The OAA Scholarship for Exceptional Leadership through Design Excellence

The OAA Scholarship for Exceptional Leadership through Design Excellence was introduced to affirm the role of architecture in shaping inclusive, sustainable, and socially responsive communities, while elevating emerging voices within Canada’s national architectural discourse.

This scholarship is available to all active RAIC Syllabus diploma program students.

Projects eligible for submission must have been completed as part of the design studio courses through the RAIC Syllabus program, within the last two years of submission. As well, they must clearly demonstrate one or more of the scholarship themes:
• Sustainability / Climate Action
• Truth and Reconciliation
• Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion

If you have any questions about your eligibility, please reach out to info@raic-syllabus.ca.

One grant of $2,000.00 will be provided each year.

The winning project will also be presented at the RAIC annual conference, published in the RAIC Journal, and celebrated on the OAA and RAIC websites.

Each submission will require the following:

Submission Form: Applicant information and eligibility confirmation

Project Images: Maximum 15 images (JPEG, PNG, PDF)

• File Name format: Project Title_Image1. The student’s name may not appear in the file name.
• Images must be cleared of any captions. All names, page numbers, or studio references must be removed. If it is a diagram, the legend may remain in the image. There will be an option to include an image index when uploading.
• Must be the student’s original work.
• Include hand drawings, photographs of models, and renderings.

Project Essay (750 words): Introduce your project and describe how it exemplifies exceptional leadership through design excellence. This description must address the project theme (sustainability, EDI, and/or Truth and Reconciliation), and may not include any identifying information (name).

Letter of Recommendation: Must be provided by an industry professional. May include studio coordinators, instructors, employers, or mentors.

Letter of Enrollment: A letter of enrollment for the calendar year 2026.

Applicant Statement: How will this scholarship support your ongoing professional development? (150-250 words)

Consent for Publication

The RAIC Syllabus National Advisory Committee will appoint a jury of industry professionals each year. The judging process shall reflect the RAIC’s values throughout the process, and jury members may vary from year to year. The merits of each project will be measured as follows:

Leadership in the Chosen Theme (40 percent)
Evaluate depth, clarity, and innovation within ONE selected theme: Sustainability, EDI, or Truth and Reconciliation.

Design Excellence & Innovation (25 percent)
Evaluate originality, conceptual rigor, architectural thinking, and execution.

Essay Quality (15 percent)
Evaluate clarity, insight, and alignment with the chosen theme.

Image Quality (10 percent)
Evaluate the clarity and professionalism of drawings, models, renderings, and visual coherence.

Professional Development Engagement (10 percent)
Evaluate commitment to learning and architectural discourse.

Submissions must be received before 11:59 p.m. ET, on August 31, 2026. Entrants are solely responsible for timely submissions. This date and time are firm without exceptions.

Only submissions submitted through Awardforce will be accepted
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