribbon Society website.

To be considered for a scholarship from the Fund, a surviving child must meet the following requirements:

Applies, qualifies, and is admitted as a full-time, part-time, or summer school student in an approved course or program of study at an approved post-secondary educational institution in Canada;

Applies to the Fund for the first time before the age of 27 if they are a surviving child; however, depending on the circumstances, a first-time applicant over 27 years of age may be considered on a case by case basis;

Has not, at the time of the first application, already been awarded a bachelor’s degree;

Provides evidence satisfactory to the Fund that:

a. He / she is the child of a police or peace officer slain in the ‘line of duty’;

b. He / she has been admitted to an approved course or program of study (for which a scholarship is being sought) at an approved post-secondary educational institution; and

c. He / she meets the other requirements of the eligibility criteria;

d. Provides proof of satisfactory academic progress (as defined by the post-secondary institution where he/she is enrolled) in order to continue receiving the scholarship for each subsequent semester or term. Consideration may be given, under extenuating circumstances, for unsatisfactory academic progress in assessing the continuation of a scholarship for a subsequent semester or term.

Scholarship Criteria

Scholarship will pay up to but no more than 80% of tuition and books, per year for no more than four years, up to a total of $50,000 at an approved Post Secondary Education Institution.

Applications for a scholarship to a post secondary education, for qualified recipients, will be up to the discretion of the Scholarship Advisory Council (SAC) on a case by case basis.

Applications for a scholarship, for qualified recipients, to elementary, middle, or high schools, including private or special schools, will be up to the discretion of the Scholarship Advisory Council (SAC) on a case by case basis.

Eligible Expenses

Tuition and Textbooks

Items to be considered include tuition and related fees, textbooks and related study items.

Limitations

A scholarship may be issued only for:

  • Those courses or programs of study leading to an undergraduate degree or diploma, and would not be available for any courses or programs of study beyond those that are required for that degree or diploma
  • The cost of tuition fees and textbooks for courses leading to one undergraduate degree or one diploma only, up to a maximum of four years; exceptions may be considered on an individual basis by the SAC. A scholarship would not be issued to fund concurrent or multiple degrees or diplomas

Although applicants would not be required to meet criteria for financial need, the amount of the scholarship will be reduced by the amount of any other bursary funding or scholarship received by the applicant. The scholarship will not be reduced by money received from student loans, bursaries from an association to which the deceased police or peace officer belonged, or by insurance benefits resulting from the death of the police or peace officer.

Participating Institutions

The following schools have taken up the Police and Peace Officers’ Memorial Ribbon Society’s challenge and have partnered with the Society in supporting the Memorial Ribbon Scholarship:

Institutions wishing to learn more about the Scholarship are encouraged to contact the Society’s Scholarship Manager at scholarship@memorialribbon.org.