Our donation of $50,000 to Vancouver Island University has supported 19 student awards in the past two years.

“Awards are great incentive for students to focus on their learning and when received instill a sense of pride as they meet their goals,” says Brad Jannaway, Instructor and Department Chair of HMT in Trades and applied Technologies “From a practical standpoint, the award will likely come at a time they really need it and can help them move into their chosen careers.”  

Created with the $50,000 donation, the Paper Excellence Award Fund gives students who did well in the program a financial boost as this graduate. Congratulations to the 19 students who received these $1,000 awards in 2022 and 2023. The 2024 recipient selections will take place between April and August.

The Paper Excellence Award Fund has been set up to support 10 yearly Trades and Applied Technology awards over five years to December 2026. Student selection is based on the award criteria as well as Faculty recommendation. All ten awards have the same criterion, the awards will be available to Trades students with demonstrated strong work ethic and a positive attitude. 

Which programs quality for these awards?

Two $1,000 awards are awarded to students completing the Heavy Mechanical Trades Foundation program and Power Engineering/Process Operator program.

One award of $1,000 are awarded to a student completing each of the following trade programs: Carpentry, Electrical, Fundamentals of Forest Harvesting, Heavy Equipment Operator, Welding, and Aboriginal Construction.

Of Paper Excellence’s original $50,000 donation, there is still more than half remaining. We’re looking forward to supporting more students in the next three years and growing our young trades workforce on Vancouver Island.