Prepare to apply

What is your organization's legal name? The legal name is usually:

• the name on your registration with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) or provincial/territorial equivalent, or
• the name used on funding cheques, bank accounts, etc.

What is the operating (or common) name of your organization (if it differs from the legal name)? Please include full name rather than an acronym.

To be eligible, all organizations must have a CRA business number or charitable registration number.

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

• The CRA business number has 3 parts: a 9-digit business number that identifies the organization, 2 letters that identify the type of account and a 4-digit reference number. You must include all 15 numbers and letters of your CRA business number on your application form

You can find your CRA business number on tax-related documents or written communications from the CRA.

You need to provide a proof of organization type and status as a supporting document. This could be a formal document from CRA that includes your organization’s current address and business number. For more information, please visit CRA.

This question is mandatory. Choose one of the following:

• Not-for-Profit

  Not-for-profit organizations are established for purposes other than financial gain for their members. They primarily receive provincial/federal funding (supplemented by fundraising and fees), often rely on volunteers to deliver programs, and are often governed by a Board of Directors or a Committee. These organizations include:

  • community, charitable or voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations (for example, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques)
  • associations of workers or employers as well as professional and industrial organizations
  • indigenous not-for-profit organizations
  • non-governmental organizations
  • unions
  • sector councils
  • not-for-profit Band Councils
• Public Sector Employers

  All companies and agencies under the jurisdiction of the Government of Canada are classified as public sector employers. For the purposes of certain statutes, various agencies, such as school boards and hospitals, are considered part of the public sector. They are often referred to as parapublic organizations. Public sector employers can be large or small, though often have numerous employees and are governed by Public Policy mandates.

  Public sector employers include:

  • public community colleges and vocational schools
  • public health, including public hospitals, nursing homes, senior citizen homes, rehabilitation homes
  • public degree-granting universities and colleges
  • municipal governments and agencies, including regional legislative bodies and departments
  • school boards and elementary and secondary institutions
  • territorial governments

  When a public sector employer uses a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) registered charity business number, it does not change the organization’s designation to a not-for-profit.

• Private Sector Employers

  Private sector employers are established in order to generate a profit or to provide an economic advantage to their proprietors, members or shareholders. They primarily operate through company profits, but can be supplemented by Provincial/Federal government funding. These employers are privately owned and are independently managed. Note that volunteers may deliver some programs and a Board of Directors may govern the business.

  Private sector employers include:

  • bodies, incorporated or unincorporated, including partnerships and sole proprietorships
  • financial Institutions
  • business, incorporated or unincorporated bodies, which include:
    • federal Crown corporations operating in a competitive environment and not ordinarily dependent on appropriations for operating purposes as indicated in Schedule III, Part II of the Financial Administration Act
    • provincial and territorial Crown corporations recognized as operating in a competitive environment and not ordinarily dependent on appropriations for operating purposes
    • private health and educational institutions
    • independent owners of franchises
  • indian Band corporations
  • private Band Councils
  • private universities or colleges

This question is mandatory. Select the most appropriate category from the following based on what you chose in Question 4.

• Not-for-profit sector

  • Local community, charitable, or voluntary
  • Provincial non-governmental organizations
  • National non-governmental organizations
  • Not-for-profit band councils
  • Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) with a focus on encouraging employment
  • Unions
  • Associations of workers and/or of employers
  • Indigenous not-for-profit groups
  • Sector councils
• Private sector

  • Businesses, bodies incorporated or unincorporated
  • Banks
  • Private universities or colleges
  • Indian band corporations (profit basis)
  • Private band councils
• Public sector

  • Public degree school boards / school districts
  • Municipal public health
  • Municipal governments and agencies
  • Provincial governments and agencies
  • Territorial governments
  • Public community colleges and vocational schools
  • Public degree-granting universities
  • Public degree-granting colleges

Provincially/territorially funded institutions are eligible with the agreement of the provincial or territorial government

For-profit organizations (private sector) may be eligible for funding if the nature and intent of project activities is non-commercial, not intended to generate profit, and supports program objectives

What year was your organization established?

What is your organization's address? Give a complete address in a format recognized by Canada Post. For more information, please visit Canada Post website.

What is your organization's telephone number, fax number (if it has one) and email address?

What is the mailing address of your organization (if it differs from your organization's physical address)?

What are your organization's telephone and fax numbers (if different from your organization’s telephone and fax numbers)?

Who is the main contact person for the proposed project? Provide the contact information for the person who will be ESDC’s primary contact person in respect to your application for funding.

This person must be available for questions from the time of submission to the time decisions are communicated in the event the Department needs to reach out for clarification and/or documentation.

Should the contact details change after your application submission, please notify the Department in writing as soon as possible.

Include the following details:

• Question 22: Given (first) name and surname (last name)
• Question 23: What is the title of the contact person named in question 22? For example:
  • business Owner
  • president
  • executive Director
• Question 24: What official language would your contact person prefer to use in written and spoken communications? Choose either English or French.
• Question 25: Telephone number, including extension (mandatory if different from the Organization number)
• Question 26: fax number
• Question 27: E-mail address (note that this is where all correspondence will be sent)

If we cannot reach the main contact, who else can we contact? Provide the person’s full name, telephone number where we can reach them during business hours and their email address.

• Question 28: Given (first) name and surname (last name)
• Question 29: What is the title of the contact person named in question 28? For example:
  • president
  • executive director
• Question 30: What official language would your contact person prefer to use in written and spoken communications? Choose either English or French.
• Question 31: Telephone number, including extension (mandatory if different from the Organization number)
• Question 32: Fax number
• Question 33: E-mail address

Give a short title that describes your concept. Don’t use “New Horizons for Seniors”, “Pan-Canadian” or your organization’s name.

This question is mandatory. State the planned start and end dates of your proposed project in the given format.

Projects must be between 4 years (48 months) and 5 years (60 months) in duration.

We expect that projects will start as early as summer 2024.

Proposed activities can’t begin before a funding agreement has been signed by you and ESDC. We will not reimburse any expenses for activities that take place before we sign the Funding Agreement.

You should not assume any commitment from ESDC until we approve your funding and a representative of ESDC signs the Funding Agreement. We will tell you the funding decision of your application in writing.

• 1. Target group: Who are the vulnerable seniors you plan to serve with your proposed collective impact plan and why are they vulnerable (supported by evidence if possible)?

  For this question, describe the target group for the proposed concept, including the following information:

  • identify the target group of vulnerable seniors that will benefit from your concept. Be as specific as possible. For example, immigrant and newcomer seniors over 80 years old within a given Canadian city
  • explain why the target group of vulnerable seniors (that you identified above) are vulnerable
  • explain why you selected the target group
  • indicate if your project will focus specifically on English or French-speaking official language minority communities (OLMCs) and if it will contribute to the quality of life in those communities
• 2. Need: What is the need among vulnerable seniors you intend to address (supported by evidence if possible)?

  For this question, describe the need for the proposed concept within the community, including the following information:

  • describe the unmet need that you intend to address among the target group of vulnerable seniors (identified above). This could include:
    • identifying and describing the gaps in programs and/or services that limit the inclusion of vulnerable seniors
    • describing how this specific group of seniors are currently coping without the access to these programs and service  
  • explain the urgency of the need (for example, if it is time-sensitive)
  •  explain how the need relates to a complex problem (a complex problem is one that isn’t easy to resolve, has persisted over time and can’t be solved in isolation.)
• 3. How: How would your collective impact plan address this need among vulnerable seniors?

  For this question, you must demonstrate how you will address this need, and show that you have a good understanding of collective impact and the leadership role of a backbone organization (see the Glossary on the What this Program Offers page for definitions of key terms). Include the following information:

  • describe how the proposed collective impact initiative will address this unmet need (in other words, what is the solution you are proposing to the problem you have set out above?)
  • describe how it will improve the social inclusion of the target group of vulnerable seniors (for example, helping them access programs and/or services)
  • explain how you will engage the essential partners and collaborating organizations for your collective impact initiative
  • describe how collaborating organizations will work together in a coordinated approach to improve the social inclusion of vulnerable seniors
  • describe how you will plan for sustainability after ESDC funding has ended
• 4. Innovation: To what extent would your collective impact plan include innovative approaches to addressing the identified unmet need among vulnerable seniors?

  For this question, provide the following information:

  • describe how your concept represents an innovative approach. An innovative approach proposes something that hasn't been done before. For example, tailoring an approach to meet the specific needs of a vulnerable population
• 5. Results: What results do you hope to achieve and how those would be measured?

  For this question, provide the following information:

  • identify the outcome(s) (the change) planned in the target population of vulnerable seniors
  • explain how the identified change is achievable
  • briefly describe how you plan to measure results achieved by your collective impact initiative. Examples of measurement approaches include surveys, key informant interviews, focus groups, attendance tracking and verbal feedback
• 6. Budget: How do you intend to use the funds?

  In this section, show your organization has a plan for how to use the funds. Costs should be clear, reasonable and required for the project. Review the eligible and ineligible costs on the Who Can Apply page.

  The amount requested from ESDC should match the amount listed in Part 3 – Funding (Questions 42 to 45 of the application form).

  For this question, provide the following information:

  • the amount requested from ESDC broken down by the following cost categories:
    • costs related to the administration of the collective impact initiative. This may include a percentage of costs related to administrative overhead of the backbone organization, as well as other costs needed to deliver the collective impact initiative, (for example salaries, rent, utilities, professional costs etc.) Costs related to administration generally should not exceed 25% of the total budget
    • funding re-distributed to collaborating organizations for mutually reinforcing activities (sub-projects): amount of funds to be redistributed
  • a brief description of the eligible costs within the above categories

To demonstrate community support for your proposed concept, you must submit 2 letters signed by different organizations or groups within your community that demonstrate their support for your proposed concept. These organizations or groups can include, but are not limited to:

• a municipal or government agency or official
• an organization whose mandate is to advance the social inclusion of seniors
• an organization that provides programs and/or services targeted to seniors
• an organization with whom the applicant organization is collaborating or to whom it is referring clients/patrons for programs/services

The letters must be dated no earlier than September 1, 2023 and must provide the following information:

• the name of the supporting organization/group; website address; name of contact person; email address; telephone number; and, type of organization (for example not-for-profit, publicly funded)
• a description of the nature of the relationship between your organization and the supporting organization/group
• an explanation that the supporting organization/group has an understanding and endorses:
  • the organization applying for funding from the New Horizons for Seniors Program (NHSP) and the proposed concept
  • the need for the project in the community, as well as the benefits of the projects for the community and, more specifically for vulnerable seniors

Provide your answer for this section directly in the application form.

Your answer to this question must be 1,000 words or less. Content over this limit won’t be reviewed in the assessment of your application.

Demonstrate your organization's capacity to reach vulnerable seniors and to act as a backbone, by providing the following information:

1. Describe the main activities of your organization and the programs and/or services offered, including your organization’s website address.
2. Describe your capacity to reach vulnerable seniors, including explaining which group(s) of vulnerable seniors you currently serve.
3. Describe your organization's experience in developing and maintaining successful partnerships with a variety of actors that could include provincial and territorial governments, Indigenous governments and organizations, not-for-profit organizations, and for-profit organizations.
4. Describe your organization's ability to secure the commitment of a number of collaborating organizations (for example, your ability to convene and bring partners together and provide guidance to an inclusive network of stakeholders).
5. Describe your organization's experience and ability to carry out your own projects (for example, managing budgets; creating a project plan; hiring and supervising staff and/or contractors; monitoring project activities; making project adjustments as required; and evaluating and reporting on results.) If applicable, you may include any past experience with Employment and Social Development Canada and the results of the project.
6. Describe your organization's expertise in acting as a backbone (for example, undertaking a call for proposals; selecting projects; monitoring project activities; supporting community organizations to address social issues; and evaluating and reporting on results). If your organization has no previous experience acting as a backbone, please explain your capacity to do so, with relevant examples from experience gained elsewhere.
7. Describe your organization’s capacity to manage the financial responsibilities of acting as a backbone (for example, securing, distributing, and accounting for funds advanced and spent.) If your organization has no previous experience acting as a backbone, please explain your capacity to do so, with relevant examples from experience gained elsewhere.
8. Provide other relevant information about your organization’s capacity, if applicable.

Eligible costs are those considered necessary to support the purpose of the funding. Costs must be reasonable and support the proposed project activities and scope of work, for example:

• wages and mandatory employment related costs (MERCs) for project staff
• professional fees, such as:
  • facilitators
  • researchers and experts in evaluation or in the collective impact field
• evaluation costs, such as, surveys
• hospitality
• participant costs, for example, security checks for volunteers
• printing, advertising, distribution and other communication costs
• travel costs within Canada
• rental and/or maintenance of facilities
• purchase and/or rental of equipment, materials and supplies
• shipping costs for equipment, materials or supplies
• other costs necessary to support the purpose of the funding as approved by ESDC

• General operating costs that are not directly related to the project, for example:
  • regular telephone costs
  • heating
  • rent
  • utilities
  • property taxes
  • insurance
  • equipment for staff
  • audit costs
  • contingency costs
• purchase of land or building, including new constructions, repairs or renovations
• costs for programs and services that fall within the responsibility of other levels of government, such as providing core health services.