The Joyce Family Foundation Bursary is a renewable bursary awarded to students who are blind or partially sighted, and are incoming or are currently in first year level of studies.
The Joyce Family Foundation was created by Canadian entrepreneur Ronald V. Joyce, best known for his 1964 investment in the first Tim Hortons donut shop in Hamilton, Ontario. Joyce went on to grow the business into one of the most successful food service chains in the world. The Foundation’s primary focus is to provide access to education for children and youth with significant financial need or facing other socio-economic barriers to success.
Amount: $6,000 – $8,000
Number Available: Multiple
Opening(s): Scholarship applications are open for spring of 2026
Deadline: June 26, 2026
Criteria
In order to be considered eligible for the above bursary / award, the student must accept the terms of the bursary, which includes mentorship opportunities through the CNIB mentorship pool. All recipients have the opportunity to mentor future scholarship recipients.
Mentoring provides participants with the opportunity to grow and accomplish goals collaboratively. As part of the scholarship program, mentees learn to navigate post-secondary education, along with nurturing skills like networking, presentation, active listening, giving and receiving feedback, and communication.
Additionally, the student themselves should have a high degree of motivation and independence, and should be able to demonstrate a reasonable level of personal achievement. Students must be:
- Blind or partially sighted (less than 20/70 corrected vision)
- A secondary school graduate entering post-secondary education;
- A Canadian citizen or have held landed immigrant status for one year prior to the date of application;
- Highly motivated, independent and able to demonstrate a reasonable level of personal achievement;
How to Apply
Click the following link to access the application.
Students who submit an application are automatically entered into competition for all CNIB Scholarships. Each applicant must submit only one application form to be considered for all available scholarships. Recipients will be determined by the CNIB Scholarship Selection Committee in accordance with its application procedures.
Along with the completed application form, applicants must also submit:
- Proof of secondary education completion;
- A most recent / interim transcript;
- Two letters of reference from a teacher / school official / volunteer supervisor;
- Letter of acceptance from an accredited post-secondary institution, college or university;
- An essay of not more than two pages on the topic “Please tell us how this scholarship will change what it means to be blind for you in your education?” (max 1000 words);
- List other sources of funding, if any
Please note that we receive a very large number of applications and are unable to acknowledge receipt of individual submissions. Only successful candidates will be contacted to be notified of results.
Contact Information
For more information about CNIB’s scholarship program, please email scholarships@cnib.ca.
Last Updated: 2026-05-21