Applications are being accepted for a series of scholarships offered through the Ontario Trucking Association’s Education Foundation.

Offered in amounts of $1,000 for college and $1,500 for university, they can help fund tuition and other academic fees.

Applicants must meet eligibility criteria and be sponsored by an Ontario trucking company or supplier that employs or contracts an applicant’s parent. Students also need to write a brief essay that answers a question about the trucking industry.

“With tuition and related fees on a steady upward climb, financial assistance from scholarships is increasingly important for students,” says Scott Tilley, chairman of the OTA Education Foundation. “I encourage members of the Ontario trucking industry to continue to support this unique scholarship opportunity that has been established for children of parents who make their livelihoods in trucking.”

Students entering their first year of post-secondary education directly after high school are eligible to apply for the JO Goodman, Bud Barr, George P. Ledson, or CV Hoar Awards. Applicants are assessed on criteria including academic achievement, service to community, and participation in extracurricular activities. Winners for these three awards are chosen by the foundation’s selection committee.

General scholarships are funded by annual donations, which largely come from Ontario businesses in trucking and allied trades.

The foundation’s endowed scholarships include:

• Bison Transport Scholarship — awarded to a fulltime student enrolled in a recognized transportation, logistics, human resources, or business program at a Canadian college or university.
• Don Anderson Haulage Business and Technology Scholarships — awarded to two graduating Stouffville District Secondary School students with high overall averages who are attending college to study business or technology.
• The Erb Group of Companies ‘Service to Community’ Scholarship — awarded to a first-year post-secondary student enrolled in a public Ontario college or university, who demonstrates a commitment to his or her community through involvement in community and/or charitable volunteer work.
• Glasvan Great Dane Truck Trailer Service Technician Scholarship — awarded to two high-achieving students enrolled in the truck-trailer service technician program at Centennial College.
• Grant’s Transport Mathematics Scholarship — awarded to the top university-bound math student graduating from Timiskaming District Secondary School.
• JD Smith and Sons “Leaders of Tomorrow” Scholarship — awarded to a university student who demonstrates a commitment to community, school, or other volunteer undertaking through exemplary leadership qualities.
• Omnitracs Mike Ham Memorial Scholarship — awarded to a first-year post-secondary student enrolled in a public Canadian university or college who is studying transportation, logistics, human resources, technology, or communications.
• OTA Allied Trades Scholarships — awarded to one university student and one college student who have completed at least one year of post-secondary education, and who have demonstrated a strong commitment to academic performance.
• OTA Professional Driver Memorial Scholarship — awarded to one university student who is the son or daughter of a professional truck driver. The scholarship honors the memory of David Virgoe, a truck driver who died in 2007 in a crash caused by street racers.
• Trailcon Leasing Trailer Service Technician Scholarship — awarded to one student registered in the truck-trailer service (co-op) program at Conestoga College.
• TST-CF Express International Transportation and Customs Scholarship — awarded to the two top academic students entering their second year of the international transportation and customs program at Seneca College.