Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Canada Iceland Foundation

Canada Iceland Foundation is a registered charitable foundation that emerged from the Icelandic-Canadian community in the late 1950s to serve as a central funding body for community-wide initiatives. Rather than operating as a single membership association, it pools gifts and estate donations from individuals and families to support non-profit cultural, educational, and scholarship activities connected to Icelandic heritage in Canada.

The Foundation administers a portfolio of endowed funds that finance recurring scholarships and grants. Each year it awards several scholarships to students pursuing post-secondary education in a range of disciplines, including Icelandic language and literature, nursing, architecture and fine arts, plant science, law, and general undergraduate studies. Many of these awards are tied to named memorial endowments established by donors and families.

The Foundation manages both application-based and non-application scholarships. Application-based awards are advertised on its website and in Icelandic-Canadian media, and are open to Canadian students who submit a general application form. A single application allows the scholarship committee to match candidates with all eligible Foundation scholarships, with priority sometimes given to first-time applicants. There are also automatic or nomination-based scholarships, such as the Margrét Bjarnason Scholarships in the Evergreen School Division and awards selected by faculty at the University of Manitoba and the University of Alberta.

Beyond general academic support, the Foundation specifically promotes Icelandic studies and Icelandic-Canadian scholarship. Dedicated funds support students in the University of Manitoba’s Department of Icelandic Language and Literature and provide grants for young Canadians participating in the Snorri Program in Iceland. These programs help sustain linguistic, literary, and cultural connections between Canada and Iceland.

In addition to individual scholarships, Canada Iceland Foundation offers grants to organizations for scholarly, historical, and cultural programs and projects. Its grant application process asks non-profit agencies to describe their mission, governance, geographic area of service, project budget, and community need. Eligible projects can include regular operating support, special projects, or one-time capital initiatives that advance Icelandic-Canadian culture and history.

Examples highlighted by the Foundation include support for the Stephan G. Stephansson Icelandic Society and funding for a photographic documentation project connected to a bus tour marking the 150th anniversary of Icelandic settlement in Manitoba. These grants demonstrate the Foundation’s role in enabling local societies and cultural groups to commemorate and interpret Icelandic heritage across Canada.

A flagship program is the Goodman Writer’s Grant, a multi-year $4,000 grant administered by the Foundation to assist emerging writers. Eligible works must be written in English and focus on the Icelandic-Canadian presence, its history, or related Icelandic and North American themes. The program details deadlines, submission expectations, and publication intentions, and it has supported book projects and scholarly monographs that deepen understanding of Icelandic migration and culture in Canada.

Through this grant and its broader scholarship portfolio, the Foundation backs advanced research, graduate studies, and creative projects. Past recipients include historians and scholars whose work is being prepared for publication with academic presses, showing the Foundation’s impact on both academic and public knowledge of Icelandic-Canadian experience.

The Foundation’s board includes representatives from key Icelandic-Canadian organizations such as the Icelandic Festival of Manitoba, Icelandic Canadian Frón, Lögberg-Heimskringla, the Icelandic National League of North America, the Icelandic Collection at the University of Manitoba Libraries, and the Department of Icelandic Language and Literature at the University of Manitoba. This structure ensures that funding decisions remain closely aligned with community needs and cultural priorities.

Over more than half a century, Canada Iceland Foundation has become a central mechanism for channeling philanthropic support into scholarships, grants to youth and cultural programs, and the preservation and promotion of Icelandic heritage in Canada. Its combination of endowed awards, open-call scholarships, and project-based grants offers sustained, diversified financial support across generations.