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The Beaverbrook Vimy Prize (BVP) is a unique learning experience in Belgium and France, awarded to outstanding youth between 15-17 years of age.
Through this 10-day experiential program, recipients from Canada, the United Kingdom, and France study the interwoven First and Second World War history of their respective countries. Through this immersive experience, recipients gain a unique, international perspective on the histories of the world wars and their impact.
In Belgium and France, students attend lectures and commemorative events, visit former battlefields, trenches and underground tunnels, museums and cemeteries, and explore monuments such as the Canadian National Vimy Memorial.
Alumni from the BVP go on to share their knowledge and fresh perspectives with their peers, schools, and communities. They become ambassadors for the Foundation and continue to interact with their peers through the Vimy Foundation Alumni Circle.
Please verify the application status below and read the
Terms and Conditions for program details. Contact us at programs@vimyfoundation.ca if you have any questions.
Please fill out the application form before the deadline. The application will include contact information, essay components, your letter of reference and your resume.
A selection committee will review all applications. Select candidates will be contacted for a virtual interview. All applicants will be notified whether they have been selected or not.
Recipients will be notified by email and will have five days to accept the award. Recipients and their parents/guardians will complete the acceptance form.
Meet fellow participants; research your chosen soldier or nurse; work on your group project; and visit First and Second World War sites in Europe!
The program is scheduled from August 10 to 20, 2024. Apply online before April 16, 2024.
Please check back at a later date and see resources below.
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Sponsors
The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation is located in Montreal, Quebec, and supports selected organizations, predominantly in Eastern Canada, in the areas of education and arts and culture. In 2012 Max Aitken was appointed Chairman and President of the Board of the Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation, in addition to being a trustee of the Beaverbrook Foundation and the Beaverbrook Art Gallery.
Lord Beaverbrook was a giant of the British 20th Century political scene. He owned the Daily Express newspaper group and sat on the War Cabinet in both World Wars. The Beaverbrook Foundation supports a variety of causes in the United Kingdom and Canada, including preserving heritage buildings and supporting charitable appeals.
Lord Beaverbrook also established the Canadian War Memorials Fund in 1916 to commission official war artists to paint the Canadian war effort. The official war art programme would eventually employ close to 120 artists, most of them British or Canadian, who created nearly 1,000 works of art. A number of painters were Canadian, including future Group of Seven members A.Y. Jackson, Frederick Varley, and Arthur Lismer. While most of the works depicted the fighting forces and geography overseas, important artists like Mable May and Manly MacDonald painted women in factories and fields in Canada.
The war art had a tumultuous fate: Beaverbrook had hoped that it would be housed in a new national war museum, but successive governments refused to commit funds. The art languished in the basements and vaults of the National Art Gallery, rarely seen by Canadians. Fortunately, in the early 1970s most of the art was transferred to the Canadian War Museum and more recently hundreds of pieces have been restored, displayed in permanent and travelling exhibitions, or loaned to institutions across Canada.
Learn More About Canada’s War Art
The Beaverbrook Canadian Foundation is the generous benefactor of the Vimy Foundation’s flagship student program, the Beaverbrook Vimy Prize, which offers prestigious summer scholarships to youth 15-17 years of age to study the interwoven history of Canada, France and Great Britain during the First and Second World Wars.
Graham & Gayle Cook provide generous support.
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Ellison Travel & Tours Ltd. is a long-time partner, providing travel and booking support for The Vimy Foundation's overseas education programs.
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"The Beaverbrook Vimy Program changed my outlook on the way we perceive and discuss historical events. I had incredible discussions with my peers and learned to question and think about why it is that we emphasize certain historical events over others. Most of all I had so much fun connecting with people with similar interest as myself and having the opportunity to get physically immersed in places with a rich history."
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Explore our educational resources and learn how the battle of Vimy Ridge became a turning point in Canadian History.
