Canada Service Corps Funding Opportunities

Deadline: 19-Dec-23

The Government of Canada is launching a call for proposals (CFP) under the Canada Service Corps program that promotes civic engagement among young people aged 15 to 30 years old, while exploring ways to reach youth as young as 12 years of age, with a particular focus on youth from Indigenous and under-served communities.

The 2023 CFP will provide funding for organizations across the country to support the design and delivery of innovative volunteer programming that provides youth with meaningful ways to grow personal and professional networks, build essential skills and experiences.

Funding Streams

There are three available funding streams:

• Service Placements – National: Funding for organizations with a national reach whose projects can provide participants with volunteer service placements in a full-time or flexible capacity.
• Service Placements – Regional: Funding for organizations with a strong reach into local volunteer networks and whose projects can provide participants with volunteer service placements in a flexible capacity.
• Micro-grants: Funding for organizations whose projects will disburse one-time cash payments directly to youth to carry-out youth-led projects that address a community need.
• Note: Funding for approved projects will begin in fiscal year 2024/2025.

Funding Information

• Service Placements – National: Up to $8,000,000 per fiscal year
• Service Placements – Regional: Up to $3,000,000 per fiscal year
• Micro-grants: Up to $3,000,000 per fiscal year

Who can apply?

• Eligible recipients for this CFP include:
  • Not for profit organizations
  • For profit organizations, if the nature and intent of the activity is:
    • Non-commercial
    • Not intended to generate profit
    • Supports program priorities and objectives
  • Research organizations and institutes
  • Indigenous organizations or governments
  • Municipal, provincial, and territorial entities, which includes:
    • Institutions
    • Agencies and Crown Corporations
    • Public health
    • Educational institutions (universities, colleges, CÉGEPS, school districts)
• Service placements – National
  • Criteria that distinguishes the Service Placements – National stream include the need to:
    • Offer projects activities that take place in two or more provinces and territories
    • Create all service placements to be either:
      • Flexible service placements that last a minimum of 120 hours over a twelve-month period; or
      • Full-time service placements that last 30 hours per week for a minimum of three consecutive months within a twelve-month period.
    • Propose to deliver a minimum of either:
      • 40 full-time service placements per fiscal year; or
      • 120 flexible service placements per fiscal year; or
      • A combination of full-time and flexible service placements that is equal to a minimum of 14,400 hours per fiscal year
    • Not exceed $8,000,000 per fiscal year in total funding among requested from ESDC
• Service placements – Regional
  • Criteria that distinguishes the Service Placements – Regional stream include the need to:
    • Create all service placements to be flexible service placements that last a minimum of 120 hours over a twelve-month period
    • Propose to deliver a minimum of 40 flexible service placements per fiscal year
    • Not exceed $3,000,000 per fiscal year in total funding among requested from ESDC
• Micro-grants
  • Micro-grants are one-time cash payments (up to $5,000) that organizations disburse directly to youth aged 15 to 30 years old to support the implementation of youth-led projects that address a community need, while allowing youth to develop skills and practice leadership.
  • In addition to the eligibility criteria listed above, all Micro-grants projects will be required to:
    • Propose to redistribute a minimum of 40 micro-grants per fiscal year
    • Not exceed $3,000,000 per fiscal year in total funding among requested from ESDC

For more information, visit Government of Canada.