Canadian funders offer grants that can help fund VEX Robotics teams, robotics organizations, and school technology programs, covering equipment, materials, and competition costs. This article summarizes the main Canadian funding opportunities and where to find the full details. It is written for coaches, mentors, teachers, and organization administrators looking for funding for their teams in Canada.
Definitions of the terms used here are maintained in the central glossary.
For an overview of where to start your funding search, see Finding Funding for Your VEX Robotics Team.
Canadian Funding Opportunities
The full, maintained table of Canadian funding opportunities lives in the VEX Library at Canada Funding Sources. Highlights include:
- Best Buy Canada Teen Tech Grants and Teen Tech Teams – Up to $10,000 for school technology, with the Teen Tech Teams grant designed specifically for robotics competition teams and funding materials plus a laptop. Open to Canadian secondary schools only. See bestbuy.ca for details.
- NSERC PromoScience – Grants of up to $200,000 per year for three years from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, supporting hands-on STEM programming for young Canadians, with priority for programming that reaches underrepresented groups. Open to Canadian registered nonprofit organizations, post-secondary institutions, and non-federal museums and science centres delivering ongoing programming; schools and school boards cannot apply directly, so a school-based team would need to work through an eligible nonprofit partner. Applications are due annually on September 15, and NSERC generally funds up to one-third of a program's costs.
Grant amounts, deadlines, and eligibility rules change from year to year, so always confirm the details on each funder's own site before applying.
Questions About Canadian Funding
If you know of a Canadian grant program that should be listed, or have questions about funding for your team, reach out to your Program Support Team through events.vex.com/support.