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Who can apply

This page explains:

Eligibility

Applicants

Your organization must be 1 of the following types:

  • not-for-profit organization
  • municipality
  • provincial or territorial government, institution, or Crown Corporation
  • Indigenous organization including:
    • band council
    • tribal council
    • self-government entity
  • coalition, network, or committee
  • educational institution
  • public health and social services institution
  • for-profit organization provided that the nature and intent of the activity is non-commercial and not intended to generate profit
  • research organization or institute

Organizations can only submit 1 application under this Call for Proposals. Only submit a contribution application or a grant application, not both. 

Note to organizations located in Quebec

Some applicants in the province of Quebec are subject to the Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif (R.S.Q. c. M-30). These applicants are eligible to submit a proposal; however, if ESDC accepts to fund the project, organizations will need to obtain the approval of the Government of Quebec before ESDC can fund the project. Please refer to Quebec’s Approval and Authorization Process page for more information.

Projects

Your project must meet all the following criteria:

  • 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 as their main objective and clearly describe how your project will achieve at least 1 other 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
  • be no longer than 36 months
  • request no more than $900,000 (maximum $300,000 per fiscal year)

Note: Although awareness activities may be eligible under the SDG Contributions stream, the main objective of funded projects must contribute to support initiatives to localize the SDGs in communities.

Activities

Eligible activities may include, but are not limited to the following: 

  • activities that contribute to support initiatives localizing SDGs in communities
  • activities that include support for, or development of programs, services and resources that are designed to identify and meet the needs of a specific population in their community
  • activities that support the development of new and innovative approaches and breakthroughs that are scalable, and support the greatest number of SDGs
  • activities that build new partnerships or foster established partnership and support the multidimensional nature of the SDGs in order to amplify impact and strengthen resource mobilization
  • activities that support the integration of Indigenous and local knowledge in partnership with Indigenous people, into approaches to advance the 2030 Agenda in Canada
  • activities that support the development and application of knowledge sharing resources and tools, to advance SDGs across diverse communities
  • activities that facilitate SDG progress measurement of outcomes and accountability to be made public
  • activities that define SDG targets and indicators at a municipal level, as well as their reporting

Examples of eligible activities:

  • implementing communications plans and tactics to create links between SDG activities and the public in a certain community (for example, a website to communicate to the public the progress towards SDGs in a community)
  • pulling together data from a variety of sources (including Statistics Canada, and more) into a single place. Using graphs, maps, and other visualization techniques, to provide a clear snapshot of the advancement of SDGs while identifying changes over time.
  • conducting an environmental scan of local community driven measurements and processes
  • developing a project website that identifies meaningful indicators that resonate with a particular community to measure progress
  • developing mapping of actors working on the SDGs in a particular community and their links with organizations in Canada and internationally
  • creating a data collection structure for monitoring the progress of the SDGs at the municipal or community level
  • holding a symposium on local voluntary reporting
  • conducting a Voluntary Local Review to affirm commitment to the SDGs and report on progress
  • taking ownership of the 2030 Agenda and SDGs and integrating the SDGs into policy planning at the community level using the SDG Framework
  • working with municipal and provincial governments and private sector partners to implement a Sustainability Plan which will identify resources to sustain local networks

Ineligible activities for this Call for Proposals include:

  • activities that include an organization’s core, existing or ongoing activities and any research activities
  • activities that build the capacity of organizations to manage and deliver projects related to SDGs

What the funding can be used to pay for

All costs must be reasonable and support project activities.

Examples of eligible expenditures considered necessary to support the purpose of the funding:

  • the costs of engaging consultants and other qualified professionals
  • honoraria
  • hospitality
  • participant costs (for example, security checks for volunteers)
  • materials and supplies
  • travel costs
  • data collection
  • knowledge and development activities
  • salaries and wages and benefits
  • evaluation costs (for example, surveys)
  • any other costs necessary to support the purpose of the funding as approved by the Department of ESDC

Ineligible costs include, but are not limited to:

  • costs associated with fundraising activities
  • Canada Revenue Agency or payroll penalties
  • parking tickets
  • fines or penalties
  • entertainment costs
  • depreciation on fixed assets
  • board membership fees
  • capital costs for the construction of a building or the purchase of land or buildings
  • purchase of motor vehicles
  • legal fees and court awards for inappropriate dismissal or other inappropriate/illegal activity
  • membership fees for private clubs, etc. (golf clubs, gyms, etc.)
  • staff salary bonuses if not originally negotiated into agreement
  • purchase of alcoholic beverages
  • purchase of any illegal substances
  • gifts or payments for recognition

How we assess your application

We may refuse applications that are incomplete or contain errors

We will contact you to request any mandatory information if it is missing from your application. We will do this before we determine if your application is eligible. If you receive such a request, you must respond within 5 business days of the date we sent the request. If you do not respond before the deadline, it will be rejected.

We will review your application in 3 steps by:

Step 1: Screening for eligibility (questions 1 to 21 and 56 to 59 of the application)
  • application is received by the deadline: January 22, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (PST)
  • application is complete and the attestation is completed
  • Budget Detail Template is complete and submitted
  • organization is eligible (questions 1 to 21)
  • project is eligible (questions 56 to 59)

It is important to submit a complete application. We will assess your project only if all of the eligibility requirements are met.

Things that may impact your eligibility

Your past performance or issues of default in projects with ESDC may impact the eligibility of your application.

When determining the eligibility of your application, ESDC may review information in the public domain including, but not limited to, materials on your website and media articles, past projects performance that may have been supported by ESDC.

Step 2: Assessing your application (questions 55 to 59 and 66 to 75 of the application; Budget Detail Template)

The assessment of your application will consider the need and capacity of the applicant, and is, at a minimum, based on:

  • the degree to which proposed activities support SDG stream objectives and funding priorities
  • the degree to which proposed activities support the achievement of expected results with feasible timelines
  • demonstration of partnership/collaboration, innovation, and impact
  • reasonable project costs

Step 3: Assessing on other criteria to select a diverse range of projects to fund (questions 50 and 55 to 57 and 66 to 71 of the application; Budget Detail Template)

Further consideration could be given to proposals:

  • submitted by eligible recipients who have demonstrated experience in delivery of projects or similar initiatives
  • submitted by organizations with a national scope (indicate the provinces and territories where your organization operates)
  • targeting the greatest number of the 17 SDGs
  • clearly demonstrating a level of innovation
  • demonstrating in-kind contributions from more than one partner
  • strengthening or developing new or established partnerships
  • fostering and integrating Indigenous and local knowledge
  • bridging efforts across sectors in support of the 2030 Agenda

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