GATINEAU, QC–Canadian charities and non-profit organizations are on the frontlines. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for their services is now greater than ever before and they are doing more with fewer donations and fewer volunteers.
The Honourable Ahmed Hussen, Minister of Families, Children and Social Development, announced that charities and non-profit organizations requiring financial assistance to address the pandemic, can apply for funding as of May 19, 2020.
The Government of Canada is pleased to work with the United Way Centraide Canada, the Canadian Red Cross and the Community Foundations of Canada to disburse the $350 million Emergency Community Support Fund. These trusted partners will each post information on eligibility criteria and how to apply on their respective websites.
Community-based organizations from across the country will be able to apply for funding to support a variety of activities, such as:
increasing volunteer-based home deliveries of groceries and medications; providing transportation services, like accompanying or driving seniors or persons with disabilities to appointments;
scaling up help lines that provide information and support;
providing training, supplies and other required supports to volunteers so they can continue to make their invaluable contributions to the COVID-19 response; and replacing in-person, one-on-one contact and social gatherings with virtual contact through phone calls, texts, teleconferences or the Internet.
Minister Hussen also announced that the Government of Canada is moving forward in investing $25 million over five years to provide assistance to Black community organizations. As part of this additional investment, grassroots organizations will be able to apply for grants of up to $100,000 in late spring to build the necessary capacity and infrastructure they need to better serve Black Canadian communities. This is another step forward in the government’s commitment to the United Nations International Decade for People of African Descent.
The federal government will also work with Tropicana Community Services, the Black Business Initiative, and Le Groupe 3737 to disburse investments. Once fully established as intermediaries, these organizations will launch their own funding calls seeking proposals from grassroots organizations from across Canada for organizational capacity building projects before the end of 2020.
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