Human trafficking call for proposals: Developing your application

4. Developing your application

It is strongly recommended that organizations carefully read this section while completing the application for funding. It provides important details on the information and supporting documentation that is required by Women and Gender Equality Canada to assess applications. Your application will be reviewed in terms of both eligibility and assessment criteria:

• Eligibility criteria: Basic elements that must be met in order to consider your application for funding. These include submitting your complete application, with all mandatory questions answered and required documentation attached, by the established deadline.
• Assessment criteria: Other elements that are evaluated to determine the strength of your application. Only eligible applications will be assessed.

Where appropriate, these have been indicated in the instructions below.

Section A: Organization information

Question 1: Legal name

Indicate the legal name of your organization that is associated with your certificate of incorporation or registration, or your Canada Revenue Agency business number. If it is an acronym, indicate the legal name in full.

Question 2: Operating name

Indicate the operating (common) name of your organization if different from the legal name. The operating name is the most commonly used name of your organization. If it is an acronym, indicate the operating name in full.

Question 3: Legally constituted

Indicate how your organization is legally constituted.

If your organization was created pursuant to an Act, indicate which one.

If your organization is incorporated, provide your organization’s certificate of incorporation which displays your organization’s incorporation number.

If your organization is registered, provide your organization’s certificate of registration (“certificat d’attestation” in Quebec) issued from the provincial or territorial registrar which displays your organization’s registration number.

Eligibility criterion: The application must be complete. It must include a valid incorporation or registration certificate.

Question 4: Type

Select your organization’s type.

All applicants under this call for proposals must be Canadian, legally constituted organizations with demonstrated experience in preventing human trafficking with at risk populations and/or in interventions for human trafficking survivors, and be one of the following:

• not-for-profit Canadian organizations
• not-for-profit Indigenous organizations (that represent First Nations, Inuit and/or Métis interests and is controlled by members of the population it serves)
• Indigenous governments (including band councils, tribal councils and self-government entities) and their agencies
• municipalities and their agencies

In exceptional circumstances and where no such organizations with demonstrated experience exists in a given region or community, an exception may be granted to the above. Please send an email to Call for Proposals Enquiries to confirm an exception prior to submitting an application.

Organizations must demonstrate their experience in preventing and addressing human trafficking in question 17 of the application form.

Eligibility criteria:

• The applicant is a Canadian, legally constituted organization.
• The applicant has demonstrated experience in preventing human trafficking within populations and/or interventions for human trafficking survivors.
• The applicant is a not-for-profit Canadian organization; or a not-for-profit Indigenous organization; or an Indigenous government or one of their agencies; or a municipality or one of their agencies.

Question 5: Canada Revenue Agency business number (optional)

Provide an official document received from the Canada Revenue Agency which displays your organization’s business number (for example, 123456789RR0001), if applicable.

Question 6: Organization Scope

Indicate the scope of your organization:

• Local: Activities of the organization generally cover at least one community, such as a town, city or regional municipality.
• Regional: Activities of the organization cover a district or region of provinces or territories.
• Provincial or territorial: Activities of the organization generally cover an entire province or territory.
• Pan-Canadian: The organization’s activities generally have the potential of impact across Canada (in at least one province or territory in each of the four WAGE regions).

Questions 7 to 10: Street address

Indicate the street address of your organization.

Organizations established in Quebec

The Quebec National Assembly adopted an Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif (M-30). The provisions of this Act outlines certain conditions for organizations and Quebec government bodies that seek to enter into a contract with the federal government. Organizations should consult the provisions of M-30 to ensure compliance with the Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif (M-30).

Whenever an organization meets one of the following criteria, it is subject to chapter M-30 provisions:

• The majority of its members, board of directors or executive members, come from the Quebec public sector.
• This includes any person appointed by the Government of Quebec: a minister, a government agency, a municipal body, a school board or another public agency.
• Its personnel are appointed in accordance with the Public Service Act of Quebec.
• If 50% or more of its financing comes from Quebec public funds – either from the Consolidated Revenue Fund, a government agency, a municipal body or another public agency.

Organizations subject to the Act are responsible for obtaining such authorization before any financing agreement with the Department can be finalized. Additional information will be provided in due course to applicants whose project has been selected by the Department under this call.

If your organization’s street address is in Quebec, provide your organization’s most recent financial statements and indicate if your organization meets one or more of the criteria of the Act respecting the Ministère du Conseil exécutif (M-30). In addition, provide your organization’s most recent Ministerial Order received from the Government of Quebec, if applicable.

Question 11: Confidential address

Indicate if the street address of your organization is confidential (for example, the address of a shelter).

Questions 12 and 13: Telephone and email

Indicate the telephone number and email address of the organization.

Questions 14 and 15: Preferred official language of communication

Indicate the official language in which you wish to communicate and receive correspondence.

Question 16: Mailing address

Indicate if the mailing address is different from your organization’s street address. If different, indicate the mailing address of your organization.

Question 17: Mandate (role and expertise)

Indicate your organization’s mandate as it appears in the organization’s governing documents and website, if applicable.

As organizations must demonstrate their experience in preventing or addressing human trafficking to be eligible, please describe your organization’s experience.

Examples of mandates, efforts, programs or projects which could illustrate an organization’s experience in addressing human trafficking include:

• providing social, health, housing and/or cultural programs and services primarily for survivors of human trafficking
• implementing human trafficking prevention strategies
• addressing gender-based violence with a focus on human trafficking

Examples of mandates, efforts, programs or projects which do not demonstrate sufficient experience in addressing human trafficking include:

• providing shelter for vulnerable youth
• addressing gender-based violence without a focus on human trafficking

Women and Gender Equality Canada reserves the right to conduct reference checks to confirm the evidence you provide in support of your application.

Eligibility criterion: The application demonstrates that the organization has experience in preventing human trafficking within at risk populations and/or in interventions for human trafficking survivors.

Question 18: Previous funding partners

Indicate if your organization received funding from the federal government, excluding Women and Gender Equality Canada (previously Status of Women Canada), provincial, territorial or municipal government, an organization, or a foundation in the past five years.

If your organization previously received funding, the Department may follow up with you at a later time for the name of the funding partner most relevant to the project, the contact person’s information and the amount of funding received. This information should not be included in your application as this is protected information.

Women and Gender Equality Canada reserves the right to conduct reference checks with your funding partners and will verify internally if your organization has previously received funding from Women and Gender Equality Canada.

Assessment criterion: The application demonstrates experience in successfully delivering projects and achieving positive results.

Question 19: Amounts owing

Indicate if your organization owes any amount to the Government of Canada.

If your organization owes any amount, the Department will follow up with you at a later time for the name of the Department or agency, the amount owing, the nature of the debt and if a payment plan is in place. This information should not be included in your application as this is protected information.

Section B: Primary contact person information

The primary contact person must be the person with whom Women and Gender Equality Canada can communicate regarding this application for funding. This person must also be fully informed about the proposed activities.

Questions 20 to 24: Primary contact person information

Indicate the name, position title, mailing address, telephone number and email of the primary contact person.

If the mailing address of the contact person is different from the organization’s addresses, indicate the mailing address of the contact person.

All correspondence will be sent to the primary contact person’s email address.

Section C: Secondary contact information

The secondary contact person must be the person with whom Women and Gender Equality Canada can communicate regarding this application for funding in the absence of the primary contact person. The secondary contact person must also be fully informed about the proposed activities.

Questions 25 to 28: Secondary contact information

Indicate the name, position title, telephone number and email of the secondary contact person.

Section D: Project information

Question 29: Title

Indicate a brief and descriptive project title.

Question 30: Anticipated start date

Indicate the anticipated start date of the project. Projects should be proposed to start no earlier than late fall 2020.

If your organization’s project activities begin before you receive a funding decision, expenses incurred prior to approval will not be reimbursed.

Question 31: Anticipated end date

Indicate the anticipated end date of the project. Projects must be completed by March 31, 2024.

Question 32: Project scope

Indicate the scope of the project:

• Local: Project activities cover at least one community, such as a town, city or regional municipality.
• Regional: Project activities cover a district or region of provinces or territories. In the context of this call, applications from the Canada’s three largest municipalities and their agencies would quality as regional: Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.
• Provincial or territorial: Project activities cover an entire province or territory.
• Pan-Canadian: Project activities generally have the potential of impact across Canada (in at least one province or territory in each of the four WAGE regions) and are carried-out in both official languages (both official languages not required for Indigenous organizations).

If the project scope is wider than local, indicate how it meets the definitions listed above.

Questions 33: Location(s) of the activities

Indicate if the location(s) of the project activities is/are different from the organization’s address. If different, indicate the city, town or region as well as the province or territory of the location(s) of the activities (up to five locations).

Questions 34: Activity location type

Indicate if the majority of the activities will be carried out in a rural or urban area, or both. A rural area is defined as an area outside settlements with 1,000 or more population but with less than 400 persons per square kilometre.

If the majority of the activities will be carried out in rural, or in both urban and rural areas, indicate if the majority will take place in a remote area. A remote area is defined as an area that has infrequent flights and no roads in or out of the area, forestry truck road only, or road access in winter only.

If some activities are located in one of the three territories or in Newfoundland and Labrador, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia, indicate if the majority of the activities will be carried out in a northern area. A northern area is defined as one of the three territories or an area being above the:

• 50th parallel in Newfoundland and Labrador
• 54th parallel in Quebec or Ontario
• 53rd parallel in Manitoba
• 54th parallel in Saskatchewan, Alberta or British Columbia

This information can be found on the LatLong website.

The maximum amount requested per project may be increased by up to 25% where organizations identify a need to consider increased costs due to remoteness. Please indicate if this is the case for your project. If yes, the budget form will need to reflect these costs.

Question 35: Category of needs to be addressed

Check the box that most closely responds to the need your project will address. Provide an explanation if “other” is checked.

Question 36: Needs to be addressed

Describe the need that your project will address, including any considerations resulting from your Gender-Based Analysis Plus and the evidence to support the existence of the identified need.

Before completing their application, organizations are encouraged to do the Introduction to Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA+) online course.

GBA+ is an analytical process used to assess how diverse groups of women, men and non-binary people may experience policies, programs and initiatives. The “plus” in GBA+ acknowledges that GBA goes beyond biological (sex) and socio-cultural (gender) differences. We all have multiple identity factors that intersect to make us who we are. GBA+ also considers many other identity factors, like race, ethnicity, religion, age, and mental or physical disability.

Assessment criteria:

• The application includes information supporting the existence and relevance of the identified need.
• The application demonstrates that GBA+ has been conducted and the results considered.

Question 37: Objectives

The application must show how the project is aligned to the objective of the call for proposals which is to support eligible organizations in developing and implementing prevention or intervention promising practices that will advance knowledge and enhance empowerment supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking.

Indicate the project objectives by:

• providing a detailed description of how the project objectives contribute to the objective of the call for proposals, including reference to the needs or issue the project will be addressing

• stating the measures your organization will use to determine whether success was achieved

Project objectives should be clear and practical, described in terms of measurable goals to be achieved through the project.

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

Assessment criterion: The application demonstrates that it is aligned with the objective of the call for proposals.

Questions 38 and 39: Population that will benefit from the project

Indicate which population groups will benefit from the project (up to two).

Indicate the gender of the population group that will benefit from the project. A person's gender may differ from the sex a person was assigned at birth. The categories ‘All genders’, ‘Men’ and ‘Women’ below are considered inclusive of both cisgender and transgender individuals. If the project is focused on benefitting another gender, indicate it using the ‘Other’ category.

Indicate the age group of the population group that will benefit from the project (up to two).

Indicate the characteristic that best describes the population group that will benefit from the project. If there is a primary target audience for your project, please select only one. If the target audience for the project is broad, select those that apply, up to a maximum of three.

If the project is focused on benefitting individuals who identify as LGBTQ2, indicate if it specifically aims to benefit bisexual, gay, lesbian, queer, trans or two-spirit individuals (up to five). If the project is focused on benefitting another LGBTQ2 population, indicate it using the ‘Other’ category.

If the project is focused on benefitting Indigenous people, indicate whether the majority identifies as First Nations, Inuit, Métis, or unaffiliated (up to two), if applicable. Subsequently, indicate whether the majority identifies as urban Indigenous. In addition, indicate if the project is focused on benefitting First Nations off reserve, First Nations on reserve or all First Nations people.

Question 40: Survivor-informed approaches

Describe how your organization has ensured that at-risk individuals and/or survivors have informed the development of your proposal and that their perspective will continue to shape the project if approved.

Assessment criterion: The application demonstrates that at-risk individuals and/or survivors have informed the development of the application and that their perspective will continue to shape the project.

Question 41: Work plan template

Attach the completed template for this section.

Indicate the project’s key activities and sub-activities as well as their associated timelines. Activities are the steps that will be taken to meet the project objectives. They must be listed in a chronological order and include the involvement of partners or stakeholders, if applicable.

Important note: All proposed projects must include an external evaluation. This must be reflected in your work plan and budget.

Please consult the Activities section for more information on eligible and ineligible activities.

Please note that Indigenous-focussed solutions must be Indigenous-led or in partnership with an Indigenous community or organization.

In cases where activities may affect the well-being of individuals or communities, consideration should be given to including mental health, emotional and cultural support services.

For activities that are pan-Canadian in scope, translation, simultaneous interpretation or other supports should be included in the work plan.

Eligibility criteria:

• The application is complete. The work plan is attached and complete.
• The proposed activities address human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labour.
• If the proposed project includes Indigenous-focussed solutions, they must be Indigenous-led or in partnership with an Indigenous community or organization.
• The proposed project includes an external evaluation.

Assessment criteria:

• The application provides a clear description of each activity.
• The application demonstrates how the activities are relevant to the project objectives.
• The application provides clear and feasible timelines that are aligned with project activities.

Question 42: Partners

Indicate the project partners, their type of organization as well as the role they will play in the project, if applicable.)

A project partner generally has expertise and a vested interest in the issue being addressed. Although the partner’s role can vary, a project partner is not accountable for the project outcomes.

If your organization has previously partnered with the organization, describe the role it played in the previous partnership.

Question 43: Project description

Summarize the project’s objectives, partners, key activities and duration (in months).

Your project description will be used as a summary of your proposed project. As such, provide concise information about key activities and expected outcomes and include your organization’s name and the project duration in number of months.

Here is a suggested template:

Through this [insert number of months]-month project, [insert organization name] will develop and implement promising intervention practices that will advance knowledge and enhance empowerment supports for at-risk populations and survivors of human trafficking in [insert location]. Specifically, the project will [insert key activities].

Question 44: Official-language minority community

Indicate if the project benefits or involves members of an official-language minority community (OLMC).

An OLMC is either a French-speaking population living outside of Quebec, or an English-speaking population living in Quebec. A list of all OLMCs can be found on the Treasury Board Secretariat website.

Your organization can ensure the project benefits or involves members of an OLMC through activities and mechanisms such as:

• inclusion of OLMC members during the development and implementation of the project
• reserving a seat to an OLMC member or representing organization on a project advisory committee
• adapting project activities to the needs of OLMC members to ensure their participation

Please note that translation of existing documents or project documentation is not sufficient to identify as involving an OLMC.

If the project will benefit or involve members of an official-language minority community, describe how your organization will include and engage these members.

Section E: Budget

The information provided in this section will be used to assess the overall cost of the project as well as the general nature of the expenditures to be covered by all anticipated sources of funding. Projected expenditures should easily align with proposed activities as outlined in the work plan.

Question 45: Budget template

Attach the completed Excel template for this section. Please note that only project expenditures requested from the Department for Women and Gender Equality Canada are to be included in the budget. A separate tab called “Sources of revenue” is included for you to list all other sources of funding for your proposed project.

Provide a brief description and breakdown of proposed expenses for each category of expenditure and indicate the amount requested. If your project extends over more than one fiscal year (April 1 to March 31), indicate the proposed expenditures by fiscal year.

If approved, the Department will fund only those expenses and activities directly related to your project.

Definitions, examples and the level of detail required can be found in the Guidelines on Eligible Expenditures.

Listing direct delivery expenditures under administrative expenditures, or vice versa, could automatically result in cuts to the amounts requested under both categories. Therefore, ensure that descriptions are clear and detailed enough to avoid confusion.

All budget costs must be rounded to the nearest dollar.

If your project extends over more than one fiscal year, you must also break down the estimated expenditures by fiscal year (2020-2021, 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and not later than 2023-2024). Fiscal years start April 1 and end March 31.

It is not mandatory for projects to have financial or in-kind contributions from other sources. However, if contributions are part of the project, provide a brief description and breakdown of any confirmed financial and in-kind contributions from your organization or other organizations (excluding the Department).

Financial contributions offset expenditures related to the project. Examples include, but are not limited to, funding provided by other levels of government and funding provided by private-sector organizations or foundations.

In-kind contributions are non-monetary goods or services provided instead of cash. For the project’s budget, a reasonable monetary value should be applied to in-kind contributions. Examples include, but are not limited to, staff and volunteer time, services, programs, office space and administrative services necessary for the proposed project that would otherwise have to be purchased.

Organizations cannot request reimbursement for in-kind contributions.

The Department reserves the right to conduct reference checks with your funding partners.

Eligibility criterion: The application is complete. The budget template is attached and complete.

Assessment criteria:

• The budget effectively itemizes and details expenditures and demonstrates that these are reasonable (in other words, costs are aligned with regional standards and other related norms).
• The budget demonstrates how project expenditures are directly linked to the activities as described in the work plan.
• The total amount of administrative expenditures does not exceed 20% of the total funding requested from WAGE.

Question 46: Amount requested from the Department

The amount requested from the Department must match the amount displayed in the “Total amount requested from the Department” field (included in the “Sommaire_Summary” tab) in the Excel budget template.

Assessment criterion: The total amount requested from the Department does not exceed the allowable funding level.

Section F: Declaration

The application must be signed electronically by the official representative(s) of the organization. By signing the application, the representative(s) confirms reading and understanding the applicant guide.

Eligibility criterion: The application is complete. The application is electronically signed by an official representative of the organization.