Applications are open from October 28, 2024, to November 26, 2024, 11:59 PM (local time).
Late entries will not be considered.
PRIZE DESCRIPTION 2025
- There will be twenty (20) Awards available consisting of a fully-funded, week-long educational program to Belgium and France to study Canada’s First World War contributions.* The itinerary includes museum, cemetery, historic site and battlefield visits. Scroll down to see a sample VPA itinerary.
- The Award includes: air travel to and from Europe for each participant, emergency medical travel insurance, accommodations, meals, museum access and other educational visits, and transportation to and from all scheduled activities.
- Each Award recipient will have five (5) days from the day on which they are contacted by the Vimy Foundation and informed that they have been declared the winner to make their decision to accept participation in the program. Winners must obtain permission from their parent(s)/guardian(s) and prove that they either have valid travel documents or proof of application for the documents within two (2) weeks of being selected (at their cost).
- The program will take place from April 2-10, 2025. An outline of the itinerary is below.
- The Vimy Foundation reserves the right to change or modify the Award location, the format of the program, the itinerary, and/or dates due to unforeseen circumstances or otherwise. The Vimy Foundation is not responsible if weather conditions, event cancellations, strikes, lockouts, labour disturbances or other events beyond the Vimy Foundation’s reasonable control limits or restrict access to any of the planned excursions or locations during the program. The Vimy Foundation makes no representations or warranties with respect to the Award.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
- Personal expenses are the sole responsibility of the participant. Any meals, beverages, or snacks purchased while in national and international transit and during “free time” shall also be the sole responsibility of the participant. Any lost, misplaced, or stolen items are the participant’s responsibility. Should a participant be expelled from the program or should they choose to leave the program, the cost of their return transportation home will be the responsibility of their parent(s)/guardian(s).
- The Award is non-negotiable and non-transferable.
- No change in travel arrangements for the program can be made by participants nor their parent(s)/guardian(s). Participants must be available to depart from their hometown at a specified time on April 2, 2024 and must return to their hometown on April 10, 2025. The Vimy Foundation will not accommodate any requests for changes in travel or itinerary.
- If a prize recipient decides to withdraw from the program once payments have been made for their participation (e.g.: flights, lodging, meals, transportation, etc.), parent(s)/guardian(s) must refund the Vimy Foundation for payments already made on their child’s behalf. As such, the credit card information provided will be charged to cover said costs.
PLEASE NOTE: The Vimy Pilgrimage Award (VPA) is first and foremost an intensive educational program which requires full engagement and may pose potential challenges. Applicants should take into consideration that the VPA program itinerary not only includes full days of educational content, but also a great deal of walking in and around cemeteries, historical sites, and museums, including climbing steep, long staircases. The nature of the program’s content can also be a very intense, emotional experience for some as the focus is on the First World War. Please consider all of the above when applying.
To maximize health and safety conditions, participants must meet Canadian and European Union government requirements related to COVID-19 or other circumstances, as well as requirements outlined by the Vimy Foundation, in order to travel in April 2025. Such requirements may include, but are not limited to, proof of vaccination against COVID-19, mask-wearing, and COVID-19 testing.
*Potential travel restrictions or health and safety concerns related to the COVID-19 pandemic or other circumstances mean that the Vimy Foundation can not guarantee that recipients will travel to France and Belgium in April. By accepting the Award, recipients agree to participate regardless of the location or format of the program.
ENTRY INFORMATION
- Applications will be open from October 28 to November 26, 2024 11:59 PM (local time). Late entries will not be considered.
- The Vimy Pilgrimage Award recognizes the actions of young people who demonstrate a commitment to their community through outstanding service, volunteer work, positive contributions, notable deeds, and bravery. Their acts may serve their peers, school, community, province or country.
- Applicants are required to submit a 500-word essay describing their community work; a 500-word essay on a specific question or subject posted in the application form; a personal statement video; a resume detailing their relevant experiences; and a reference letter from a teacher, guidance counsellor or principal, service club, volunteer organization, etc. In choosing Award winners, the Award Committee will take into consideration all elements submitted for the application with special emphasis placed on the applicant’s volunteer work/service to their community. If this is not first the time applying to this program the applicant must not submit the same application elements from previous years. They should submit new elements (community contribution, essay, letter of reference, personal statement video) so that we have their most updated work.
- Applicants should use their own words and cite their sources when writing their essay. The Vimy Foundation reserves the right to check possible plagiarism or use of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Papers suspected of plagiarism or of being generated by an AI will not be considered in the application.
- All selected winners must provide proof of a valid passport for travel or proof that an application for a new passport has been submitted within two (2) weeks of being selected.
- Entries will only be accepted in the online form.
- Applicants must be 15 to 17 years of age for the entire duration of the Awarded program (April 2-10, 2025).
- Odds of winning will be determined by the total number of entries received.
- The twenty (20) winning applicants will be selected by the Awards Committee from all eligible entries received by the Vimy Foundation whose decision is final. No responsibility is assumed for delayed, lost, stolen, or misdirected entries. Contest entries are void if incomplete, not legible, or if they contain errors.
- By entering this contest, the applicant agrees that any information submitted to the Vimy Foundation becomes the property of the Vimy Foundation, to publish online or in print at their discretion and, should they win, an applicant’s photo may be posted and/or published.
- Twenty (20) winning entries will be selected. The applicant will be notified via phone, email, or in person. The winner will have five (5) days from receipt of notification to confirm their acceptance of the prize. If the initial winner does not respond within this period or declines the prize, the Awards Committee will select an alternate entry until there is a confirmed winner. Winners cannot hold their place and must either accept or decline the prize. Once an applicant has been selected for the Award, they are no longer eligible to apply for the Award in future years.
- Once the Award recipient has confirmed their acceptance of the prize, the Vimy Foundation will contact them regarding prize details as outlined in the prize description.
- The Award is open to all students in Canada, except for any individual who is an immediate family member of employees of the Vimy Foundation. Subject to all applicable laws. Void where prohibited.
- All Award winners will be asked to provide proof of a valid passport or the application for a new passport within two (2) weeks of being selected. Canadian passports must be valid for three (3) months after the last date of the program, therefore, Canadian passports must be valid until July 12, 2025. If you are travelling on a non-Canadian passport, you may also need to apply for a Schengen region (Belgium and France) tourist visa.
- For further questions or comments regarding this Award please contact the Vimy Foundation at programs@vimyfoundation.ca, or by telephone at 1.438.788.1917.
SAMPLE ITINERARY (subject to change):
April 2
-Participants and chaperones depart from Canada
April 3
-Arrival day – travel to Ypres
April 4
-Essex Farm (John McCrae’s Dressing Station)
-Langemark cemetery
-Menin Gate
-In Flanders Fields Museum
April 5
-Ypres Guided Salient Tour (Includes Passchendaele Memorial, Christmas Soccer Truce Memorial, Messines Church, Tyne Cot, Hill 60 and the Caterpillar, St. Julien Memorial, Hooge Crater Cemetery, et al.)
-Last Post Ceremony
April 6
-Mons Memorial Museum
-St. Symphorien Military Cemetery
-Cambrai, Canal du Nord, and Bourlon Wood
-Delville Wood South African National Memorial
-Courcelette Canadian Memorial
April 7
-Historial de la Grande Guerre Museum
-Beaumont Hamel
-Thiepval
April 8
-Chérisy
-Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
-Cabaret Rouge
-Ring of Remembrance
-Hill 70
April 9
-Canadian National Vimy Memorial, Tunnels, and Trenches
-Remembrance Day Ceremony
-Neuville St. Vaast German Cemetery
April 10
-All participants and chaperones depart for home.
