From hockey to finance: How a TD scholarship recipient landed back at the Bank
Growing up as a hockey player in Manitoba, Blaise Arkle spent many hours chasing a puck down the ice.
After finishing high school in Banff, Alta., and playing three seasons of Junior A hockey across Canada, he chased his dreams down to the University of Nevada in Las Vegas (UNLV), where he'd been recruited to play competitive hockey.
But when the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Arkle's scholarship was reduced due to a lack of funding for international students.
"I lasted about a year and a half at school in Nevada before I couldn't pay out of pocket anymore," he said.
Eventually, he chose to transfer to Mount Royal University (MRU) in Calgary, where he studied finance and business.
While preparing to move back home, Arkle researched other scholarships offered by companies in Canada and learned about the TD Scholarship for Indigenous Peoples.
Arkle is a citizen of the Manitoba Métis Federation. His father's family descends from the Red River Métis in what is now Winnipeg.
This scholarship program is managed in collaboration with AFOA Canada, a not-for-profit led by Indigenous Peoples. Each year since its inception, the program has made scholarships available to help students from First Nation, Métis, and Inuit communities pursue post-secondary education.
Arkle applied and became one of the 25 inaugural recipients in 2023.
The scholarship helped ease the financial pressures of post-secondary education on Arkle, allowing him to focus on his studies instead of having to continually search for and find ways to fund them.
"I utilized the full award amount," he said. "On top of tuition and books, there's housing and personal costs. I worked during school, but everything adds up."
The scholarship gave him more time to apply himself academically. He made both the Dean's List and President's Honour Roll at MRU.
Building connections across the Bank
Arkle said the support the scholarship provided helped him access experiences and opportunities that encouraged his personal and professional growth.
Part of the scholarship program is the opportunity to complete an internship at TD.
Arkle spent a summer working remotely from Winnipeg on the corporate investment banking team, which is based in Toronto, as a Finance intern.
"It was a great experience right from the get-go," he said. "There is definitely a culture of collaboration. It made me want to stay in banking, ideally with TD."
During the internship, Arkle was part of a group chat with other TD interns who are Indigenous so they could swap ideas and share their experiences.
"Everybody in that group was part of a different function at TD, so we were able to suggest to each other which manager we could approach and have coffee with, if we wanted to get to know other teams and learn about other opportunities," he said.
To make connections with colleagues he didn't always see in person, Arkle focused on video calls and virtual coffee chats.
"Personal conversations are a way you can build a connection if you're not in the same location," he said. "You learn more about their lives and their personalities. You end up building trust and that makes collaboration even easier."
Arkle's focus on meaningful connections paid off. After graduating, he secured a full-time role working for TD Securities (TDS) as a Senior Finance Analyst on the Corporate and Investment Banking team.
He has since moved to the Chief Operating Office of TDS, where he is currently a Senior Governance and Controls Analyst.
"On my team, we take an in-depth look at where risk may be present, and how our processes and controls are structured to mitigate it," he said.
When Arkle's not reducing financial risk for the Bank, he's playing golf, visiting family, spending time with his girlfriend and their dog, and hanging out with friends at lakes in Manitoba and Ontario.
He likes art and music too, inspired by his mom who had a distinguished career teaching music.
"I've always been doing some form of art my whole life," he said. "Lately, I have gotten back into drawing and learning piano."
Searching for scholarship opportunities
Arkle's advice to other students looking for scholarships is to start with their inner circle — ask family, local community organizations, and Indigenous councils if they know about any grants, bursaries, or scholarships.
"Next, I'd say you have to move outward," he said. "Do your research and look at provincial, national, or global opportunities."
Practice telling your story and learning how to sell yourself on forms and applications, he said — advice that applies to job hunting as well.
Arkle kept meticulous spreadsheets that he worked on daily to track his applications and stay organized, a reflection of his analytical mindset.
"If you're willing to put in the work, it can really open doors to internships and networks. And to full-time roles, like it did for me," he said.
Applications for the 2027 TD Scholarship for Indigenous Peoples open on Oct. 1.
