As part of its commitment to advancing reconciliation and preparing young people for the workforce, Defence Construction Canada (DCC) sponsors bursaries for two Indigenous post-secondary students each year.
The bursaries, each with a value of $2,500, are offered through a national Indigenous educational charity called Indspire. They are open to applicants studying engineering, planning, environmental sciences, construction, IT or finance. This year’s recipients, Keagan Short and Hayden Gendall, are both engineering students.
Keagan, 19, recently finished his second year in the electrical engineering bachelor’s program at the University of Alberta. “Growing up, I always liked to create things,” he says, reflecting on what sparked his interest in the field.
A member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation of Newfoundland, Keagan was raised in Canmore, Alberta. His love of the outdoors fostered a strong connection to the environment, and he hopes to pursue a career in the renewable energy sector after graduation.
The bursary, he says, helped him manage the cost of living in Edmonton, four hours from home. “Rent is expensive,” he adds with a laugh.
Hayden, 20, is a member of the Métis Nation-Saskatchewan. He just completed his first year of civil engineering at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon. “I wanted to utilize my abilities in math and science to help people,” he explains. He used the bursary to help cover living expenses and the cost of attending a two-week surveying camp.
Hayden wasn’t familiar with DCC before applying for the bursary, but he is intrigued by the wide range of projects the organization works on in Saskatchewan. With a strong interest in project management, he says can see himself applying for a summer or full-time position at DCC in the future. “It sounds perfect for me,” he says.