COPA Neil J. Armstrong Ab-Initio Scholarship

A $14,000 scholarship from the Canadian Owners and Pilots Association covering a Private Pilot Licence for one aspiring pilot aged 16 to 21 a year who could not otherwise afford the training.

One award a year nationally, and at $14,000 it is one of the largest single awards a 16-year-old in Canada can win. The money pays for the Private Pilot Licence only: flight instruction, instructional materials and course costs. It does NOT cover college or university tuition, meals, travel to the airport, clothing, or gear like headsets, flight bags and tablets. Funds go straight to your flight school in milestones as you pass them: $2,500 at first solo, $2,500 each at cross country and solo cross country stages, and $1,500 at licence completion, so you never handle the money. Applicants normally must be COPA members and Canadian residents, though the selection committee can waive membership in special circumstances. You are expected to finish inside about a year. The 2026 round ran December 15 to March 13 at 11:59 p.m. ET, applied for at copa.awardspring.com. Past recipients have come from BC, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, so no Alberta winner is on the public list yet. Verified against copanational.org on 2026-09-08.