Funding for organizations: Canada Service Corps Micro-grants Diversity stream

The Government of Canada is launching a call for proposals (CFP) under the Canada Service Corps that will provide funding for diverse organizations across the country to support local action on federal priorities to improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of communities. This CFP identifies the engagement of Indigenous and under-served youth as a key program focus and the need to increase the level of participation of these youth in the program.

Funding for approved projects will begin in 2022-23 and projects should focus on one or more of the following service themes:

• reconciliation;
• building an inclusive Canada;
• preserving the environment;
• promoting civic and democratic engagement;
• strengthening youth resilience; and/or
• potential new themes identified by youth.

Organizations must also confirm that they will be able to provide a safe and inclusive environment that is free from racism, harassment and discrimination for program participants and others in the organization.

Funding for organizations to deliver supports to youth and provide them with small, one-time cash payments to carry out innovative short-term service projects. This stream aims to increase diversity and support a larger number of Indigenous and under-served youth by providing dedicated funding to diverse organizations.

The Canada Service Corps (CSC) promotes civic engagement among young people from 15 to 30 years old through access to meaningful volunteer service that help them gain essential life skills and experience.

Objective of the CFP

The objective of this CFP is to continue to expand the CSC program and strengthen diversity. This goal is aligned with the Government of Canada’s commitment to youth programming and the pledge to equity, diversity and inclusion through the new Anti-racism Strategy. This CFP identifies the engagement of Indigenous and underserved youth as a key program focus and the need to increase the level of participation of these youths in the program.

This CFP will invest up to $42,675,000, over fiscal years 2022-23 and 2023-24 in Grants and Contributions (Gs&Cs) to provide multi-year funding to eligible organizations in the Micro-grants Diversity stream to deliver new micro-grants with diverse organizations.

Objective of the Micro-grants Diversity stream

The objective of this stream is to fund diverse organizations that are well-placed to reach and support youth in their communities, in particular Indigenous and under-served youth. These organizations would do so by delivering supports to youth and providing them with small, one-time cash payments (“micro-grants”) to carry out innovative short-term service projects. Youth participants would develop a budget plan and receive funds up to a maximum of $5,000 per participant to undertake their project and through this experience, would develop skills like leadership, planning and budgeting skills among others.

In this stream, Program Specific Questions are used to determine whether organizations meet the diversity-related eligibility criteria. These questions ask organizations to identify any Indigenous or under-served populations they serve. Organizations will then be asked to answer a yes or no question as to whether at least 50% of their leadership and 50% of their governance (if applicable) represents one or more of the groups that the applicant indicates it currently serves. These criteria allow organizations to demonstrate that their leadership and/or governance is primarily comprised of people from Indigenous and under-served populations (i.e. visible minority/racialized people; persons with disabilities; LGBTQ2 people; and, people from OLMC):

• Leadership: minimum of 50% of executive management positions (Director, and above) reflect one or more of the Indigenous and under-served populationsFootnote1
• Governance: minimum of 50% of Board of Director seats (governance bodies) reflect one or more of the Indigenous and under-served populations.

Organizations in this stream will:

• Support youth-led projects by soliciting applications and identifying potential recipients, assessing projects, supporting youth in their service projects, funding, and monitoring projects including how funds are spent
• Provide a micro-grant of up to $5,000 per participant, or group of youth, who identify a project that needs a small amount of financial aid in order to cover project-related costs. Youth will be expected to take ownership of an issue, propose a solution and implement it at the local level.

Project proposals must describe:

• How they will provide youth with the knowledge and tools to engage in service
• How they will promote and deliver micro-grants
• How they plan to reach/enrol and support Indigenous and under-served youth to meet the target of 50% Indigenous and under-served youth per project
• How they will support youth in developing and delivering youth-led projects
• How the organization will collect data and report on results
• How they will manage the distribution of funds to youth to cover service project costs
• If applicable, how they will plan to encourage youth to participate and successfully complete youth-led projects, including using methods and/or non-financial incentives

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