Canada Service Corps – 2023 call for proposals

The Government of Canada launched a multi-stream call for proposals (CFP) under the Canada Service Corps program on October 12, 2023. The CFP will provide funding to diverse organizations across the country in support of federal priorities to improve the social, economic and environmental well-being of communities across Canada. Canada Service Corps offers youth, particularly Indigenous and under-served youth, unique opportunities to engage in volunteer service opportunities related to causes that are meaningful to them. The program is also designed to empower young people in Canada to make a difference in their communities while acquiring meaningful skills and experiences.

Funding agreements for successful organizations are expected to begin as early as August 2024 with funding to follow. Projects must respond to one or more of the following CSC service themes:

• reconciliation;
• building an inclusive Canada;
• preserving the environment;
• promoting civic and democratic engagement;
• strengthening youth resilience; and
• potential new themes that are identified by youth.
  
  For all streams:

• project activities must take place in Canada;
• projects must target a minimum of 50% Indigenous youth, under-served youth[1], or both;
• funding recipients must inform youth participants of the available supports that they can access to help them complete their volunteer service opportunities; and
• 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.

Eligibility

Eligible recipients for this CFP include:

• not-for-profit organizations;
• for-profit organizations (provided that the nature and intent of the activity is non-commercial and not intended to generate profit);
• research organizations and institutes;
• Indigenous organizations (including band councils, tribal councils and self-government entities); and
• ·municipal, provincial and territorial[2] entities, including institutions, agencies and Crown corporations, public health and educational institutions (namely universities, colleges, CÉGEPs, school boards/school districts).

This call for proposals does not include any financial leveraging requirement, which means that up to 100% of organizations’ eligible expenses can be funded. Organizations no longer need to provide directly, or from other sources, a percentage of the funds for their projects.

Funding Streams

This open CFP will fund service placements and micro-grants projects through the following three program streams:

• Service Placements National stream  
• Service Placements Regional stream
• Micro-grants stream

Service Placements

The objective of the Service Placements streams is to fund youth-serving organizations to develop and deliver volunteer service placements across Canada, so that youth participants ages 12 to 30, including Indigenous youth and under-served youth, can gain valuable skills and experiences, contribute to communities, and promote civic engagement and inclusion.

• Service Placements National stream: available for organizations with a national reach. Can offer both full-time and flexible service placements[3].​
• Service Placements Regional stream: available for organizations with a regional or local reach. Regional projects can only offer flexible service placements.​

All projects under the Service Placements National stream will be required to:

• offer project activities that take place in two or more provinces and/or territories;
• not exceed the maximum project cost of $8M per year;
• have a minimum of 40 full-time service placements or 120 flexible service placements per fiscal year, or a combination of full-time and flexible service placements equivalent to 14,400 hours per fiscal year; and
• create all service placements to be either:
  •  flexible service placements that last a minimum of 120 hours within a fiscal year; or
  • full-time service placements that last 30 hours per week for three consecutive months within a fiscal year.

All projects under the Service Placements Regional stream will be required to:

• Not exceed the maximum project cost of $3M per year; and
• have a minimum of 40 flexible service placements per year for youth participants, equivalent to 4,800 hours per fiscal year.

Micro-grants stream

Micro-grants are given directly to youth to fund youth-led service projects that address community needs. Successful applicants will provide youth with small, one-time cash payments of up to $5,000 to carry out short-term service projects.

Applicants must:

• target youth aged 15 to 30 at the time their micro-grant project begins;
• propose to re-distribute at least 40 micro-grants per fiscal year;
• propose a total value for each micro-grant per youth-led project that does not exceed $5,000; and
• set a participant target of 50% Indigenous and/or under-served youth.

How to apply

The Canada Service Corps CFP will be open for a 10-week period between October 12 and December 19, 2023.

Organizations are encouraged to apply for funding using the Grants and Contributions Online Services portal.

The portal is secure and allows organizations to:

• apply online for ESDC grants and contributions;
• track their application status;
• submit documents online; and
• manage their grant or contribution project in a secure online environment
• For instructions on how to create an account, organizations can refer to the User Guide. Organizations can also sign up to receive email notifications about new funding opportunities.

Organizations that do not have a business or registration number can apply for funding by email.

[1] In the context of this CFP, under-served includes: Black and racialized youth; youth with disabilities; 2SLGBTQI+ youth; newcomer youth; youth from official languages minority communities; youth living in rural or remote areas; and youth from low-income households.

[2] Provincially/Territorially funded institutions are eligible with the agreement of the Provincial/Territorial government.

[3] flexible service placements is defined as a minimum of 120 hours within a fiscal year.