Bursary FAQ
COEO is excited to be offering a new bursary program this year! Rather than applying via email, you will now be able to purchase a bursary registration directly on the website. There are a limited number of registrations available for the fall conference for students and the broader public who need financial support to attend the Annual Fall Conference. To purchase, you simply have to select that option during online registration – no questions asked. These registrations are on a first come, first serve basis. Unfortunately, once these bursaries are gone, we will not be able to offer any others for this conference. If you are able and interested, COEO members will also have the option of contributing to the bursary fund while registering for the conference.
Who do we want to use these registrations?
There are many reasons that folks may need financial support to come to COEO. If any of the following criteria describe you and you need financial support to come to COEO, consider a bursary ticket.
- You’re a post-secondary student
- You’re a new professional (in the outdoor industry for less than 3 years)
- You’re from a marginalized group (ex., indigenous, racialized, 2SLGBTQIA+)
- You’ve had a recent significant change in personal circumstances that has created a financial stress
Why are we doing it differently this year?
We want COEO to be accessible to as many folks as possible. There are many factors that could contribute to the registration price being a financial barrier to folks coming to a COEO conference. We wanted to streamline the process and not have folks feel like they need to prove to us that they deserve to come and deserve some financial support. If you need financial support and you see yourself as meeting any of our suggested criteria, you can purchase a bursary registration.
What can you do to help our bursary fund?
Our bursary fund exists because of donations. We have fundraisers at our conferences (silent and live auctions) that currently represent most of the funding to the bursary program. COEO is exploring new ways to fundraise so that we can expand our bursary program and offer more bursaries in the future. If you would like to help contribute to the bursary fund, consider adding a contribution to the bursary fund when registering for the conference online.
If you have any fundraising ideas for the bursary fund (particularly ones that draw on funds from outside the COEO community), please get in touch with COEO at info@coeo.org.
If I get a bursary, do I still need to get a membership?
Yes, if you purchase a bursary, you still need a membership. Our membership fees are what keep us running as an organization and we are unable to function without them.
How did you come up with the number of bursary registration available?
We looked at how many people had applied for full or partial bursaries in the past and the maximum amount of money we could spend from our bursary fundraising efforts to support people coming to our conference. We tried to balance helping as many people as possible with also helping some cover the full conference amount. We hope to continue to grow the bursary fund so that in the future we can offer more bursaries.