Indo-Canadian business owners in Surrey and Vancouver are pooling their resources in hopes to get more First Nations enrolled in all fields of study at the University of British Columbia.

First Nations students only make up 2.4 per cent of domestic enrolment. In 2015, there were 985 enrolled. That number includes a decrease in baccalaureate degrees, from 558 in 2014 to 543.

In September, the provincial government announced 11 post-secondary institutions would receive $3.6 million in 2016-17 to support aboriginal service plans. However, UBC was not one of them despite the fact that aboriginal population in B.C. is growing at more than triple the rate of the non-aboriginal population, with 46% under the age of 25.

Surrey-based Sandhurst Group owner Barj Dhahan spearheaded the UBC Centennial Scholars Major Entrance Awards for Aboriginal Students. It is a $400,000 fund that is partnered with the university development’s office.

Dhahan says the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada helped spur the establishment of 20 scholarships for First Nations students. Five students will be selected each year for four years, for a total of 20 recipients, who will receive $5,000 annually or $20,000 over four years.

“While immigrants like my family, as like many Punjabis, have come to this land and have been able to access higher education, many of the First Nations people have not been able to do that for a whole variety of reasons,” Dhahan says.

Kristen Harvey, UBC’s associate director of strategic aboriginal enrolment initiatives for Enrolment Services, noted $150,000 in undergraduate entrance scholarships and awards are dedicated to aboriginal students, and $500,000 in graduate fellowships were provided to aboriginal graduate students for the 2015-16 school year.