Solicited call under Supports for Student Learning Program: Closed

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• Application period Closed
• Description
• Objective
• Organizations solicited for funding
• Eligibility
• Contact us

Application period

Solicited organizations were able to apply between August 6, 2021 to September 2, 2021 at 3 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

We expect that projects will begin in Winter 2022.

Description

The COVID-19 pandemic has made life especially difficult for students at risk of dropping out of school. These students rely on local after-school programs for tutoring, counselling, and other social supports that help them succeed in their studies.

The Supports for Student Learning Program (SSLP) will fund organizations to deliver inclusive and flexible supports. The aim is to help students stay in school, graduate on time, and/or go on to post-secondary education. Direct supports to students will relate to at least one of the following 4 key themes:

• academic persistence and preparedness
• comprehensive mentorship and mental wellbeing
• building educational aspirations and resiliency
• increasing connectivity

Projects should support the needs of Indigenous and/or underserved students facing barriers to educational attainment. Students who face barriers often include:

• visible minority and racialized students
• students with disabilities
• students from low-income households
• students identifying as two-spirited, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, transsexual, queer and questioning (2SLGBTQ+)
• students living in rural, remote or Northern areas
• students experiencing or at-risk of homelessness
• students in or aging out of care
• newcomer students, and/or
• students from Official Language Minority Communities

Projects will offer supports to students outside of their school-based studies, and they can be national or regional in scope. Projects are national in scope if they serve participants in 2 or more provinces/territories. Projects are regional in scope if they serve participants in 1 province or territory.

Eligible organizations can apply for funding up to $8.5M per project, per year. All projects must end by March 31, 2023 (maximum project duration of 59 weeks).

The Government of Canada reserves the right to accept a proposal in full or in part.

Objective

The objective is to support students to access after-school supports so that they can persist in their studies and prepare for future success.

We will fund organizations that will:

• deliver direct supports to students related to one or more of the following key themes:
  • academic persistence and preparedness – Enable students to engage in their studies and/or increase their educational attainment
  • comprehensive mentorship and mental wellbeing – Increase students’ attachment to their learning and social networks to improve their sense of belonging and academic motivation
  • building educational aspirations and resiliency – Enhance students’ learning experiences with the aim of helping them set educational and career related goals
  • increasing connectivity – Improve students’ access to technologies (software and hardware) and related training
• focus on supporting one or more of the mandatory groups: Indigenous and/or under-served students
• be in a ready state to immediately deliver supports to students, and
• have a strong plan to collect data and report on outcomes that are quantifiable and measurable. This includes Gender-Based Analysis Plus (GBA+) which considers how different people may experience government initiatives differently

Organizations solicited for funding

We determined that a competitive, solicited call for proposals was the most effective process. We identified the organizations and invited them to apply under this funding for the following reasons:

• specific expertise in the key support areas of the SSLP:
  • academic persistence and preparedness
  • holistic mentorship and mental wellbeing
  • building educational aspirations and resiliency, and/or
  • increasing connectivity
• experience in supporting Indigenous and/or under-served students
• geographic location of services to ensure funding is allocated throughout the country
• capacity and readiness to rapidly deliver supports to students that meet SSLP objectives and expected results (shown through existing work)

Eligibility

Groups eligible for this funding process include:

• not-for-profit organizations (including voluntary organizations and foundations)
• Indigenous organizations including:
  • band councils
  • tribal councils, and
  • self-government entities
• public health institutions, educational institutions, and cultural institutions (including national associations), and
• municipal governments and organizations

Contact us

Please email questions at EDSC.DGOP.PSAE-SSLP.POB.ESDC@servicecanada.gc.ca before September 2, 2021 at 12:00 pm EDT.