Deadline: 30 June 2020
The Government of Canada has launched the Indigenous Capacity Support Program to support the development of local and regional capacity in order to promote meaningful participation and leadership of Indigenous Peoples in project EAs/IAs, regional and strategic assessments, and EA/IA monitoring and follow-up activities.
Objective
To support this objective, financial assistance is provided outside the context of specific project assessments, including regional assessments or strategic studies, to Indigenous communities or organizations with high-quality proposals to carry out capacity-building activities.
The anticipated outcomes of the Program include:
- Increased awareness and understanding of federal EA/IA, including its legislative framework, regulations, policies and processes, in Indigenous communities;
- Increased ability of Indigenous communities to meaningfully participate in consultation activities related to EAs/IAs, regional assessments and strategic studies, and;
- Increased ability of Indigenous communities to collaborate with the Agency in the conduct of EAs/IAs.
Funding Information
Maximum funding allocation: $300,000.
Eligible Activities
Eligible activities include:
- Developing or supporting organizational capacity of Indigenous communities or organizations to participate in, direct and/or undertake assessments, as well as delivering information, data and studies to support the implementation of regional/strategic approaches or project EAs/IAs;
- Strengthening awareness of EA/IA issues within Indigenous communities through outreach activities; and
- Designing and delivering workshops; training programs or materials for Indigenous Peoples, communities or organizations related to EA/IA, including activities to:
- document current use of the land or resources;
- identify environmental, health, social or economic impacts, impacts on rights, or document Indigenous knowledge ;
- participate in, leading and/or direct a project EA/IA process;
- lead community engagement and coordinate consultation; and
- participate and/or lead follow-up and monitoring activities.
Criteria
The Agency is seeking expressions of interest from Indigenous organizations, who would act as a program delivery partner to provide capacity-building support to communities at a regional level.
Eligible recipients include Indigenous communities and Indigenous organizations.
In assessing expressions of interest, the following criteria will be applied:
- Increasing capacity in regions where major projects are expected;
- Ability to serve a large number of communities;
- Demonstrated expertise in providing support to communities;
- Demonstrated expertise in environmental/impact assessment;
- Complement other federal programming, such as capacity support for similar or related activities (i.e. programs that are environmental, resource or consultation related);
- Indication of community support for the organization and/or delivery approach.
In addition, priority will be given to the following capacity-building initiatives:
- Development of Indigenous governance structures to allow for more effective participation and coordination in impact assessment;
- Building awareness and expertise within communities to support the new components of the Impact Assessment Act;
- Development and sharing of generic tools (e.g. tool kits, studies, guidelines) with communities that can be adapted, avoiding duplication.
For more information, visit https://www.canada.ca/en/impact-assessment-agency/news/media-room-2020/call-expressions-interest-indigenous-capacity-support-program.html