Description
We believe that the promise of a young person is to be found in character. To find Canada’s next generation of leaders, we must look beyond grades and rankings to find the promise of character.
At the Loran Scholars Foundation, we identify and support young people who have the integrity and courage to make difficult decisions, the perseverance to work towards long-term goals, the curiosity to better understand the world around them and the drive to make positive change in their communities.
Every year, our volunteers dedicate over 7,000 hours to selecting up to 36 Loran Scholars from over 5,000 applicants. Our scholars come from all walks of life and every corner of Canada, from Hazelton, BC to Montréal to Fogo Island, NL.
In partnership with 25 Canadian universities and our donors, we challenge our scholars to explore, develop and share their talents. Each Loran Award is valued at up to $100,000 over four years of undergraduate study, including mentorship and summer experiences.
By making long-term investments in the future of Loran Scholars, we’re investing in the future of Canada. See the impact our alumni are making on Canada and the world.
We are an independent charitable organization governed by a board of directors, working in partnership with universities, donors and volunteers. In 2017, the Financial Post once again named us a Top Canadian Charity based on evidence of good governance, financial transparency and clear evidence of impact.
LORAN, short for Long-Range Aid to Navigation, is a system that uses three points (for us, our values of character, service and leadership) to determine one’s course for a long journey. The name emphasizes the lifelong impact and values of being a Loran Scholar.
History
Founded in 1988, the Loran Scholars Foundation was the first national organization in Canada to grant undergraduate awards based on a mix of academic achievement, extracurricular activity and leadership potential.
Our founders responded to what they recognized as a gap in the Canadian system of merit-based financial assistance to university students. Such assistance tended to be directed to two groups - those with exceptionally high academic averages, via university scholarship programs, and those with exceptional abilities as athletes, via national teams programs. Only a small proportion of overall financial aid was directed at those who show promise of the leadership and other talents that will make their communities better places both during and after their university careers.
In the words of our founder Dr. Robert Cluett, at the heart of our work is the belief that “breadth, openness to challenge, and willingness to take risk are many times more important than any quantitative measure of promise.” It is a belief that we still hold quite strongly today.
Before 2007, Loran Awards were known as Canadian Merit Scholarship Foundation National Awards. We changed the name to emphasize the long-term impact of our work and the three pillars of character, service and leadership.
Location
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42 Bell Manor Drive, Etobicoke, ON M8Y 0A4, Canada