How to apply

Eligibility for the 2024 academic year:

1. You must be of Canadian Indigenous Ancestry (Status, Non-Status, Inuit, or Metis).
2. You need to qualify for entry into University 1. This means you should have graduated from a Manitoba high with five full credits at the Grade 12 level in courses designated S, G, or U. You will also need to have averaged 70% over the following four courses and no less than 60% in each one:
   1. English 40S;
   2. Math 40S;
   3. two academic 40S courses.

See a complete list of 40S academic courses.

Evolving eligibility

You probably noticed that Wawatay is still a new program. As such, we’re still making improvements and changes to match our vision. We are especially focused on building partnerships with the communities of our target students. One important way to do this is by accepting people who are nominated by their community members, who know the students best and see their full potential.

Over the next few years, the Wawatay Program Lead will collaborate with communities to assist in identifying potential Wawatay Scholars. Criteria for acceptance will still include Indigenous ancestry and a high school level education, but it will expand into other areas such as the ability to problem-solve, be inquisitive, hardworking and of course, have an interest and aptitude for science. Students interested in this program should reach out to their community leaders or contact the Wawatay Lead.

Helping you find additional funding

Wawatay will help you complete applications for funding through First Nation Educational Authority, Métis funding programs and other programs that offer scholarships and bursaries.

Wawatay Applications are now closed. For the 2024/2025 academic year. Please check back in November when applications will open for the next academic session.

If you are an Indigenous student currently studying at the University of Manitoba Faculty of Science and have been accepted into the Wawatay Program, you can join the mentorship program as a mentee. As a mentee, you will be paired with Wawatay scholars of higher years or other indigenous mentors in the field of science. Once you get through a few years as a Wawatay scholar, you too can become a mentor to first-year Wawatay students.  If you’re interested and we hope you are, contact us.