External awards are administered to students by agencies and organizations outside of and not related to UBC.
You may be eligible for an external award from:
- The Provincial Government, through British Columbia provincial scholarships
- An association with an employer, union, or club
- Organizations that are looking to assist students studying in a specific field
UBC encourages students to seek out external awards to further fund their studies. There may be additional external award opportunities available to students in specific faculties. Connect with your faculty for more information.
Information for external organizations can be found at the bottom of this page.
Your responsibility as a student
You must communicate with the external award donor to ensure your award is forwarded to the correct office with your student information before the tuition payment deadline. Missing or incorrect information will result in processing delay.
It is important that you are aware of the terms and conditions of the external agency to keep the award funding. If you withdraw from UBC or do not fulfill the external agency’s requirements at any point in the school year, you must contact them to arrange for possible repayment. UBC will not act as the mediator between you and the external agency.
Additional requirements from the external organization
Some external organizations may require a Proof of Enrolment letter and the cost of your tuition before funding is sent to UBC. You can find the Proof of Enrolment on your Student Service Centre (SSC) under Grades and Records. You can find the cost of your tuition by selecting “Tuition History” under Finances.
If you’ve received an external award
External Award Cheque
Cheques can be made payable to UBC and sent to Student Records & Financial Services for processing. Funds will be assigned to your Student Service Center (SSC) account once Enrolment Services confirms that you are registered and are in Good Standing.
Cheques will be processed approximately 4 to 6 weeks from the day Enrolment Services receives the funds.
If your external award cheque is not in Canadian dollars, UBC will deposit the cheque using the currency exchange rate on the day it is processed and not necessarily the day UBC receives it.
To ensure Enrolment Services has the proper information to deposit the cheque, you must provide the external organization with the following information:
- Your full name
- Student number
This information should be written on the face of the cheque in the memo or comments area. Cheques that do not include this information will not be processed.
External Award Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT)
Donors who wish to provide award funds via electronic funds transfer (EFT), should email externalawards.ubco@ubc.ca and provide the following information:
- Student full name
- UBC student number
- Name of the organization who will be sending the EFT transfer to UBCO
- Award amount
- Award name
- Currency (CAD/USD)
Submitting your cheque
If you’re studying at UBC Okanagan
You can drop off your cheque in person at Student Records & Financial Services during regular business hours or mail it to the following address:
Student Records and Financial Services
214 University Centre, 3272 University Way
Kelowna BC, V1V 1V7 Canada
Please write “Attention: External Awards Processing Team” on the front of the mailing envelope.
UBC Vancouver students
External award cheques for students studying at UBC Vancouver should be mailed directly to the following address:
Student Support and Advising, Enrolment Services
#1206-1874 East Mall, Brock Hall
Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z1
Please write “Attention: External awards processing team” on the front of the mailing envelope.
You can find additional information about external awards for students studying on the UBC Vancouver campus.
Accepting the award
After the cheque is processed, you will receive an email notification to log into your Student Service Centre (SSC) to accept the external award.
Awards are first applied to any outstanding tuition fees. Ensure you have direct deposit set up before accepting the award if the award amount is greater than the tuition and fees owing for the term.
T4A tax documents
External award agencies who wish to issue their own T4A tax form should notify Enrolment Services. If the documentation attached to the funding received by UBC does not specify who will issue the T4A tax form to the student, UBC will issue the student a T4A by default in late February.
If you have questions
Please contact the external organization for information about the administration of external awards. Before contacting UBCO External Awards Team, contact the external agency first for questions about incoming funding to UBC.
Information for external organizations
Award processing
Award monies payable to multiple students must be broken down by their name, campus, student number, and email address on the face of the cheque in the cheque memo or comments area. Cheques received without clear instructions and student-identifying information will not be processed and will be returned to the sender.
Awards policy
Upon submission of award funding to be processed by UBC to the external award winner, the external organization is agreeing to follow the UBCO External Award Policy for Donors (pdf). Unfortunately, UBC will not be able to administer the external award if there are conflicts with the UBC policy.
Posting guidelines
UBC does not list external awards offered by corporations or individuals to promote business interests on this site. All awards listed on this page are offered by charities or non-profit organizations.
If any awards on this page are found to demonstrate conflict or violation of human rights, equity and inclusion, they will be removed. UBC is not liable or responsible in any way for the use of private and personal information provided by you to the external agencies. UBC reserves the right to remove postings at its discretion.
If you are interested in posting your award on this page, please consult the UBCO External Award Posting Guidelines (pdf) before contacting UBC.
If your award does not fall within the posting guidelines, consider contacting UBC Development and Alumni Engagement to set up a permanent award for UBC students.
