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)?

What is your 15-digit CRA business number? (For example, 123456789 RR 0001).

For registered charities and not-for-profit organizations, what is your registration number?

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

For more information, please visit CRA.

If you do not have a:

• CRA business number, or
• not-for-profit registration number

You must provide one of following documents:

If incorporated:

• a copy of letters of patent
• articles of incorporation
• certificate of incorporation
• memorandum of association
• your rules, by-laws, or constitution

If not incorporated:

• a copy of your rules, bylaws, council resolutions, or constitution

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

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

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

For-profit organizations are 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, Website (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 is your organization's telephone number?

What are your organization’s main activities, including your mandate, mission, and objectives?

Select the target group(s) that best aligns with your organization’s mandate (more than one may be selected).

Note: your answer to this question will not impact the assessment of your proposed project

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. 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: Indicate if your address is the same as the organization address, same as the organization mailing address, or different. If it is different, provide the following for the primary contact person (questions 26 to 33):
  • Question 26: Street address (Questions 26 to 31 are mandatory if different from Organization address/number)
  • Question 27: City or Town
  • Question 28: Province or Territory
  • Question 29: Country
  • Question 30: Postal Code
  • Question 31: Telephone number, including extension
  • Question 32: E-mail Address

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 33: Given (first) name and surname (last name)
• Question 34: What is the title of the contact person named in question 33? For example:
  • business Owner
  • president
  • executive director
• Question 35: What official language would your contact person prefer to use in written and spoken communications? Choose either English or French
• Question 36: Indicate if your address is the same as the Organization Address, same as the Organization Mailing Address, or different. If it is different, provide the following for the secondary contact person (Questions 37 to 43):
  • Question 37: Street address
  • Question 38: City or Town
  • Question 39: Province or Territory
  • Question 40: Country
  • Question 41: Postal Code
  • Question 42: Telephone number, including extension
  • Question 43: Email address

A governing board is a group of individuals who are responsible for making decisions, overseeing the activities and direction of an organization. If there is no board, please describe how your organization functions. For example, are there regular meetings held between employees to discuss day to day operations, is there a decision-making process in place, discussion on the organization’s objectives and provide oversight and guidance.

Please describe how your organization addresses Human Resource issues such as hiring, compensation and benefits and employee relationships. How does your organization ensure the well-being and safety of employees? Please describe any other policies your organization may follow to create a supportive and productive work environment.

Financial management includes what measures are in place to effectively manage the organization’s finances. Please describe your organization’s ability to effectively manage financial activities. Examples may include financial planning, budgeting, reporting and cashflow management.

Please describe how your organization will manage funding distributed to other parties. For example, how will the organization verify the use of public funds, and that activities and results of the project are being met?

Indicate the total number of people employed in your organization or business. The number of employees must be a whole number.

Important transformations refer to events such as:

• a change in leadership in the board of directors or at the executive level
• a significant reduction, increase or turnover in staff
• a merger with or split from another organization
• a change in mandate or main activities

If you answer yes, provide a description of the changes.

Provide a description of your organization’s experience and expertise in administering projects. This information will help the Department to assess the extent to which your organization is capable of undertaking the proposed project activities and achieving the expected results. You may wish to highlight related past achievements in addition to describing current expertise and activities or projects. As well, if you have past projects with ESDC, provide details, such as dates, outcomes, success, etc.

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. (Question 52)

Answering "Yes" will not make your application ineligible. Though, you must provide details about the type of debt owed.

If you have a payment plan in place to repay the debt, check "Yes" under Question 51, otherwise check "No”. You may be asked to provide the current arrangements for repayment during the assessment of your application.

Give a short title that describes your project. The title must be a maximum of 64 characters. Do not use “Sustainable Development Goals” or your organization’s name.

State the planned start and end dates of your project. The start date should be mid to end of August 2024.

Once the agreement has been signed, you must complete your project activities within a maximum of 36 months.

We will notify you in writing (by email) of the outcome of the review of your application. You cannot begin any of the proposed activities or incur any expenses until the approval of your project. As well, both you and the Department must sign a Funding Agreement. Do not assume any commitment until the signing of the Funding Agreement. If you purchase anything for the project after the approval but before the signing of the Agreement, you do so at your own risk.

Outline the objective(s) of your project. Your objective(s) must be clearly linked to the objectives of the stream to which you are applying .

You must clearly describe how your project will support initiatives or projects localizing the SDGs in communities to facilitate the advancement, measurement, and reporting of SDGs progress and indicates which of the 17 SDG your proposal is targeting.

Your application must also clearly identify and describe how your organization will work towards achieving at least 1 other stream objective from among the following:

• activities that establish accountability frameworks to support impact measurement and highlight innovative or existing actions in communities and demonstrate SDG progress
• activities that create resources to enhance and share knowledge on the SDGs including the contribution of Indigenous knowledge and practices in relation to advancing the SDGs
• activities that explore new and innovative approaches and investment for SDGs
• activities that foster new and established collaboration or partnerships between various sectors to explore new technologies and foster innovation and investment for SDGs

Proposals should include clear and achievable objectives. The objectives of each proposal should be described in terms of quantifiable and measurable goals to be achieved through this project. Multifaceted proposals should include major steps and sub-objectives.

Objectives are statements of desired change that describe what should be accomplished and provide a context in which progress can be monitored and success can be measured.

Project objectives should:

• be S.M.A.R.T.: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and timely
• be consistent with the program objectives
• identify the specific outcome(s) or expected results that the project is designed to accomplish (example: number of clients served, number of clients trained, number of clients employed, etc.)
• ensure that these outcome(s) are measurable
• identify who will benefit from the project and
• show how meeting the project objectives will help to achieve the identified outcomes

Describe, in full detail, the proposed project activities. It must be broken down into clear steps.

Project activities are the steps that will be taken to meet the objectives of the project. Activities should be specific, measurable, realistic, and relevant to the project objectives and demonstrate how the project outcome(s) will be achieved.

Your answer to this question must include details regarding all your planned activities. Refer to the program’s Eligibility criteria for examples and additional details on eligible activities.

Applicants must include the following details:

• A description of each activity and explanation of how each relates to the objective(s) of the project. There should always be a clear link between the project activities and the project objective(s) (see Question 56). List the project activities in a logical sequence, including timelines and/or duration of each, and descriptions where needed. Timelines must be clearly established and feasible. Each activity should be clearly linked to the project costs outlined in the budget (Sections 3B and 3C). This should demonstrate your expected progress and plans to complete the project on time and within budget.
• Project milestones, timelines and/or duration of the various activities (milestones are significant events or points of progress during the project). These should demonstrate your expected progress and plans to complete the project on time and within budget.
• Clear linkages between the project activities and the project costs outlined in the budget (consult Questions 66 to 77 in Part 3 - Funding ). Costs associated with all identified activities should be reflected in the Budget Detail Template (PDF format).

Include details about how the project will be delivered. For example, will there be third-party agreements, or will the organization deliver all aspects of the project?

The information you provide here will have a significant bearing on the assessment of your proposed project and of your organization’s ability to undertake the project successfully.

Project activities must go beyond your organization’s normal activities, as this program does not fund an organization’s core, existing or ongoing activities.

Describe the expected results of your project. The expected results of the project must be clearly linked to the project objectives. The expected results must also be specific, concrete, and measurable (qualitative or quantitative) and must be defined as outcomes. The proposal must describe how you plan to gather, measure, and report on results achieved by your project.

Outputs are tangible products, including goods and services that will be produced to generate the desired outcomes; several activities could contribute to one output.

Examples of outputs are:

• number of provincial and municipal policies mapped against the SDGs
• number of symposiums/conferences/webinars on local voluntary reporting conducted
• number of websites developed that identify indicators within a particular community to measure SDGs
• number of interactive websites developed that host project information and outputs
• community-based call to action plan that makes the realization of SDGs meaningful and accessible to diverse communities across the country
• a community-driven accountability framework that uses non-traditional sources of data
• number of regions/communities targeted in Canada, with engagement within each province and territory
• assessment of the community coherence of the Canadian indicator framework

Outcomes are the short-term and intermediate changes that are expected to occur as the result of the project (more than one outcome could be directly related to an objective). They answer the questions “How do we know the project is successful?” and “How do the activities lead to improvements for the beneficiaries?”

Examples of outcomes are:

• safe and trusted spaces created for open and productive dialogue and partnerships so Canadians can collaborate, share ideas, stories, best practices and viewpoints
• increased awareness by local communities of the SDGs and the role they can play to advance those locally, coast to coast
• strengthened partnerships between project partners and their networks
• awareness of a new range of accountability frameworks, data gathering, and analysis processes by policy makers
• broader knowledge and engagement in the SDGs

Describe how you will meet and track the expected results of the project. Provide a description of how you plan to gather, measure, monitor and report on results achieved by your project.

A performance indicator provides evidence that results have or have not been achieved. They ensure a proper assessment of the progress achieved towards the intended outputs, outcomes, goals, and objectives of the project. Applicants must provide performance indicators, which will clearly demonstrate how they will measure each anticipated result and ensure their project is progressing as planned.

Proposals must include at least one result measurement indicator for each of the project’s expected results identified under Question 58. In addition, for each result measurement indicator, data collection mechanisms must be provided.

Measuring results is a way to ensure that you know how your project is progressing towards meeting the expected results. The Department (ESDC) uses the information you provide in this section to assess your capacity to demonstrate results.

Describe how the project relates to the ongoing work of your organization. You may wish to highlight how achievements and current activities and/or projects are related to your proposed project. This information helps the Department to determine the extent to which your organization is able to undertake the proposed project and to achieve the expected results.

Include any previous work done by your organization, your partners and your potential partners. Include details as to how your project builds on, and does not duplicate, this previous work.

You may also wish to include details on your project management processes.

If "Yes", give the main address first and then add other addresses.

If you have more than 5 locations, please continue your answer in Appendix A.

We commit to enhance the vitality of the English and French linguistic minorities in Canada. We support and assist their development and foster the full recognition and use of both English and French in Canadian society. Official language minority communities are English-speaking communities established within the province of Québec and French-speaking communities established outside the province of Québec.

If your proposed project involves official language minority communities, you should answer "Yes" to this question. Complete the question following the instructions in the application form.

Answering “No” to this question will not invalidate your application.

Indicate the vulnerable groups your project is targeting, if applicable.

Some programs require applicants to secure the involvement of other organizations, networks, or partners. If relevant, describe the other group(s) or individual(s) as well as the role(s) and expertise they will bring to the project.

This information will help the Department (ESDC) to assess the support base for your proposed project.

There are no national, regional, or local priorities for this application process.

Answer "no" to this question. Answering "no" will not invalidate your application for funding.

If you are receiving contributions from other sources, tell us the names of all the organizations that will contribute funds and/or in-kind contributions to this project.

Tell us what type of organization is providing the cash contribution from the following options:

• not-for-profit organizations
• municipal governments
• provincial and territorial governments, institutions, and Crown Corporations
• Indigenous organizations including:
  • band councils
  • tribal councils
  • self-government entities

• coalitions, networks or committees
• research organizations or institutes
• educational institutions
• for-profit organizations

Tell us how much cash contributions you will receive.

In-kind contributions are non-monetary goods or services that may be contributed to the project by your organization or other organizations or partners for which your organization will not be requesting reimbursement. In-kind support may include donated equipment, services, or facilities necessary for the proposed project that would otherwise have to be purchased.

To be considered valid, in-kind contributions should contribute to the success of the project, and their monetary equivalent estimated at fair market value.

Tell us if the cash contributions are confirmed. In-kind contribution is not applicable for this funding process.

Applicants shall not request the payment of any charge or fee from participants for their participation in the project.

If the project will involve subcontracting, a rationale and description of the process to select the subcontractors must be included.

If applicants intend to contract or subcontract for a value of $25,000 or more, a fair and accountable process that includes the solicitation of a minimum of three bids or proposals is required when contracting for the purchase of project-related goods or services. This includes anyone who is hired to deliver the project who is not an actual employee of the contribution recipient. Failure to comply with ESDC requirements may result in these expenditures being ineligible for reimbursement. In the situation where a contract for goods and services is below the $25,000 threshold, it must still demonstrate the principles of accountability, fairness, and best value for money.

Refer to the program’s Eligibility criteria on the Who can apply page for expenditures.

Give the total planned spending from all sources, including us. The amounts should align with those that you put in section A - Anticipated sources of funding of your application for funding.

"Other" means a cash or in-kind contribution from other sources other than us.

Check all statements that apply to your planned spending of the funding from us.

In carrying out the project, you may need contractors or third parties (outside providers) to carry out part of the project activities, such as reporting.

"Associated businesses or individuals" means:

• an officer, director or employee of your organization, or a member of their immediate family
• a business in which an officer, director or employee of your organization, or a member of their immediate family, has a financial interest
• a business connected to your organization

Third party: a person or organization that has signed an agreement with the organization under the terms and conditions of a master agreement between the organization and the federal government.

Indicate “Yes” or “No”.

If “Yes”, explain how your project will benefit from the purchase of capital assets. A disposal plan for the capital assets should also be included.

A capital asset is any single or composite asset with a purchase value of more than $1,000 (before taxes) that is not physically incorporated into another product and that remains functional at the end of the project.

A composite asset is a collection of unique assets that form one identifiable functional unit, where all components are required for the asset to be functional. The collection of assets is treated as a single capital asset if the total cost of all individual items together is greater than $1,000 (before taxes).

For example, a personal computer composed of a hard drive, a monitor, a keyboard, a mouse and cabling is a composite capital asset. Four $300 chairs are not capital assets because each chair is functional on its own and, as single units, fall below the established threshold of $1,000 (before taxes).

Add additional budget information here, if required.