Originally Published in McGill University's Arts Life Magazine, 2018

The McCall MacBain Foundation has created the first Canadian equivalent of internationally-acclaimed Rhodes Scholarship Program at McGill

Canada’s most comprehensive scholarship program for graduate studies is in the works at McGill, thanks to a monumental donation from John and Marcy McCall MacBain, two Canadian philanthropists with a long history of helping students fund their education. John, originally from Niagara Falls, Ontario, earned his Honours Economics Bachelor degree from McGill thanks in part from a scholarship provided by the University. Both he and his wife Marcy, also an Ontario native, an Oxford Fellow, and Director of the McCall MacBain Foundation, believe that supporting a dream takes much more than just financial backing.

“Doing anything without a supportive community behind you is difficult. We both recognize the importance of having a community which believes in you and which can also help”, Marcy told the McGill Reporter.

The McCall MacBain scholarship will not only cover tuition and fees for graduate study, but provides an immersive learning experience with a living stipend, an assigned personal mentor and academic advisor, retreats, workshops, and internships. The Scholarship has been dubbed as Canada’s Rhodes or Fulbright equivalent, albeit with even more potential; as previous Governor General and McGill Principal David Johnston points out, a donation of the same value would equal $2 billion donated to a private university.

“As graduates of Canada's publicly-funded university system, Marcy and I know firsthand how universities like McGill can reduce social barriers and foster talent at the highest of levels”, says John, “I received my undergraduate degree as a scholarship student from McGill and it truly changed my trajectory. We are confident that with its combination of academic excellence and global reach, McGill is the institution where even more exceptional students can realize the aspirations they have for themselves and the welfare of others.”

Since establishing the McCall MacBain Foundation in 2007, John and Marcy have supported projects for sustainable development, environmental protection, healthcare, and education all over the world. As longtime supporters of McGill, they are also influential patrons of higher education studies and institutions around the world; giving generous support to the Mandela Rhodes Scholarships in South Africa, the Kupe Leadership Scholarships at the University of Auckland, the Loran Scholars Foundation in Canada, and in 2013, committed £75 million to the Rhodes Trust in Oxford to help fund the Rhodes Scholarships and aid its expansion around the world.

Applications for Canadian students will open in 2020, and expect to open up internationally by 2024. By 2026, the program is expected to bring up to 75 scholars on campus, all of whom can apply for existing master’s and professional degrees at McGill, including Law and Medicine, as well as McGill's newly-created interdisciplinary Master of Arts and Science, currently under development and expected to be complete by 2021, the same year McGill will welcome the inaugural McCall MacBain Scholars. Once underway in 2021, the McCall MacBain Scholarship will be the most generous and comprehensive graduate scholarship to have ever existed in the country.