Grants and Contributions System (GCS) tutorial
Transcript: “Grants and Contributions System (GCS) tutorial”
This webinar will walk you through the process
for applying for funding in the GCS Partner Portal.
To start your application, you must first log in to the GCS Partner Portal
If you receive an error message that says “Invalid username/password specified” when trying to log in to
the Partner Portal, please reset your password by clicking on the “Reset your password?” hyperlink.
Please note that account sharing in the Partner Portal is strictly prohibited.
If a user requires access to the GCS Partner Portal,
please have the user create and log in to their own account.
Once you have successfully logged in, you will be brought to the home page
A brief reminder about the inactivity time out that is at the top of the page
Please note that you will be automatically logged out of the Partner Portal if you are idle for 60 minutes.
Make sure to save your work regularly to avoid data loss.
The home page has a list of hyperlinks that will help you navigate to different parts of the system.
You can click on the hyperlinks to open up the part of the system that is displayed.
To check the user permissions under our organization,
click on the View or Modify User Permissions hyperlink.
Under the view or modify user permissions section,
you can edit the Proposal Permissions of users listed under your organization.
Users can have three kinds of permissions: None, which is blank, Read Only, or Edit.
Executive directors and delegated administrators are automatically granted Edit and Submit permission.
Users without proposal permission will not be able to see the applications tab at all.
To modify a user’s Proposal Permissions, go to the user’s row in the Users list at the top of the page, and
select the desired Proposal Permission from the drop down menu in the Proposal Permission column.
Click the Save button to save your changes.
Click the Home button to navigate back to the Home page.
Now we will click on the View or Submit Applications hyperlink to open the application section.
This page displays a list of the applications you have started or submitted.
If you would like to find out more information about the page that you’re on,
click on the “TUTOIRAL – How to use this page” hyperlink
Note that you may have to enable the pop ups on your browser to see this page.
You can start a new application by clicking the New button.
Every application in the GCS Partner Portal is submitted under a particular funding process –
A funding opportunity wherein the Department declares its intention to allocate federal funding
towards service programs that align with priority settlement or resettlement initiatives.
Your proposal should demonstrably correspond
with the interests of the funding process you select.
Use the Select a funding process dropdown to indicate
the funding process that you intend to apply for.
Fill out the other information that is required.
Select a Program.
Select a Geographical Scope.
Select a Client Service Language.
Select a Project Delivery Language.
Click the Start Your Application button to start your application.
Status Page
The Status Page displays an outline of the application information
that must be completed before you can submit.
Any section can be completed in any order and at any time, at your own pace.
The Users Notified of Application Status section
displays a list of the users that will receive notifications
from the Department about this application after it has been submitted.
To add an individual from your organization as a contact for updates related to your application:
Click the Add button to bring up a list of individuals you can add as contacts;
Find and select the desired individual and click OK;
Repeat this process for each individual that you wish to add as a contact.
If you cannot find a particular individual in the list,
they probably don’t have a GCS Partner Portal
An account is required to receive updates about the application.
Click the Get Started button to start your application
In Section 1: Summary, provide a brief summary of your project.
You will have the opportunity to elaborate on your project
in more detail throughout the application.
Note that each text box has a character limit.
This limit is displayed in the character count above the text box.
Please note that you will have to save each section in order to refresh the character count.
This can be done by clicking the save button on the bottom
of the page or clicking CTRL+S on your keyboard.
You can also find out more information about a text box
by clicking on the question mark beside the name of the field.
Once you have filled out the information on a page,
it is important to remember to click the save button
at the bottom of the page to save the information you have just filled in.
You can use the legend on the side of the page to navigate to
another part of the application or you can click the
Next button at the bottom of the page to open the following section.
Section 2: Goals and Services
In this section, indicate any goals that you have for your project,
as well as the basic and customized services that your project will deliver.
Selecting Base Services:
To add a Base Service to the My Base Service List,
Click the New button and select a Base Service using the pick applet.
Click the okay button to select the Base Service.
Fill out the information required in the text box below the Base Service.
To add another Base Service, click the New button.
To navigate to another Base Service,
click on the Base Service under the My Base Service List section.
To delete a Base Service, select the Base Service
from the My Base Service List section and click the Delete button.
Selecting Customized Services is like selecting Base Services.
After clicking the save button to save your work,
you can click the Previous button to navigate to the
previous page or you can click the Next button to navigate to the next page.
Section 3: Activities
In this section, describe the activities for your project.
For each activity, provide a brief description that includes targeted clients, location(s) and date(s).
You can add an activity by clicking on the New button and filling out the required information.
After adding the activity, add the Demographic to each Activity
If the activity is targeting a specific client demographic that does not appear in the “Targeted Client Demographics” dropdown,
you may manually enter the name of the demographic
in the Other Demographic field.
Select the Delivery Location.
To add an existing location:
Click the “Add Existing” button
Select a service delivery location from the list
Click OK
To add a new location:
Click the “Add New” button
Fill in all required fields
Click Save
Section 4: Outreach and Outcomes
In this section, explain the need for your project,
describe how you plan to reach out to target demographics,
and list the outcomes you expect to observe after completing the project.
The Immediate Outcomes section and the Intermediate Outcomes section function like the Base Service section.
After you have added your immediate and intermediate outcomes and have finished with the section,
navigate to the following section.
In Section 5: Capacity, you can demonstrate that by the proposed launch date you will have the
resources, knowledge, experience and systems to run the project effectively.
We will briefly fill out the required information in the Capacity section.
Under the Partners section, click the New button to add a new partner, if necessary.
If your partner is making a financial contribution to the project,
it is mandatory to include a letter of support from that partner.
You can add the letter of support to the partner by clicking on the Upload File button
and adding the letter of support.
In Section 6: Evaluation, explain how you will evaluate your project during its end-phase
and after it has completed.
Fill out the required information on this page.
In Section 7: Budget, you must state the funding period
and provide a budget for each fiscal year of your project.
To start the budget, fill out the Funding Period Start and the Funding Period End fields.
Click the Calendar applet to select the date.
It is only after you have filled out the information in these two fields
that you will be able to continue with the budget.
Different sections of the budget.
Click the New button under the Total Requested Amount section to add a fiscal year.
Click the New button under the Program Delivery section to add program delivery items.
Click the New button under the Administrative section to add the administrative flat rate.
Click the New button under the Capital section to add capital items.
Click the New button under the Revenue section to add the Revenue items, if necessary.
Once you have completed the budget for one fiscal year,
you can click the Copy button to create a copy of the fiscal year that you just worked on
or you can click the New button to create a new fiscal year from scratch.
Once you have finished with the budget, navigate to the following section.
In the Mandatory Documents section,
the list of documents which appear on the page are all
required for the section to be considered complete.
If you are required to provide the Most recent annual report
and Full financial statements for last fiscal,
you will need to select the Date of Period End.
To select the Date of Period End,
click on the Date of Period End to activate the calendar applet,
click on the calendar applet, indicate the date of period end and click on the “Done” button.
Click on Ctrl + S to save the date.
Now that we’re back on the status page,
you can see every section and the status of the section.
If the required information has been filled out for each section,
the section will have a status of “Completed.”
Once each section has a status of “Completed,” you can commence the Executive Declaration.
If a section has a status of “Not Started” or “In Progress,”
open the section to fill out the required information that has not yet been inputted.
Since all of the sections have a status of complete, we can start the Submit Application section.
Submit Application.
The Executive Director or an appointed Delegated Administrator
is responsible for completing the Executive Declaration
and submitting the application to the Department.
When preparing to submit the application, review any documents
and information that you have included in the application,
and verify that your application is truthful, complete and correct.
Make any necessary adjustments to the application before you submit it,
as you will not be able to edit it again after you have submitted.
Read the “Notice Regarding Personal Information” and ensure that you understand
your stakes in the documents and information that you are providing to the Department.
Read each certification statement carefully,
and only accept a statement if you understand and agree with the statement.
When submitting the application, if you are the Executive Director or a Delegated Administrator,
click the checkbox for each certification statement.
Click the “Submit” button to send your application to the Department for assessment.
The Department will contact you via email with information regarding your application’s assessment.
Alternatively, if you do not have permission to submit the application on behalf of your organization,
click the “Submit for Declaration” button.
The Executive Director will be prompted to log into the GCS Partner Portal to submit the application.
Please be sure to follow up with your Executive Director before the funding period
has come to a close to confirm that your application has been successfully submitted.
After you have successfully submitted your application,
you will receive an acknowledgement of the submission.
If you would like to download a copy of your application,
navigate back to the status page of your application.
Under the Documents section, you can click on the File Name hyperlink
to download the application that was automatically generated by the system.
This concludes our webinar on applying for funding in the GCS Partner Portal.
For any technical assistance with the GCS Partner Portal,
please contact the GCS Help Desk at GCS-SSC@cic.gc.ca
Report a problem or mistake on this page
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