BONNYVILLE – The MD of Bonnyville has recently adopted a Municipal Scholarship Program Policy, set to start in 2025, to support residents in their post-secondary education in healthcare or veterinary medicine fields.
The policy was discussed and amended during a July 9 council meeting, increasing the scholarship funding from the original motion of three $2,000 scholarships, to three scholarships worth $7,000, $10,000, and $14,000.
“This scholarship program was deemed important given the significant shortage of medical professionals in both human and veterinary medicine in rural Alberta,” explained Esther Quiambao, General Manager of Planning and Community Services with the municipality.
The scholarships will require a return of service - one year for each scholarship. Because the program not only aims to offer financial support to residents seeking post-secondary education, but to help ameliorate the shortage of medical professionals and veterinarians in the MD, preference will be given to applicants who are interested in returning to the community.
“We all know there are shortages in everything, but they always talk about doctors and nurses,” said Reeve Barry Kalinski.
Coun. Ben Fadeyiw highlighted the need not only for financial aid, but a reformation of the system aimed at retention, much of which falls under federal jurisdiction.
Fadeyiw continued to speak about the need for retention efforts in trades and all professions.
Discussions were held about including a trades scholarship, prompted by Fadeyiw’s comments on trade shortages. It was decided that a trades scholarship program will be considered separate from the healthcare and veterinarian scholarship, at a later date.
When Deputy Reeve Josh Crick asked about Coun. Mike Krywiak’s intentions with changing the motion, he replied, “$2,000 is not very much money. It takes a lot of money to go through one of those fields. I have experience with that and so does Coun. Fadeyiw. We need to increase the amount of funding to make this more viable.”
Coun. Don Slipchuk commented that this was a way to invest in the community and encourage people to return and live here, and the $2,000 amount was not enough of an offer to expect a return of service.
Crick suggested that $2,000 is a lot of money for a student, and that they also have opportunities to apply for scholarships elsewhere.
“I just want to get you guys to think about what we spent on our candy budget for July 1, so I mean we've spent more money there than we are looking at a grant program. If we're encouraging cavities, we should encourage having a dentist here to support that,” said Fadeyiw.
Kalinski agreed that the $2,000 scholarship amount was not enough.
“I think we all had that running through our minds. You're absolutely right that it wasn't enough so I'm glad Coun. Krywiak brought it up,” said the reeve.
The original motion for a $2,000 scholarship was later rescinded, allowing for the new motion that included the larger amounts.
