OCAD University is launching its most ambitious scholarship program in its 150-year history, offering 150 fully funded undergraduate awards worth $40,000 each.
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University → launch → awards
Beginning next fall, successful applicants will receive $10,000 annually for four years to attend the Toronto-based arts and design school.
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applicants → begin → school
Unveiled Monday night at the Princess of Wales Theatre during a celebration marking OCAD’s anniversary, the program, called 150 FUTURES, is anchored by two $1-million gifts, from philanthropist Nancy McCain and her husband, former federal finance minister Bill Morneau, and from TD Bank Group board chair John MacIntyre and his wife Jan.
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program → unveil → MacIntyre
The university has raised half of the initiative’s $6-million fundraising goal.
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university → raise → goal
McCain, who received an honorary doctorate from OCAD in 2023, said “the rampant curiosity and creativity” she has witnessed on the school’s campus has “taken her breath away.”
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she → receive → breath
“We’ve supported education for decades at universities across the country, which helped us to see how special OCAD is.
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OCAD → support → country
It takes people with real creative instinct, people from all walks of life, and helps them become who they’re meant to be,” McCain said.
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McCain → take → who
The investment comes at a time when Ontario’s post-secondary funding priorities have increasingly emphasized sciences, engineering, health, trades and other labour-market-driven programs.
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priorities → come → sciences
“We hear a lot about STEM these days, and supporting science is essential to our future,” said McCain.
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McCain → hear → future
“A better tomorrow also needs creative people who imagine new possibilities.”
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who → need → possibilities
That creative capacity takes on even greater significance in the age of AI, said OCAD President Ana Serrano.
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Serrano → take → AI
“We need people who have the discipline of attention, the confidence to question what they see and the imagination to bring different ideas together to create something new.
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they → need → something
These habits of thinking and making are what our students cultivate every day.”
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students → cultivate → what
One of Ontario’s smallest universities, OCAD has an enrolment of 4,600.
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OCAD → have → 4,600
The new scholarships represent a substantial increase in student financial support: In 2025-26, the university handed out 936 scholarships, bursaries and awards totalling $1.5 million, with an average of $2,000 going to recipients.
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average → represent → recipients
These new awards are the first to cover full tuition, though they will not provide for living expenses, a significant barrier in one of Canada’s most expensive cities.
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they → cover → cities
This is especially consequential at a time when the Ontario Student Assistance Program has shifted the balance of student aid away from nonrepayable grants toward loans.
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Program → shift → loans
“Many of our students are juggling jobs, financial responsibilities and their studies.
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Many → juggle → jobs
Some are working two or three jobs to make ends meet,” said Serrano.
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Serrano → work → jobs
The scholarships give “students greater financial certainty and the freedom to focus on their education and develop their creative practice.”
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scholarships → give → practice
Recipients will be selected based on “extraordinary creative talent, strong academic achievement and financial need,” although the university has yet to determine how these three criteria will be weighted.
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criteria → select → talent
The scholarships mark a milestone for the institution founded in 1876 as the Ontario School of Art, and which has expanded beyond fine arts to industrial design and digital technology.
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which → mark → design
The school, whose striking tabletop building on McCaul Street has become one of the city’s architectural landmarks, counts among its alumni, members of the Group of Seven, Jack Bush, Rebecca Belmore, Barry Blitt and Olivia Chow.
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building → become → Seven
The Aporia
