School Health Grant for Youth: Applicant Guide

Are you a Canadian youth, aged 13-19 and enrolled in grades 9-12 or in Secondary 3 to 6 in Quebec, looking to make a positive difference in your school and/or community? Do you have a passion for healthy living?

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is offering grant funding for youth like yourself who have ideas to develop a youth-driven project that matches up with PHAC's mandate and encourages healthy living by teaching participants about important topics, sharing resources and information, and helping participants develop healthy skills. Youth projects should focus on 1 of the following priorities:

• Positive mental health and well-being
  • Example: Create a peer group that fosters community connectedness and understanding of different cultures. Bring in an expert to host a workshop on resiliency and other skills that promote positive mental health. Example topics could include mental health challenges for newcomers, and coping strategies for navigating culture differences.
  • Example: Host a book club to read and share literature about mental health and wellbeing, with a focus on authors from diverse countries, cultures, and life experiences. Bring in a community leader or expert to host a guided discussion about key learnings from the book(s), with a focus on bringing new skills into daily life. Example topics could include coping with anxiety or navigating life changes.
• Healthy eating and nutrition
  • Example: Organize a cooking workshop to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to make healthy and nutritious choices. Use Canada's Food Guide to help you decide which meals to cook.
  • Example: Organize a registered dietician to speak at a school assembly about how to be mindful of daily eating habits.
• Physical activity
  • Example: Organize a workshop that educates students on the importance of physical activity for overall health. To encourage participation, organize an intramural sports day where students can try out new sports.
  • Example: Start an inclusive sports program that is accessible for youth with disabilities. Educate participants about the health benefits of physical activity and the importance of creating an inclusive school environment.
• Reducing substance-related harms
  • Example: Host an awareness event about the health effects of vaping in youth and share resources for students who hope to quit.
  • Example: Organize a workshop on preventing and reducing substance-related harms, focused on reducing stigma and holding non-judgemental conversations.

Healthy living projects developed using grant funding must focus on only 1 of the above PHAC priorities. Projects using grant funding must incorporate a health promotion focus using education and awareness, skill-building, and/or providing informational resources. For more detailed examples and ideas, please see previous School Health Grant for Youth projects.

For this cycle of grant funding, projects that aim to build knowledge, understanding, and coping skills among your peers to address the mental health challenges arising from events in Canada and around the world are welcomed. These projects can create a safe space for you and your peers to gain a deeper understanding of different cultures and lifestyles to improve the overall mental health in your school and/or community, and could take place either during the school year and at your school, or in your community during summer break (for instance, in a school gym, a classroom, a community centre, or a recreation centre).

The goal of the funded projects is to help youth gain knowledge, tools and informational resources to support healthy living. By providing direct funding to youth like yourself, you will be able to define your own goals, develop projects or initiatives that appeal to your peers, and address health issues within your particular school context and/or community environment. This opportunity can also empower you to put your ideas into action while gaining valuable life skills such as leadership and project planning.

All Applications to the School Health Grant for Youth should be guided by the following principles:

• Demonstrated Need: Your project workplan should outline the needs and gaps in your school and/or community, and how your proposed activities will address them.
• Innovative: Your proposed initiatives and activities should reflect brand new activities that would address the needs and gaps in your school and/or community (rather than, for instance, funding to support an existing or ongoing initiative or activity at your school).
• Youth-driven: Your project must be designed and led by you (and your team of youth, if you have one). Youth know best about the health and well-being issues that concern and affect them, and have the right to actively participate in identifying emerging health issues that involve themselves and their peers.
• Health equity, accessibility and inclusivity: Issues related to health and well-being can affect all youth, but may not affect all youth equally or equitably. Health equity means that all youth have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible. Your project should be inclusive and accessible for youth who may face systemic barriers to their health and well-being, and who may have diverse needs. Your Application should outline how you will address health equity, accessibility, and inclusivity in your project design.
• Focused on your school and/or community: Your project should be designed with your school and/or community's unique realities and needs in mind. For instance, a neighbourhood in a rural area will have different needs compared to a neighbourhood in the downtown core of a major city.

You can apply for up to $1500 in grant funding for your project in your school or surrounding community, that must be completed by August 31, 2024.

You will be asked to outline your budget in your grant Application. Please note that when we receive your Application, we will review and assess your budget and, if necessary, may provide you with a lower grant amount than the one you requested.

• You must be between the ages of 13-19 and enrolled in grades 9-12 or in Secondary 3 to 6 in Quebec. Note: you must meet both the age and grade eligibility requirements to apply.
• You must be a Canadian citizen or be a permanent resident in Canada.
• You must not be a federal government employee at the time of applying.

  Note: teachers and school administrators are not eligible to submit a grant application. However, they can act as a mentor and a youth ally. As a mentor and youth ally, teachers and school administrators can provide you with guidance, motivation, leadership, and support (including emotional support). You can also choose another trusted adult as a mentor (such as a parent, guardian, neighbour, coach, and so on). You will be asked to include the contact information for your school administrator on your Application. Your school administrator may be contacted by PHAC regarding promotional events regarding this Program, or to verify large purchases.

In order to receive funding from PHAC, you must have a valid bank account under your own name. Funding will be sent directly to this account. Please note that bank account information of anyone other than yours (as the youth applicant) will not be accepted.

If you are a minor in your province or territory, your parent or guardian will also need to sign your Application.

You can download the PDF Application from the School Health Grant for Youth Landing Page. Once completed, please sign and submit your Application to PHAC's Youth Policy and Partnerships Unit (YPPU) by email at: school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca with the subject line "School Health Grant for Youth".

YPPU will communicate with you via the email address that you use to apply. Because of this, please ensure that you submit your completed Application to YPPU using a personal email account, as some school boards block students' school email accounts from receiving external emails.

You must notify your school's administration (a vice principal or principal) of your plans to apply to this grant opportunity. This is also required if your project will take place in your community. You may wish to use our poster on our website to help start this conversation.

We are currently accepting applications until Friday, April 19, 2024 (5:00p.m. EDT). You can only submit 1 proposal per Call for Applications. Additionally, students from the same school are not allowed to submit duplicate proposals; each proposal must be unique.

Please be aware that it may take approximately 2 months after the close of the solicitation for approved youth applicants to receive their grant funding. Therefore, ensure that the activities outlined in your Application do not begin within the next 2 months, and plan your activities accordingly.

YPPU will review Applications and communicate decisions directly to applicants via email and provide information on next steps. Successful applicants will be asked to complete their project and submit a Project Report by August 31, 2024.

8.1 Eligible expenses

An eligible expense is something that you are allowed to spend grant money on for your proposed project. You can only use your grant money for purchases and expenses directly related to your project. Please also keep in mind that the eligible expenses listed on this page are only eligible for the duration of the grant. For example, if you plan to purchase a website license fee to share project information, you can only use grant funding to cover the fees until the end of August 2024 when all projects are to be completed and the final report is due.

Expense category: personnel

There are 2 types of personnel expense sub-categories:

1. Contractor Fees (for example, trainers, consultants, motivational speakers, regulated health professionals such as dieticians, physiotherapists, etc.)

   Note: Contractors are professional individuals who are involved in your project activities once or more than once. Please be sure to develop a work agreement and have it signed by each contractor who assists with your project. You can work with your mentor (if you have one) and each contractor to develop an agreement that works for everyone.

2. Honoraria for volunteers outside of the core youth team (for example, a yoga teacher who volunteers their time to teach a class, an Elder, and so on). Honoraria are to be used for one-time contributions to projects and initiatives, and must not exceed more than $300.

   Note: Honoraria are given as a token of appreciation for someone who has assisted with the project as a volunteer. Teachers and school administrators are not eligible to receive an honorarium.

Expense category: travel

• Transportation for personnel - if you are reimbursing someone for driving (for example, if a guest speaker must drive to come speak at your school), this can be reimbursed by kilometre depending on which province or territory you are in.
• To calculate this amount:
  • First, determine the total number of kilometres of the travel you will be reimbursing (you can use Google Maps to do this)
  • Next, using the National Joint Consortium table find your province or territory and the corresponding "cents/km" amount.
  • Calculate the total cost of your trip using the following formula: cents/km x total number of kilometres = cost of trip. Please include your calculations in your budget table.
• Vehicle rentals for personnel (for example, if a school bus is rented to transport students to the event or activity).
  • You should identify the type of transportation, the cost of transportation and the estimated number of students who will be using the transportation as part of your budget.
• Hotel rooms for personnel (for example, if a guest speaker is travelling from another city and needs to stay overnight in a hotel).
  • You should specify the cost of the hotel per night, per person in your budget.

Expense category: materials and supplies

• Project supplies and materials (for example, paper, craft supplies, board games, etc.)
• Printing (for example, posters, activity booklets, informational pamphlets)
• Postage

• Project-related incentives (for example, trophies, gift cards, etc.).

  • Incentives must not exceed more than $50 each. You should specify the cost per incentive in your budget (for example, 4 gift cards at $50 each for a total of $200).

  Note: Project incentives are only eligible if used to support project participation (for example, to complete a survey, to attend and participate in an initiative, etc.).

Expense category: equipment

• Equipment refers to movable assets that are used in the activities of the project. It includes the cost of renting or purchasing specialized project equipment including sports equipment (for example, tennis rackets, yoga mats, soccer balls, etc.) and specialized project equipment for students (i.e., stools, bean bag chairs).
• Furniture: furniture is not an eligible project expense. This includes large, immovable objects such as couches, fridges or freezers, garden sheds, picnic tables, etc. If you have any questions about this, or for more information, please contact us at school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca.

  Note: Equipment purchased using grant money must remain the property of your school for future use. Please note that equipment can also be rented. Cost effectiveness should be considered when deciding whether to purchase or rent. You will be asked to provide the name of your school administrator (vice principal or principal) on your Application so that they can verify equipment purchases for your project.

Expense category: rental space

• Physical space rental (for example, event room, gymnasium, etc.). Please note that parking is not an eligible expense. You should provide a breakdown of cost per rental space in your budget (for example, $300 to rent a room that holds 50 people in the community centre).

Expense category: other

• Food for a project-related event or initiative (for example, snacks, ingredients, etc.).

  Note: Food is only eligible if it is purchased to support a learning activity (for example, a cooking class), or as an incentive to support participation at an event (for example, providing snacks to participants at a learning event). School food programs (for example, projects that only focus on providing food to students) are not eligible under this program.

• Website license fees (for example, EventBrite, MailChimp, website development, etc.)

  Note: Website license fees are only considered eligible if they are not a major portion of your budget. If you create your own website for your project, it is expected that your website is not considered the project itself, but instead a way to share project information. Please get in touch with us if you are uncertain whether website license fees would be considered eligible.

8.2 Ineligible expenses

An ineligible expense is something that you are not allowed to spend grant money on for your proposed project. The following is a list of ineligible expenses for the School Health Grant for Youth:

• You may not use grant funds to provide honoraria or payment for work to yourself, your family, or any other members of your core team including any adult mentors, teachers or school staff.
• You may not use grant funds for profit-making or fundraising purposes (whether it be to generate profit for yourself or your youth team, or to fundraise for your school or a community organization). If you have any questions please contact us at school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca.
• You may not use grant funds to benefit a for-profit business or organization.
• You may not use grant funds to purchase memberships for private venues or clubs (for instance, to purchase gym memberships for students).
• You may not use grant funding to purchase furniture for the project (for example, desks, tables, bookcases, fridges, freezers, etc.). Furniture used by the project is generally considered an in-kind, non-financial contribution that would be provided by your school. If you have any questions about this, or for more information, please contact us at school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca.

• YPPU will acknowledge receipt of your Application by email within 5 business days (Monday to Friday).
• YPPU will assess your Application to see if it meets the overall objectives and goals of the grant and the eligibility requirements, as described in the sections "Objectives" and "Who can apply".
• All funding decisions will be based on a review of the Applications that we receive. Unfortunately, due to the limited amount of funding that we have available, not all Applications will receive funding.
• If we receive a larger number of Applications than available funding, we will use the following factors to help guide our funding decisions:
  • We may consider the geographical location of the school, as we hope to have representation across all of Canada's provinces and territories.
  • If a high volume of applications are received from 1 school, we may consider limiting the number of grants awarded to students in that school to ensure that there is a fair representation across schools per district.
  • Youth applicants who are part of equity-deserving groups may be prioritized for funding.
• YPPU will notify you of our final decision by email.
  • If your project is approved, we will request that a Direct Deposit form be completed so that we can issue your funding. Please be reminded that in order to receive funding from PHAC, you must have a valid bank account under your name.
  • If your project is approved, we will also provide you with a form to obtain your consent to participate in communications and activities regarding the School Health Grant for Youth program. Your consent is optional. You are not required to participate in these activities.
• Once you receive your grant funding, you can begin your project with the goal to complete it by August 31, 2024.

• You are required to submit a Project Report by August 31, 2024. However, you are welcome to submit your Project Report sooner than this date if you choose.
• The report must demonstrate how the project contributed to the grant's objectives, described in Section 2, and should also describe any key results achieved.
  • For example, you can: provide an overview of your project, confirm how many students participated, explain how your project provided participants with knowledge, tools, and resources to support and encourage healthy living, and describe any other specific and/or key results from your project.
  • You can also share your overall experience with the grant, including any feedback you wish to share with PHAC.
• Your report can be in the format of your choice. For instance, it can take the form of an infographic, video, essay, mind map, social media postings, and so on.
  • If you decide to use social media to report on your project, please use the hashtag #YouthSchoolGrant.
  • If you are publicly sharing photos or videos of individuals in your social media postings, please ensure those individuals have given consent to be in these photos or videos.
  • Social media postings should include the same reporting requirements listed in the second bullet above.
• If you have any questions or concerns on how to complete your project report please reach out to YPPU at school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca. We are happy to discuss.
• When complete, please submit your report to YPPU at: school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca with the subject line "School Health Grant for Youth - Project Report".
• In August 2024, you will be asked to complete a short survey to provide feedback on your experience with the School Health Grant for Youth. This survey is optional and your responses will be anonymous.

If you have any questions at any point during the process, please contact YPPU at: school.health.grant-subvention.sante.scolaire@phac-aspc.gc.ca with the subject line "School Health Grant for Youth".

We also request that you add our email address to your email account's 'safe senders' list to prevent our emails going to your spam or junk folders.

This example is a request for $500. In this example budget, the youth's project focuses on the priority area of physical activity. The project activities include contracting a running specialist to lead 3 running workshops after school and inviting a personal trainer to discuss healthy mindsets relating to regular exercise.

This example is a request for $1000. In this example budget, the youth's project focuses on the priority area of positive mental health and well-being, and will take place over the summer break. The project activities includes a "speakers series" where school and community members who are newcomers and/or immigrants to Canada will be invited to speak about their experiences with mental health challenges arising from their transition to Canada. Speakers will also discuss how resiliency and other skills have played a positive role in their well-being. This will help foster social connections among students over the summer break, and will also teach youth about resiliency as a positive skill, as well as understanding and appreciation of different cultures and lifestyles. The community's recreation centre will provide the room for free, as an in-kind donation to the project.

This example is a request for $1500. In this example budget, the youth's project focuses on the priority area of healthy eating and nutrition. The project activities include inviting a registered dietician as a guest speaker, contracting a local chef to teach 3 meal planning workshops and handing out healthy snacks along with Canada's Food Guide.