Guidelines for First Nations, Inuit and Métis child and family services capacity-building funding
Selection criteria, eligible activities, annual maximums, reporting requirements, definitions
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Proof of authorization
Applicants must provide proof of their ability and authorization to act on behalf of an Indigenous group, community or people that holds rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982.
ISC accepts various forms of signed authorization including but not limited to:
- a Band Council Resolution
- a letter
- a board resolution
- a referendum
Selection criteria
To be selected for funding, applicants must demonstrate:
- that they intend to, or will be in a position to, exercise jurisdiction within the next 5 years ("readiness" to exercise jurisdiction), and
- that they practice sound administrative and fiscal management
Factors used to assess readiness include, but are not limited to:
- whether existing plans, structures and community engagement are in place to support the reform of child and family services
- whether there is a strong program management and annual reporting track record.
Sound administrative and fiscal management will be determined by reviewing any existing financial agreements between the Indigenous groups, communities or peoples and the Government of Canada.
Meeting these criteria does not guarantee funding; contact your regional ISC or Northern Affairs office to discuss.
Eligible activities
- Community self-assessment
- Community engagement, including engaging community stakeholders and community members in the drafting, revision or finalization of child and family services legislation or culturally appropriate programs
- Planning, including the strategic planning for transition toward the exercise and transfer of child and family services jurisdiction
- Research, including research and development of child and family services models and feasibility studies
- Development of culturally based model and services
- Drafting of child and family services legislation and policies
- Data gathering
- Professional consulting fees, including expert advice
- Policy development activities
- Legislation development, including hiring professionals to assist in legislation development
- Travel and accommodations
- Communications
- IT systems design
- Hardware and software needed to support data collection, analysis and reporting
- Design of training on indigenous laws and models
- Preparation of plans for development activities
This funding is not meant to:
- establish permanent employment
- establish permanent structures
- implement the Indigenous law
- provide training on the Indigenous law
- fund groups who are at coordination agreement discussion table and are looking to develop capacity to implement their models and laws
Capacity-building funding supports Indigenous groups, communities and peoples that hold rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, and the Indigenous governing body authorized to act on their behalf as they work within and across their communities to build a strong foundation in preparation to participate in coordination agreement discussions. Funding for permanent structures, for the implementation of Indigenous laws, models, programs and service delivery can be discussed with your regional ISC or Northern Affairs office.
Funding
Funding will be:
- comparable for all Indigenous groups, communities and peoples, and
- based on distinct circumstances of each Indigenous group, community or people or Indigenous governing body, including geographic location (remoteness) and the number of Indigenous groups, communities and peoples that hold rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, the Indigenous governing body represents.
The funding amounts will be subject to:
- yearly maximums outlined in the chart below
- the number of proposals received
- the total funding available, if demand exceeds available funding
| Community size | Urban | Remote |
|---|---|---|
| Indigenous communities under 1,500 people | $250,000 | $300,000 |
| Indigenous communities over 1,500 people | $550,000 | $650,000 |
| Indigenous groups representing multiple communities | $1,000,000 | $1,200,000 |
| Indigenous communities or groups representing over 10,000 people | $1,750,000 | $2,000,000 |
| Large organizations on a Treaty or regional scale | $1,750,000 | $2,000,000 |
Additional funding information
- Multi-year proposals will be reviewed every year. Funding for the subsequent year will be dependent on funding recipients achieving objectives for the prior year, as well as the availability of funds.
- The maximum level of total government assistance (including federal, provincial and assistance for the same eligible expenditures) for the same purpose and eligible expenditures may not exceed 100% of eligible expenditures.
- Where applicable, funding ceilings may be higher to allow for travel costs in remote regions of the country. Temporarily, for the purpose of this funding process, remote is defined as a place with no year-round road access to a service centre.
- The manner in which ISC will assess remoteness will be in line with CIRNAC's Contributions to Support the Negotiation and Implementation of Treaties, Claims and Self-Government Agreements or Initiatives. This is an interim measure to allow ISC to allocate this funding in a timely manner to Indigenous groups, communities and peoples that hold rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, that wish to exercise jurisdiction over child and family services, until a longer-term funding approach can be developed with Indigenous partners.
- Unexpended funding may be carried over into the next fiscal year with an updated proposal that includes any unspent funds and is consistent with the program objectives.
Reporting requirements
Funding recipients will be required to submit an annual financial report for each year of funding, to account for the use of funds and in accordance with the terms of their funding arrangement.
Collaborative information sharing
In an effort to provide notice to provincial and territorial governments, ISC has shared the names of the Indigenous groups, communities and peoples that hold rights recognized and affirmed by section 35 of the Constitution Act, 1982, the Indigenous governing bodies and the national Indigenous organizations that have received capacity-building funds for capacity-building activities.