Lakehead University is launching a new fundraising campaign aimed at raising $2 million to expand its Achievement Program.
The Achievement Program provides long-term support for youth who face challenges accessing postsecondary education.
Students begin participating in Grade 4 and remain involved through Grade 12, taking part in school-based activities, campus programming and community initiatives designed to build confidence, skills and awareness of educational opportunities.
By meeting program requirements, participants can also earn financial support to help pay for their first year at Lakehead University or other education-related costs after high school.
Scenes from Friday’s Day on Campus for Achievement Program students (Jacob Henriksen-Willis / August 21 2026)
As of now, the program services youth in the following school boards:
- Lakehead District School Board in Thunder Bay
- Thunder Bay Catholic District School Board in Thunder Bay
- Superior North Catholic District School Board from Nipigon to Marathon
- Superior-Greenstone District School Board from Nipigon to Marathon
- Keewatin-Patricia District School Board in the Kenora, Dryden, Sioux Lookout and Red Lake region
The $2 million expansion campaign builds on more than $1 million raised over the past five years and is intended to help grow the program’s reach across northwestern Ontario while supporting future expansion into Simcoe County.
“This program specializes in working with kids who never imagined themselves being at a university,” said Michael den Haan, Vice President of University Placement at Lakehead. “Some of them come from far away. There are poverty barriers, all sorts of barriers these kids face.”
Den Haan said the program has grown significantly since its launch in 2011, expanding from just 12 students to more than 500 participants across six school boards in northwestern Ontario.
“We mentor these kids in their community, and we also bring them to the Lakehead campus once a year so they can have a feel of what a university campus is like. They participate in athletics, and we do on-campus lab tour. It’s a full-scope university experience for kids of all ages. And it gets them used to coming to university so that by the time they start to think about that, it’s not a foreign concept,” den Haan said.
He added that some former participants have since returned to the program as counsellors, helping mentor the next generation of students and demonstrating the program’s lasting impact.
A local cohort wrapped up its summer program with a celebration on Friday afternoon. Next week, a regional cohort will arrive on campus.
“We’ve got a school bus that will go pick up kids in the Nipigon and Dorian area and bring them here for the day. They get a bit of a shorter experience, but we try to jam in as much fun as possible. We don’t have summer camps for our further regional students in Kenora, Dryden and Sioux Lookout, but we do travel out to them in the spring and fall to share fun programming and activities while we’re out that way,” said Morgan Hill, Achievement Program Liaison Officer.
Helping kick off the $2 million expansion campaign is the Alumni Association of Lakehead University, which has committed $64,517 toward the initiative.
“As Lakehead alumni, we know firsthand how education can change the direction of someone’s life,” said Alumni Association president Paul Popo-Ola. “We want young people to know that Lakehead can be a place for them, too. Supporting the Achievement Program is an investment in those students and in the communities they will one day help lead and strengthen.”
Lakehead University President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Gillian Siddall said the program reflects the institution’s commitment to making education more accessible.
“The Achievement Program reflects what we believe deeply at Lakehead University: that education should be within reach for every young person,” Siddall said. “By building relationships with students from an early age, we can help them discover what is possible, build confidence and help them see themselves as belonging at university.”
