The Aimia | AGO Photography Prize Scholarship Program awards three $7,000 CAD scholarships each year to students entering the final year of study toward Bachelor of Fine Arts degrees with a focus or major in photography at select Canadian academic institutions. The scholarship is the first major scholarship program administered by a major Canadian art and culture prize.

The Scholarships are awarded to students working in photography who have shown extraordinary potential throughout their undergraduate studies. For the purposes of the Scholarship Program, “photography” is defined broadly: submissions can include video, photo-based installation, and other lens-based artwork.

Each academic partner institution will form a jury of three faculty to review their students' submissions and select one finalist. The finalists will be evaluated by the Scholarship Program jury, consisting of two representatives from the Art Gallery of Ontario and a previous winner of the Aimia | AGO Photography Prize. Each year, the jury will select three winners, who will each receive $7000 CAD. Additionally, the home institutions of the winning students will each receive $1000 CAD honorariums.

The three winners of the scholarship and a faculty member of their respective institution will be invited to Toronto for a reception in the students' honour at the AGO with all expenses and travel paid by Aimia and the AGO.

For the inaugural year of the Scholarship, our partner institutions are: OCAD University, Ryerson University, Concordia University, Emily Carr University of Art + Design, Nova Scotia College of Art and Design University (NSCAD), Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD), Université du Québec and the University of Manitoba.

May 2013
Scholarship program announced

October 2013
Collateral material, artistic criteria, and submission guidelines delivered to academic partner institutions.

February 2014
Online submission process opens.

March 2014
Submissions close.