Event/Initiative Sponsorship Grants

Are you hosting an event/initiative that benefits medical students and/ or your community? Well OMSA is here to help! We will be accepting sponsorship requests twice a year, with the 2023-2024 deadlines being:

  • Friday, December 29th, 2023, at 11:59 PM ET
  • Friday, March 29th, 2024, at 11:59 PM ET

For more information about the available pools of money and the types of events that we sponsor, please see the official OMSA Sponsorship Policy here

To apply, please submit your application using this Google Form.

*Note: As of September 2021, the principal grant applicant must be registered/active members of the Ontario Medical Association (OMA). However, this does not mean that all participating students must be registered members. The principal applicant must have completed their online registration and paid the dues of $10. Please visit OMA My Account and log in to see your membership status. If you have a dues balance of $0.00 then you are considered registered and active! If you have an outstanding balance, please make the appropriate payment by following the prompts. Applications from non-registered/non-active applicants will be disqualified. Should you require special consideration or if you feel that this membership may be cost-prohibitive, please email the VP Finance (finance@omsa.ca) and cc the VP EDI (edi@omsa.ca). OMSA strives to support each and every Ontario Medical Student and we commit to providing a tailored solution that meets your needs.

You can direct any questions or concerns to the OMSA VP Finance at finance@omsa.ca

Selection Criteria

School Specific Funding: Each application will be blinded by the OMSA VP Finance before being distributed to members of the OMSA Grants Committee (which is made up of rotating members of OMSA Council). Each application will be marked by at least two separate individuals using the below rubric.  Every effort will be made so that OMSA Council members are not marking the applications of students from their home school. A final average mark will be calculated for each application by the VP Finance and the final winners will be selected based on their scores. The OMSA VP Finance, in collaboration with the Grants Committee, will allocate $500 of funding per school based on the number of top-ranked submissions, the budget of the submissions, and the distribution of Advocacy Portfolio funding.

Advocacy Portfolio Funding: The OMSA VP Finance will send blinded applications to the OMSA VP Advocacy and their portfolio. They will then select the initiatives they wish to support and allocate funding accordingly.    

Funding for the Advocacy Portfolio Funding grants will be prioritized if initiatives are in line with our position papers that can be seen here (https://omsa.ca/en/position-papers) or our ongoing advocacy priorities for 2023-2024:

  • Face, the Issue: Should OHIP Cover Facial Gender-Affirming Surgery?
  • A Patient-Focused Transition to Biosimilars in Ontario
  • Tackling the Increasing Public Health Impact of Firearms: A Call to Action
  • Reducing suicide risk in medical students and residents
  • Ontario's Long Term Care Crisis
  • Combatting Sexual Assault: Addressing Gaps in Medical School Curricula
  • Reducing barriers in Canadian medical school admissions for students with disabilities
  • Addressing HIV and HCV in Populations Experiencing Homelessness
  • Pharmacare Now!: A Prescription for Equity
  • The negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of children and youth
  • OMSA Position on Climate Change and Planetary Health

Funding for Advocacy-Related Projects

OMSA offers a dedicated Sponsorship Grant stream for 2 additional student initiatives per cycle presenting an advocacy-focused project. If you would like to be considered for the Advocacy stream, you will be asked to indicate this in your application. Funding for the Advocacy Portfolio Funding grants will be prioritized if initiatives are in line with our position papers that can be seen here (https://omsa.ca/en/position-papers). 

Note that project submissions will be evaluated anonymously by members of the Advocacy Committee. Those not selected will be re-entered into the normal Sponsorship Grants stream for consideration alongside other eligible applicants. All previously stated eligibility criteria apply to both streams.

 

                                                                                                                       

January 2021 Sponsorship Grant Recipients

McMaster

  • ClinHacks
  • Oncology 101 Conference

NOSM

  • Sty-Lives

Ottawa:

Queen’s

  • Pronoun Pins
  • ClerQ Aid
  • Caring for the Muslim Patient Symposium
  • KHealth

Toronto

  • DELTA

Western

  • Transgender Health Primer Resource

August 2020 Sponsorship Grant Recipients

McMaster 

  • ArtVocacy Initiative 
  • iCAN Mentorship 
  • McMaster Medical School Anti-Black & Anti-Indigenous Racism work 

NOSM 

  • Altitude Healthcare Mentoring 
  • Peer Support Network Program 

Ottawa

  • Anti-Black Racism & Equity, Diversity, Inclusion (EDI) Calls to Action
  • Black Medical Student Association 
  • Heart 2 Heart: International Healthcare Relief (H2H)

Queens

  • Racial Diversity in Skin Presentations 
  • The Diversity Mentorship Program 
  • ​Anti-Oppression in Curricular Project

Toronto 

  • The Black Health Series 

Western

  • BIPOC Women’s Health Network: Postpartum Care for Black Mothers & Medical Student Training Workshop
  • The Schulich Anti-Racism Student Initiative