Duke of Edinburgh AwardThe Duke of Edinburgh’s Award was founded in 1956 by His Royal Highness, The Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, to help young people develop a sense of responsibility to themselves and to their communities. The concept of The Award is one of individual challenge. It offers young people a balanced, non-competitive programme of voluntary activities which encourages personal discovery, growth, self-reliance, perseverance, and responsibility.

The Award currently runs in 130 countries world-wide, and to date 7 million young people have challenged themselves by doing the Award. It is recognized and valued by employers and universities worldwide. As one of Canada’s leading private high schools, Columbia International College is proud to offer this program to our students, providing them with the opportunity to discover their potential and positively impact their community.

How to Qualify

To qualify for the award, students are required to participate in a full range of experiences, as listed below:

  • Service (helping people in the community)
  • Skills (covering almost any hobby, talents and interest)
  • Physical Recreation (sports, dance & fitness)
  • Educational Expeditions (participation and completion in the training/planning of any journey on foot/horseback/boat/bicycle etc.)
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Recognized in 152 countries worldwide, the Duke of Edinburgh is an opportunity for Columbia students to further their ASEP achievements and is available to any student who is willing to commit themselves to fulfilling its four requirements. Participants learn commitment in three areas of life: Serving the community, Developing a skill, and Physical Health and Recreation. The fourth component – an adventure journey - uniquely provides the opportunity to learn all aspects of Canadian camping in beautiful Northern Ontario.

Lue Mahaffey, Duke of Edinburgh Instructor

Opportunities and Benefits Offered

As students participate in this program and engage in physical and creative activities, they will:

  • Discover new talents and abilities
  • Increase personal growth and self-confidence
  • Interact with people from different walks of life and make new friends
  • Experience and learn new cultures
  • Discover a sense of achievement that comes from serving the community
  • Understand their strengths and weaknesses and learn how to manage them effectively for success
  • Learn teamwork, communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills
  • Negotiate their own personal program of participation, and gradually take responsibility for their own learning

Students enrolled in the Gold program will automatically be registered and will qualify for the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Award by meeting the core requirements as listed below.

Bronze Awards Requirements
Community Service Physical Education Skill Adventure Journey
Volunteer somewhere (Sign up for Community service) Exercise! (Join an atheltics club or team or go to gym) Develop a skill (join a club at CIC) Plan, train for and complete a 2 day, 1 night expedition (Bark Lake).
You must do 1 Major (ex: Physical Rec.) and 2 Minors (ex: Community Service & a Skill) as well as complete the Adventure Journey
1 Major: 26 hours over a minimum period of 26 weeks (roughly 6 months)
2 Minors: 13 hours over a minimum period of 13 weeks (roughly 3 months)