News from 2022

Students who received endowed scholarships can use the funds to help pay for tuition and other post-secondary expenses. The following scholarships were awarded for the 2022-2023 school year:

• Anderson Haulage Business and Technology Scholarships
• Bison Transport Scholarship
• The Erb Group of Companies "Service to Community" Scholarship
• Glasvan Great Dane Truck Trailer Service Technician Scholarship
• Grant's Transport Mathematics Scholarship
• The J.D. Smith and Sons "Leaders of Tomorrow" Scholarship
• Omnitracs Mike Ham Memorial Scholarship
• OTA Allied Trades Scholarships
• OTA Professional Driver Memorial Scholarship
• Trailcon Leasing Trailer Service Technician Scholarship
• TST-CF Express International Transportation and Customs Scholarships

 

Each Endowed Scholarship is funded entirely by a one-time contribution that is used to award annual scholarships in perpetuity. The eligibility and assessment criteria are determined jointly between the endowed fund contributors and the Foundation, who also administers the endowed scholarship program.

"Once again, this year's recipients for these four prestigious scholarships were outstanding”, said Betsy Sharples, executive director of the OTA Education Foundation. “In addition to exemplary academic performance, our recipients demonstrated exceptional commitments to community and personal growth”, continued Sharples

 

Outside The J.O. Goodman Scholarship was awarded to Harish Shankar of Brampton, Ontario. His application was sponsored by Kriska Holdings Limited, where Harish’s father works as a company driver. Harish will use his scholarship for tuition at the University of Toronto, where he is working towards a degree in engineering science.

 

The Bud Barr Scholarship was awarded to Victoria Smart of Stevensville, Ontario. Her application was sponsored by The Tandet Group, where Victoria’s mother works as a credit manager. Victoria is pursuing an Honours Bachelor of Science degree (Life Sciences) at the University of Toronto.

 

The George P. Ledson Scholarship was awarded to Alexis Brzezicki of Mississauga, Ontario. Her application was sponsored by Cavalier Transportation Services, where Alexis’ father is employed as an AZ driver. Alexis is enrolled in the Concurrent Education program at Queen’s University.

 

The C.V. Hoar Scholarship was awarded to Bradley Boville of Mitchell, Ontario. His application was sponsored by Woodcock Transportation Group, where Bradley’s mother works in accounting. Bradley is studying sports management at Niagara College.

 

General scholarships, including the Goodman, Barr, Ledson, and Hoar scholarships, are funded by annual donations from Ontario trucking and related companies.

“For a long time, Virag was unsure about where she should focus her studies after secondary school. After having taken as many courses as she could "from the sciences to the arts and everything in between", Virag realized that writing needed to be a big part of her future. "It's almost ironic" writes Virag in her application. "When my family came to Canada, I barely knew English, and now I plan to make writing my career".

 

Omnitracs partnered with the OTA Education Foundation to honour the life and legacy of Mike Ham, who passed away in 2020. As a testament to the respect that Mike earned from customers and colleagues alike, the scholarship endowment was supplemented by several close industry friends.

 

“I have no doubt that Mike would be thrilled to know that his legacy lives on through post-secondary education opportunities for young people”, says Norm Sneyd, formerly of Bison Transport and a friend of Mike’s family. “On behalf of Omnitracs, Mike’s family and the many friends that Mike left behind, I would like to extend our collective congratulations to Virag for being tapped as the first recipient of the Omnitracs Mike Ham Memorial scholarship”.

 

The annual scholarship is administered the OTA Education Foundation and follows criteria established in consultation with Mike’s colleagues, friends, and family. To be eligible, students must be entering their first year of studies at a public Canadian college or university, and be enrolled in a full-time Transportation, Logistics, Business, Technology, Human Resources, or Communications program. The applicant must also be the son or a daughter of a parent who works in the Canadian trucking industry.

 

The OTA Education Foundation's Endowed Scholarship program is funded entirely be one-time contributions by the organizations for which the scholarships are named. The eligibility and assessment criteria are determined jointly between the endowed fund contributions and the Foundation, who also administers the scholarship program.