Applicant Guide: Community-based projects (up to $25,000) – New Horizons for Seniors Program

Provide the legal name of your organization. This is usually:

• the name associated with your registration with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), or
• the name that would appear on funding cheques

Provide the operating, or common, name of your organization if it is different from the legal name.

Indicate the year of establishment for your organization

Select the most appropriate organization type from the following:

• non-profit organization
• private sector
• public sector

Select the most appropriate category from the following:

Not-for-profit sector

• Local community, charitable, or voluntary
• Provincial non-governmental organization
• National non-governmental organization
• Not-for-profit band council
• Non-governmental organization (NGO) with a focus on encouraging employment
• Union
• Association of workers or of employers
• Indigenous not-for-profit group
• Sector council

Private sector

• Business, body incorporated or unincorporated
• Banks
• Private university or college
• Indigenous corporation (profit basis)
• Private band councils

Public sector

• Public degree school board/school district
• Municipal public health
• Municipal government and agency
• Provincial government and agency
• Territorial government
• Public community college and vocational school
• Public degree-granting university
• Public degree-granting college

What is your 15-digit CRA business number? For registered charities and not-for-profit organizations, what is your registration number? For example, 123456789 RR 0001.

If you do not have a CRA business number, provide 1 of the following:

• your provincial or territorial corporation number. In other words, the number found on your Letters of Patent
• a document from the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) dated within the last 2 years (copy must be provided with your application)
• your Registraire des Entreprises du Québec (REQ) number
• your federal corporation number with Industry Canada
• a document confirming the proof of operations for your organization must be submitted with your application, for example:
  • governance structure
  • articles of incorporation
  • list of board of directors
  • others

Indicate the primary physical address of your organization. PO Boxes can only be used as a mailing address.

Indicate if the mailing address is the same as the primary address. If different, indicate the mailing address of your organization.

Describe your organization’s primary activities and include the following information:

• the main activities of your organization
  • mission
  • mandate
  • objectives
• any specific groups that use the same facility. For example:
  • seniors club
  • Royal Canadian Legion
  • FADOQ Club, etc.
• if your organization is the only one in your community that offers a meeting place or accessible communication technology

Explain how your organization serves seniors (if applicable). Ensure to include, if your organization offers accessible communication/information technology in your community.

If applicable, identify the target group(s) that best aligns with your organization’s mandate or purpose.

If you wish to identify your target group(s) as visible minorities, please specify a group in the space provided (Other (specify)).

A person in a visible minority group is someone (other than an Indigenous person) who is non-white in colour/race, regardless of place of birth. For an exhaustive list of visible minority groups please see the Employment Equity Act.

Please specify in the space provided (Other (specify)), if your organization’s primary activities also target veteran seniors.

Complete the questions about the main contact person.

Complete the questions about the secondary contact person.

Secondary contact information must be different from the Primary contact person.

If ‘Yes’, complete the fields for each amount owing. We will not reject your application for this reason. However, you must provide detail as to the type of debt and the arrangements you have for repayment.

Give a short title that describes your project. Do not use “New Horizons for Seniors”, or your organization’s name.

Indicate the planned start and end dates of your project.

Indicate the amount you are requesting for your proposed project. It cannot exceed $25,000.

For organizations with offices in multiple locations, each individual location is eligible to apply for funding. However, they must operate independently and have a separate governing structure. Organizations that do not operate independently may only receive a maximum amount of $25,000 for all locations.

Organizations can only submit 1 application per project. Multiple projects may not exceed a total of $25,000 per organization.

Provide a brief project summary in 500 words or less, which:

• identifies the need for this project, and demonstrates how your project will address the needs of seniors
• clearly describes how seniors will participate in the project activities
• indicates the expected results of your project. Make sure they are realistic and clearly defined

Project activities must meet at least 1 of the program objectives.

If applicable, describe how your project targets:

• vulnerable seniors’ populations (consult the list is in question 29)
• rural and remote areas

Project example 1

There is a gap between seniors and youth in your community. You propose a project that focuses on bringing seniors and youth together. Senior volunteers will share their life experiences and knowledge with youths. Youth share their life experiences with seniors. Your project activities include reading, tutoring and crafts. Youth could also be volunteers to help seniors age in place by helping them with shopping and gardening. You request $17,000 for these activities.

Project example 2

Your organization has a broken dishwasher. An inspector said to replace it because it does not meet sanitation standards. Your current programs and activities for seniors are at risk until you install a new dishwasher. A new dishwasher will allow you to continue your social activities for seniors. You request $700 for these activities.

Project example 3

A local seniors group develops a “Time Banking” Program in which seniors volunteer to assist other seniors to stay in their homes longer. For example, a retired senior handyman may agree to do light house repairs, shovel snow or mow the grass for local seniors in need. In return, other seniors in the area may offer to provide a home cooked meal, or assist with paperwork. Ultimately, a “Time Banking” system would support an exchange service where seniors take care of seniors.

Project example 4

Age friendly community initiatives that support the social inclusion of seniors and reduce isolation for example:

• building of social inclusion networks
• helping hands programs
• workshops that teach or share skills
• information that promotes independence

Describe in detail how your project meets:

• at least 1 program objective
• if you seek funding for capital assistance, your project must meet 2 program objectives

Explain how your project supports 1 or more of more of the national priorities. If your project responds to 1 of the national priorities, your application will receive additional points in the assessment.

List the activities that will take place. Identify when they will be done. Ensure the timelines and milestones are specific, detailed and realistic.

Examples of eligible activities:

• organize weekly online sessions for seniors to provide them with support or training and the opportunity to socialize
• organize financial literacy seminars to local seniors inviting financial experts to give tips on how to manage finances
• provide sessions on how to manage online banking and on avoiding financial scams
• capital assistance for age-friendly exercise equipment that would make it easier for seniors to remain actively engaged
• teach seniors the tools they need to connect with others online
• set up seniors led meetings with other seniors, creating an online support network of seniors
• transportation to provide a personal service to seniors:
  • transportation services for appointments
  • home visit
  • service call
  • meal delivery service
• renovations and repairs to facilities owned by the organization that specifically run programs and activities for seniors

Ineligible activities include, but are not limited to:

• activities where the role of seniors is minimal or not clearly described
• core operational activities (activities regularly or normally carried out by your organization)
• projects seeking funding to renovate or maintain an establishment that is:
  • not owned by the applicant, and
  • does not provide direct seniors’ programming (for example theatres, healthcare establishments such as health and foot clinics)
• items of a personal or medical nature such as:
  • wheelchairs
  • scooters
  • cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)
  • first aid equipment
  • automated blood pressure monitor
  • defibrillators
  • hearing aids
  • medical or therapeutic treatments
• purchase of gift card
• purchase of vehicle
• purchase of land or buildings, including new construction
• renovations or maintenance to a building not owned by the organization and that does not provide direct programming to seniors
• the purchase of equipment for a new building that your organization does not yet occupy
• programs or services that fall within the responsibility of other levels of government

Indicate if project activities take place at the organization’s primary address. If at a different location, indicate the address for the other locations. Please note that physical location must be provided for this question and not a PO Box.

If your project takes place in a rural and remote area, your application will receive extra points in the assessment.

Indicate if the project will particularly involve or benefit people in English or French linguistic minority communities. If so, how it will do this. The definition of “particularly” for this question only applies to official language minority communities and not other minority groups.

If your project supports members of official language minority communities your application will receive extra points in the assessment.

Indicate if your project targets vulnerable seniors’ populations. If so, indicate the target group(s). You can select more than 1.

For example:

• Indigenous Peoples
• persons with disabilities
• members of racialized and newcomer groups
• members of 2SLGBTQI+ communities
• low-income seniors
• veterans
• members of official language minority communities

For the visible minorities selection, please specify a group in the space provided (Other (specify)).

In addition, if your organization’s primary activities target veteran seniors, please specify in the space provided (Other (specify)).

If your project targets vulnerable seniors’ populations, your application will receive extra points in the assessment.

List each activity that you described in question 26. Then, indicate the associated cost with each of those activities.

For online applications, please allocate the costs of your project for each of the cost categories taking into account the activities described in question 26.

In addition, in the budget detail template (EMP5573) form, you must list each activity described in question 26 and its associated costs. Make sure that the total corresponds to your costs included in the online application form. Further details on your budget must be provided in the budget detail template (EMP5573). Costs must be reasonable and support project activities. The total in this question may be higher than the amount listed in question 23.

Further budget details should be provided in the budget detail templates as outlined above.

Quote

Should your project require renovations and/or repairs, a minimum of 1 quote will requested.

You can use the following calculation:

• requested funding ($) x 25% (0.25) = maximum amount for staff wages

For example: You request $25,000 from us. $25,000 x 0.25 = $6,250 is the maximum amount you can request from us for staff wages. This salary maximum allows for more funding to be directed towards project activities.

Ineligible costs include, but are not limited to:

• core operational expenses of an organization, such as:
  • salary dollars unrelated to project activities
  • utilities
  • day-to-day maintenance of facilities including general operating costs of your organization that are not related to this project
• activities where the role of seniors is minimal or not clearly described
• salaries for elderly caregiving services
• purchase of gift card
• purchase of vehicle
• purchase of land or buildings, including new construction
• repairs or renovations to a building or the purchase of equipment for the new building that your organization does not yet occupy
• decorating and beautification costs, such as:
  • painting
  • landscaping for aesthetics purposes
• unexpected costs, planned contingency costs, or costs for potential price increases

Example 1 of how to fill out the budget section at question 30:

ABC Senior’s Club is submitting an application for a project to improve the social participation of immigrant seniors in Toronto. As part of the project, seniors involved with the organization will conduct:

• run English Cafes where immigrant seniors can practice their English conversation skills:
  • snacks (cost: $1,000)
  • rental space for English cafes (cost: $2,000)

In addition, the club will:

• provide transportation to various social outings (cost: $3,000)
• organize and implement fraud and elder abuse workshops:
  • workshop facilitators fees (cost: $ 5,000)
  • rental space for workshops (cost: $5,750)
• advertise (cost: $2,000)
• hire a part-time program assistant to help administer the project (cost: $6,250)

Image 1: Text version

This table is an example of a completed budget section for question 30 of the application form. It consists of a list of activities or services on the y axis. It indicates cash and donation (in-kind) and the value of each on the x axis.

The first column lists examples of eligible activities. This list includes:

• part-time program assistant
• promotion and advertising
• van rental for social outings
• workshop facilitators
• rental space for workshops
• rental space for English cafes
• snacks for English cafes

The second column is a set of check boxes to indicate activities funded with cash.

The third column is a set of check boxes to indicate activities funded with a donation (in-kind).

The fourth and last column is a value associated with each activity.

The bottom row is the total cost of eligible activities or services.

List the name for each organization providing funding. Indicate the type of funding and value associated with it.

Example 2 of how to fill out the budget section in question 31:

ABC Senior’s Club will also work with XYZ Seniors Community who will provide:

• access to their fitness facilities of $8,000
• additional cash funding of $4,000

ABC Senior’s Club (Self-funded) provide a contribution in cash of $2,000.

Image 2: Text version

This table is an example of a completed funding section for question 31 of the application form. It consists of a list of organizations that are providing funding to your project on the y axis. It indicates cash and donation (in-kind), amount confirmed, and the funding amount on the x axis.

The first column lists examples of organizations that will provide funding towards the project. This list includes:

• Employment and Social Development Canada
• XYZ Fitness - fitness facilities
• XYZ Fitness - cash funding
• ABC Senior’s Club - self-funded

The second column is a set of check boxes to indicate if the funding will be provided with cash or donation (in-kind). There is also a check box to indicate if the source of funding is confirmed.

The fourth and last column is a value associated with each funding source.

The bottom row is the total funding for eligible activities or services.

Please note: The budget detail template (BDT) must be included as part of the application (Consult BDT links above question 30).

While the budget detail template is mandatory, responding to this question is optional. Note that if you provide additional information here, it will help support the assessment of your project:

• provide a brief and clear justification of how you intend to use the money, and
• demonstrate that the costs are reasonable and support the project activities

Choose at least 1 program objective that your proposed project supports. If your proposed project is requesting capital assistance, you must choose at least two program objectives.

Examples of activities relating to:

• Promoting volunteerism among seniors and other generations
  For example, seniors volunteering in a community kitchen
• Engaging seniors in the community through the mentoring of others
  For example, seniors tutoring students
• Expanding awareness of elder abuse, including financial abuse
  For example, seniors leading a support group to help seniors recognize types of elder abuse and/or provide information on available supports
• Supporting the social participation and inclusion of seniors
  For example, seniors lawn bowling tournament
• Providing capital assistance for new and existing community projects and programs for seniors
  For example, seniors club needing to renovate their roof in order to continue delivering activities

If applicable, choose a national priority that your proposed project will support.

Projects that meet at least 1 of the national priorities, will receive extra points in the assessment.

Examples of project relating to:

• Supporting healthy aging
  For example, seniors group is planning a senior led yoga in the park series.
• Preventing seniors abuse
  For example, seniors-led fraud prevention seminars that teach other seniors how to detect a fraudulent call and avoid getting scammed.
• Celebrating diversity and promoting inclusion
  For example, diverse seniors leading story time with kids either virtually or in person, encouraging intergenerational and cross-cultural mentoring and engagement.
• Helping seniors to age in place
  For example, seniors-led tax clinics that assist other seniors in getting their taxes filed or helping them to apply for government benefits, such Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS), Old Age Security (OAS) benefits, etc.
  Another example, a volunteer program that focuses on providing practical supports to seniors in their homes such as friendly visiting, help with yard work, light housekeeping and meal preparation.

Describe how your community supports this project. Include the following in your response:

• the need for the proposed project in your community
• how your project will likely benefit the community
• the types of people or organizations that will benefit for your project activities

In addition, provide a letter or document that shows community support for your project.

Letter of support of the proposed project

Provide 1 letter or document from another organization or group showing community support for your project. A sample letter may be shared with the supporting organization.

Find a sample letter for supporting organization

Letters of support must come from other groups or organizations, such as:

• a local golden-age club
• your Member of Parliament (MP)
• other community leader or organization
• faith-based institutions
• your financial institution

Letters from project partners or members of your group or organization are not valid.

Letter of support must be recent and dated no earlier than July 1, 2022. The letter must also clearly indicate support for the proposed project. The proposed project must be for the current year and the letter must include:

• the name and description of the organization offering support
• address and phone number of the organization offering support
• the name, position title, signature of the author, and the date
• where possible:
  • be written on the author organization’s letterhead
  • include the website address and email address

Indicate the number of seniors and non-seniors who will take part in the planning and design of the proposed project.

Provide the following information:

• demonstrate how seniors will be actively involved in the planning, development or implementation of your proposed project
• outline the participation of seniors in the project activities

Specify the number of seniors and non-seniors that will benefit from the project.

Provide the following information:

• demonstrate how your project will contribute to improving the social inclusion of seniors
• demonstrate how seniors will benefit from the project
• demonstrate what needs your project will address
• describe how it will benefit the community

Your community or other communities in the area should benefit from your project. For example, seniors can gather community members to clean up a local park and arrange community activities. This will result in a more inviting park for social gatherings, and lead to increased cooperation. This then further improves the community through the partnerships that are developed.

If a specific group will benefit from this funding apart from seniors, please include this information. The NHSP program focuses on seniors helping their communities. However, your project ca also include people who are not seniors.

Program checklist

Review the checklist carefully. Make sure you have all the documents you need before you apply. If your application is incomplete, we will reject it.

For the applications submitted through the online application only, include the following information when submitting any supporting documentation to us:

• the name of your organization
• the title of your proposed project
• the confirmation number provided on the confirmation page