Government of Canada: Seeking Proposals for Education Partnerships Program

Deadline: 12 December 2018

Government of Canada is seeking proposals for its Education Partnerships Program (EPP) to promote collaboration between First Nations, provinces, Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) and other stakeholders and supports the capacity development of First Nations organizations to deliver education including establishing education systems.

Program Components

It has two distinct components:

• Partnership: This component supports the establishment and the advancement of formal tripartite partnership arrangements that aim to:
  • share expertise and resources
  • assist in the development of practical working relationships between First Nations and provincial officials and educators, to ensure supports are in place for all First Nations students
  • open the way to better coordination and transition between First Nations and provincial systems
• Structural Readiness: This component supports capacity and governance development through activities that build the capacity of First Nations organizations to:
  • strengthen their organization
  • cover start-up costs for First Nations school boards
  • support the conclusion of agreements to allow for the operation of on-reserve schools by provincial school boards

Eligibility Criteria

Applicants may only submit a one-year proposal for 2019-20. Organizations that submitted a two-year Partnership or Structural Readiness (or both) proposal in 2018-19 must re-submit a Partnership or Structural readiness (or both) proposal in 2019-20 using the 2019-20 Data Collection Instrument (DCI). The 2019-20 proposal may include the same activities as originally submitted in 2018-19, or may incorporate new or updated activities.

• Partnership:
  • Regional First Nations organizations that meet the following criteria:
    • be provincially or federally incorporated
    • have a documented management framework (such as policies or by-laws) outlining the organization’s governance structure and procedures
    • have documented support from First Nations, communities or schools (such as band or tribal council resolution, or other documentation such as formal letters of support)
    • have documented and publically available policy guidelines
    • demonstrate economies of scale
    • organizational structure includes an executive director or equivalent, finance officer and a board of directors or equivalent
    • undertake, as a key function, elementary and secondary education support for groups of First Nations communities or schools
    • be in a sound financial position
    • agree to produce publicly available annual reports on education partnership projects and expenditures
    • if new, replace an existing organization or an amalgamation of existing organizations
  • Regional First Nations organizations can also manage partnership funding or coordinate partnership initiatives for independent, non-member First Nations if these independent First Nations agree to such an arrangement. Organizations will be required to provide a signed written statement from each non-member First Nation saying that they agree to have EPP funding administered and managed by the organization on their behalf.
  • Regional First Nations organizations cannot act only as a flow-through to member or non-member organizations under this program. They cannot issue calls for proposals to member or non-member organizations for activities funded through this program.
• Structural Readiness
  • First Nations organizations including:
    • band councils
    • organizations designated by a band council
    • First Nations regional management organizations who currently undertake, as a key function, elementary and secondary support for a defined group of band-operated schools
  • Organizations designated by a band council and First Nations regional management organizations must meet the same minimum requirements for funding consideration as those listed above in the Partnerships component.
  • Organizations do not need to have a tripartite agreement to apply for the Structural Readiness component of the EPP.

How to Apply

Applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit Education Partnerships Program.