Digital Citizen Contribution Program

The Digital Citizen Contribution Program supports the priorities of the Digital Citizen Initiative by providing time-limited financial assistance for research and citizen-focused activities. The Program aims to support democracy and social inclusion in Canada by enhancing and/or supporting efforts to counter online disinformation and other online harms and threats.

Who can apply

The following organizations are eligible for funding:

• a national, provincial, territorial, municipal, Indigenous, community or professional organization, society or association which has voluntarily associated itself for a not-for-profit purpose, and which has the mandate to represent its membership or community
• a not-for-profit organization, including non-governmental or umbrella organizations, non-profit corporations, community groups, regulatory bodies or apprenticeship authorities, or associations serving the private sector
• a university or educational institution
• an individual researcher, acting in his or her personal capacity
• a research institution with an established record in relevant field(s), intending to undertake work in a Canadian context
• a for-profit Canadian and Canadian-owned institution with a record of developing and delivering programming, and performing research or related activities relevant to the goals of Canadian Heritage’s Digital Citizen Initiative, provided that the nature and the intent of the activity is non-commercial

Federal institutions, including any department, branch, office, board, agency, commission, corporation or other entity that receives an annual appropriation from Parliament, are not eligible for funding under the Program.

Application deadline

2022-2023 intake

The deadline to apply is August 18, 2022.

How to apply

• Contact the Digital Citizen Contribution Program of the Department of Canadian Heritage to request an application package, including the application guidelines and the general application form
• Read the application guidelines in their entirety before completing your application
• If you meet the eligibility criteria outlined in the application guidelines, complete the general application form, attach all required supporting documents and submit your application through only 1 means (that is by email, by mail or in-person)

Past calls

You can find information on our funded projects on the Open Government Proactive Disclosure for Grants and Contributions page.

All projects funded by the Digital Citizen Contribution Program through open and targeted calls for proposals from January 2020 to February 2021 are listed in this backgrounder.

First research projects call for proposals

This call for proposals sought projects that met at least 1 of the following priorities:

• research projects, where activities have a positive domestic impact on Canada or Canadians, and include primary research, such as surveys, interviews, field experiments, or lab-based experiments, as well as secondary research such as literature reviews and meta-analyses; production and analysis of datasets; and creation of tools such as software programs to support research
• evaluation projects, where activities will seek to evaluate the impact of existing Canadian or international programming and research addressing disinformation and other online harms

This call for proposals closed on November 1, 2019.

Second research projects call for proposals

This call for proposals sought projects that met at least 1 of the following priorities, with a maximum funding ask of $100,000/project:

• projects that aim to map/predict the next issues and/or types of online disinformation and other related harms that Canada and/or Canadians might face, how they could be tackled, and by whom
• projects that aim to help better understand the impact of disinformation and related harms on diverse and marginalized communities in Canada, with a gender-based analysis lens
• projects that aim to understand the societal factors and psychological characteristics that motivate individuals to take up the call for online and offline disinformation related activities
• projects that aim to understand the impacts of a lack of exposure to diverse content online, including understanding how users access reliable news and information in Canada, as well as the impacts of algorithmic systems on the content users are exposed to and consume on online platforms

This call for proposals closed on September 18, 2020.

Third research projects call for proposals

This call for proposals sought projects that met at least 1 of the following priorities, and under this call, successful recipients received funding up to $100,000:

• projects that aims to understand the role of algorithms, artificial intelligence, and other system-level factors on mainstream and fringe online platforms as they pertain to the spread, uptake, and impacts of disinformation and related harms, including on user behaviour and content consumption, and their potential uses towards a diverse and healthy information ecosystem;
• projects that aims to understand the domestic and transnational spread, evolution, and impacts of online disinformation and related harms through and on diaspora, Indigenous, and non-English primary language communities in Canada using a GBA+ lens, including impacts on societal outcomes; or
• projects that aims to evaluate existing Canadian or international research and programming related to online disinformation and their effectiveness in furthering positive societal outcomes, such as citizen resilience, social inclusion, media literacy, and participation and trust in democratic processes.  

This call for proposals closed on May 28, 2021.

Special COVID-19 calls

The Digital Citizen Contribution launched 2 special COVID-19 calls for proposals. The first call provided up to $3.5 million in funding to amplify the efforts of 10 organizations supporting citizens to think critically about the health information they find online, to identify mis- and disinformation, and limit the impact of racist and/or misleading social media posts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The second call also aimed to amplify the efforts of organizations supporting citizens to think critically about the health information they find online, to identify mis- and disinformation, and limit the impact of racist and/or misleading social media posts relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. This call provided time-limited financial assistance to 24 projects of up to $40,000 per project.

This call for proposals closed on July 31, 2020.

Special Ukraine Crisis Call

In the light of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, this special call is aimed to address the growing spread of harmful misinformation and disinformation. The special targeted call was launched to fund initiatives that help people identify misinformation and disinformation online.

The details of this announcement are available on the Government of Canada reinforces support to organizations to help counter harmful disinformation page.

This call for proposals closed on April 1, 2022.

Contact us

Address

Digital Citizen Contribution Program
Department of Canadian Heritage
25 Eddy St
Gatineau QC  K1A 0S5

Email

icn-dci@pch.gc.ca

Telephone

1-866-811-0055 (toll-free)

TTY

1-888-997-3123 (toll-free)

Agents are available to answer your questions, Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 5 pm (ET).

Guides and help

• Guide on the public acknowledgement of financial support – Canadian Heritage
• Service standards for Canadian Heritage funding programs

Related services and information

• Online disinformation and Digital Citizen Initiative
• Joint Initiative for Digital Citizen Research
• News Release — Supporting Canadians to Think Critically About Online Health Information
• News Release — Ongoing Support for Research and Media Literacy Projects as Canada Continues to Fight Online Disinformation
• News Release — Government of Canada reinforces support to organizations to help counter harmful disinformation
• Open Government Proactive Disclosure for Grants and Contributions — Digital Citizen Contribution Program
• News Release — Projects launched to help strengthen Canadians’ resilience against harmful online disinformation