Scotiabank is moving ahead with efforts to remove barriers for Aboriginal students pursuing a commerce degree at the University of Saskatchewan.
The financial institution is making a $200,000 contribution for scholarship, bursary and award funding.
Scotiabank’s senior vice-president for the prairie region, George Marlatte, says university officials are in charge of the details:
“What we wanted to do was to say to the university: ‘This is generally how we think you can help Aboriginal students — but we’re not going to tell you how to do your job. Maybe you could find a way to take this money and work it the best way to support the Aboriginal programs’. So it has to be for Aboriginal students, but there’s a lot of flexibililty for . . . the Edwards School of Business.”
Marlatte says top students will receive an Aboriginal Financial Management Diploma, work experience and mentoring.