MONTREAL, Jan. 10, 2017 – The Horatio Alger Association of Canada today unveiled the names of the 85 students chosen to receive its post-secondary scholarships.

The winners include five recipients of the $10,000 Horatio Alger National Entrepreneurial Scholarships, awarded to students who demonstrate a desire and ability to be entrepreneurial in a chosen field, and 80 Horatio Alger Canadian Scholarships valued at $5,000 each.

Horatio Alger scholarships are awarded annually to deserving high school and CEGEP students in financial need who have overcome significant adversity while demonstrating strength of character, strong academics, a commitment to pursuing higher education as well as a desire to contribute to society.

Funds can be used for both post-secondary vocational or university studies. Since 2012, close to $2 million in scholarships have been awarded to 387 deserving young Canadians.

Prem Watsa, the President of the Horatio Alger Association of Canada and a Member of the organization since 2012, congratulated this year’s winners.

“Each year, our Association looks for the hardest working, most deserving Canadian students to award our post-secondary scholarships. Our 85 scholarship recipients for 2017 make us proud, and we are honoured to help them as they strive to overcome adversity,” said Mr. Watsa. “On behalf of the Members of the Horatio Alger Association, I want to congratulate them on their inspiring achievements.”

The Association received thousands of applications from coast to coast to coast, with each submission confirming the necessity of these needs-based scholarships. The average annual family income of the recipients was $22,297. The adversities faced by these applicants include death of a parent or guardian, incarceration of a parent or guardian, abandonment by a parent or guardian, living in foster care, various forms of abuse, and physical or mental disabilities. At the same time, recipients maintain exceptionally high grades, with many of them still finding the time to work during the school year.

The five (5) Horatio Alger National Entrepreneurial Scholarship recipients are as follows:

Sukhmanpreet Bajwa, Surrey, British Columbia
Kwaze Gayle, Toronto, Ontario
Joshua Hewa Batuwitage, Toronto, Ontario
Phillip Kelly, Collingwood, Ontario
Coltyn Liu, Vancouver, British Columbia

The eighty (80) Horatio Alger Canadian Scholarship recipients are as follows:

Hannah Abbey, Slocan Park, British Columbia
Ryanne Adams, Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Shadia Adekunte, Vaughan, Ontario
Eva Alie, London, Ontario
Namratha Badawadagi, Calgary, Alberta
Kayla Beals, Eastern Passage, Nova Scotia
Marie-Gabrielle Béchard, Courtenay, British Columbia
Sarah Berod, Victoria, British Columbia
Anna Boukina, Gatineau, Quebec
Nathaniel Brown, Shelburne, Nova Scotia
Savannah Campbell, Elmira, Ontario
Annaleise Carr, Simcoe, Ontario
Wesley Chang, Surrey, British Columbia
Jennifer Chou, Surrey, British Columbia
Umrin Chowdhury, Toronto, Ontario
Jessie Christie, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Vivian Chu, Toronto, Ontario
Gabriella Contrino, Notre-Dame-de-l’Île-Perrot, Quebec
Sasha Decker, Toronto, Ontario
Jaskarn Dhaliwal, Abbotsford, British Columbia
Michaela Dickens, Springfield, Nova Scotia
David Doan, Surrey, British Columbia
Nadeen Elshawish, London, Ontario
Chantel Findlay, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia
Élexie Francis-Prescod, Mississauga, Ontario
Samantha Fuller, Armstrong, British Columbia
Megan Glover, Bay Bulls, Newfoundland and Labrador
Alexandria Green, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Jimmy Gu, Edmonton, Alberta
Michelle Guimond, Winnipeg, Manitoba
Rahel Gunaratne, Ottawa, Ontario
Rayanne Gwilliam, Wolseley, Saskatchewan
Chevy Halvorson, Spruce Grove, Alberta
Harmeet Hans, Windsor, Ontario
Rosemarie Hartman, Elmira, Ontario
Khansa Hasan, Scarborough, Ontario
Nathalia Herrera, Coquitlam, British Columbia
Becky Herzog, Kelowna, British Columbia
Yufeng Huang, Edmonton, Alberta
Husayn Jamal, Kitchener, Ontario
Salisa Jatuweerapong, Richmond, British Columbia
Luna Kawano, Banff, Alberta
Maheen Khan, Surrey, British Columbia
Eimaan Khan, Niagara Falls, Ontario
Dylan Kryskow, Smiths Falls, Ontario
Marie-Soleil Leclerc, Granby, Quebec
Cathleen Leone, Scarborough, Ontario
Georgia Masaki, Maple Ridge, British Columbia
Erin McCubbin, Thunder Bay, Ontario
Rayanne McLuskey, West Kelowna, British Columbia
Christine Nguyen, Bradford, Ontario
Iqra Nisa, Toronto, Ontario
Emily O’Leary, Glace Bay, Nova Scotia
Michael Ong, Oshawa, Ontario
Joanne Ong, Toronto, Ontario
Emma Palmer, Bracebridge, Ontario
Ajay Patel, St. Catharines, Ontario
Rachel Penman, Putnam, Ontario
Anna Phipps, East Gwillimbury, Ontario
Marguerite Poyton, North Bay, Ontario
Nadeea Rahim, Ottawa, Ontario
Zohreh Rezaiemanesh, Coquitlam, British Columbia
Alexis Riley, Toronto, Ontario
Olivia Rocha, Pickering, Ontario
Cecilia Rozario, Toronto, Ontario
Ivan Sadovsky, Surrey, British Columbia
Salma Saleh, London, Ontario
Nga Yi (Kelly) Sit, Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island
Sharon Smith, Windsor, Ontario
Jessica Sparrow, Kenton, Manitoba
Spencer Spiegelman, Toronto, Ontario
Grace Stickle, Penticton, British Columbia
Victoria Stock-Belanger, Bowmanville, Ontario
Julian Stokes, New Hazelton, British Columbia
Tommy Tang, Toronto, Ontario
Thomas Terpstra, Brantford, Ontario
Julie Thibodeau, Burnt Church, New Brunswick
Brianna Vuong, Toronto, Ontario
Shanice Walters, Toronto, Ontario
Julia White, Kaslo, British Columbia

About the Horatio Alger Association of Canada

The Horatio Alger Association of Canada, the Canadian affiliate of the Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, Inc., is a charitable organization dedicated to the simple but powerful belief that hard work, honesty and determination can conquer all obstacles. The Association honours the achievements of outstanding individuals who have succeeded in spite of adversity by bestowing to them the Horatio Alger Award and granting them lifetime membership into the Association. Through the generosity of Horatio Alger Members, the Horatio Alger Association of Canada awards scholarships annually to deserving young people in every province and territory. Members of the Association include Dominic D’Alessandro, Murray Edwards, Serge Godin, Wayne Gretzky, Rebecca MacDonald, the late G. Wallace F. McCain, the Right Honourable Brian Mulroney, Jim Pattison, Gerald W. Schwartz, Isadore Sharp, Prem Watsa and Rick Waugh. Alain Bouchard will be inducted into the Association as a Member in the spring of 2017. For more information, visit www.horatioalger.ca. The Association can also be found on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

For further information:
Tom Kott, HATLEY Strategy Advisors, 514.316.7082, [email protected]