Upcoming Funding Dates

IYR converted the Large Project Funding Stream into the Multi-Year Funding Stream (hyperlink to Multi-Year Funding Page) in 2023. There are no current plans to run the Large Project Funding Stream in the future.

Description

The Large Project Funding Stream will provide funding of up to $75,000 – $100,000 to Indigenous non-profits and charities that seek to create impactful community change and increase the wellness, resiliency and engagement of Indigenous youth. Projects must be led by 3+ Indigenous youth (ages 15-29) who are meaningfully involved in project guidance, planning, implementation and/or evaluation. Successful applicants must be either an incorporated organization or have a trustee in place to hold grant funds.  

There is a priority in this stream to support: 

  • Indigenous non-profits and registered charities 
  • Groups that have strong experience running programming and projects 
  • Projects that are large in scale and scope (i.e. high impact over a long period of time) 
  • Projects that are multi-dimensional (i.e. are doing more than just one thing, and are looking to improve wellness overall)

Focus Areas

We’re looking to fund projects that focus on one or more of the following areas:

Projects will focus on assessing community and youth needs, doing feasibility projects and engaging the community in consultation.

Projects that increase access to arts, art-based workshops, cultural knowledge, traditions and ceremony

Projects will support youth groups in accessing capacity-building, knowledge mobilization and funding resources. Projects will focus on innovating healthcare systems, developing solutions to infrastructure and resource challenges (such as access to clean water and sustainable food sources) and increasing access to technology. 

Projects will engage multiple age groups and should help to enhance the sense of community (i.e. projects where youth participate in programs with Elders, families, adults, etc).

Projects will focus on organizational development in Indigenous agencies. The intention of this focus area is to increase leadership, governance, capacity and opportunity for Indigenous organizations to impact communities and systems. Projects can include organizational enhancements (i.e. training, website development, strategic plan development, consulting projects, purchase of supplies, etc).

Projects will focus on enhancing community wellness and can include one-off events or long-term programs and any type of programming related to wellness (i.e. workshops, teachings, gatherings). 

Eligibility

Funding in this stream is only open to incorporated/registered non-profit organizations and charities. CREation will prioritize funding Indigenous and youth-focused organizations. Projects must have a clear plan for how youth will lead and support projects (i.e. youth advisory, youth staff, etc) 

Please note: for the purpose of this program CRE defines Indigenous as status and non-status First Nation, Inuit, and Métis peoples in Canada, living both on and off reserve. 

Eligible groups and projects include: 

  • Incorporated non-profit organizations 
  • Registered Charities
  • Indigenous organizations 
  • Youth Councils (that are a part of an incorporated organization) 
  • Grassroots groups that have an incorporated organization that has agreed to trustee the project (please include a trustee letter as a part of your application) 

Ineligible groups and projects: 

  • Individuals 
  • Unincorporated and grassroots groups without a trustee 
  • Projects that are not youth-led (or where the majority of leadership is 30+) 
  • Non-Indigenous organizations 
  • Projects taking place outside of Canada For profit corporations 

Examples of Funded Projects

Learn about some projects that have been funded in this stream:

ENAGB Indigenous Youth Agency used resources to open a West End Location for youth, and to run both in person and virtual programming for Indigenous youth in Toronto. This project will reach 674 youth and 160 community members.  

Witsuwit’en Language & Culture Society program will support youth as they determine the activities with guidance and mentorship from WLCS. In addition with the planning from the youth, they can mentor the elders on technology while the elders mentor the youth with traditional cultural activities with inclusion of learning the language amongst the land-based activities. This project will reach 20 youth. 

Our project is the building of a wellness camp for our organization. This wellness camp is greatly needed as our community desperately needs a physical, long term, and sustainable location for a camp that is on the land and will be used for healing and wellness purposes. Not only will this camp make it possible for our organization to gather, learn, build community, reconnect to the land, and create safe spaces for healing; but it will also allow other members/communities/First Nations/organizations/schools (on the land programs)/ and other groups in the Beaufort Delta region to have access to the space as well. This project will reach 30 youth and 30 community members. 

Waterways Canada is hosting a Canoe program that will be organized in collaboration with the local school principal and Child family services to introduce land-based education and drop ins that invoilves parents, guardians, elders into language, gym or land based classes. The program will be interchangable between day clinics, multi day back coutry trips and day camp style depending on input from community. This project will reach 325 youth and 50 community members.

Stream Specific FAQ

See the general FAQ here

We felt that transitioning our largest funding stream into a multi-year stream would put more resources into the hands of Indigenous youth. We also really understand the operational gaps that small grassroots groups face, and how difficult it is for them to get funding. Transitioning our Large Project funding into a multi-year stream allowed us to continue to fund large-scale initiatives over a longer period or time – and have a bigger impact on the organizations we work with.  

We don’t have any current plans to! The Multi-Year Funding and Large Project Funding streams have the same eligibility criteria – so we encourage you to apply through that stream! We’re currently focusing our resources on funding more projects in the Multi-Year Funding stream.  

You can visit the landing page for the Multi-Year Funding Stream here. 

Stream Impact & Reports

IYR has run 2 rounds of the Large Project Funding Stream. In total $1,229,500 in funding has been given to 16 projects. Funded projects have reached 1,544 Indigenous youth. What excited us about this stream is the space to support the core growth of an Indigenous Youth-led organization with large-scale funding that could support operations, salaries and programming.  

2021 Stream Overview

Past Large Project Funding Guides

2022

April View English Guide | View French Guide

2021

April View English Guide | View French Guide

Grant Contact Name and Pronouns

Alyssa Luttenberger

(she/her)

Director of Impact, Development and Granting