Drinking Water Quality Program
Click here to download the 2011/2012 FUNDING APPLICATION GUIDE (ENGLISH)
Click here to download the 2011/2012 FUNDING APPLICATION GUIDE (FRENCH)
National First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program
Click here to download the 2011/2012 CALL FOR PROPOSALS
Click here to download the 2011/2012 FUNDING APPLICATION GUIDE (ENGLISH)
Click here to download the 2011/2012 FUNDING APPLICATION GUIDE (FRENCH)
Proposal Selection Process
Key Roles in the Proposal Selection Process:
First Nations University’s NFNECP office coordinates the annual proposal solicitation and selection process. Each year the Program receives more proposals than can be funded, so a competitive proposal selection process, described on this page, is followed each year.
Health Canada contributes to the selection process by coordinating the mandatory criteria reviews, science peer reviews, and by reviewing the Selection Committee’s funding recommendations.
The Assembly of First Nations is not involved in the proposal selection process.
The Selection Committee includes participants from across Canada:
British Columbia - First Nations Chiefs Health Committee
Alberta – First Nations (Alberta) Technical Services Advisory Group
Saskatchewan – Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations
Manitoba – Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs
Ontario – Chiefs of Ontario
Quebec – Mohawk Council of Kahnawake
Atlantic – North Shore Micmac District Council
In addition to the Selection Committee members, the NFNECP Steering Committee participate in review of proposals, although their input is not included in final scoring.
The Annual Selection Process has Three Main Phases:
Call for Proposals:
The NFNECP Program Coordinator, on behalf of the NFNECP Steering Committee, issues an annual call for proposals in late June. Publication of the Call for Proposals includes distributing a Brochure and Funding Application Guide to all First Nation communities across Canada, south of the 60th parallel. The distribution is by mass mail out, primarily to Chiefs and Community Health Directors / Representatives, and is supplemented by facsimile and email communication. This approach is intended to maximize Program awareness. Communities should have at least three months to develop and submit their proposals.
Proposal Evaluation:
To be eligible, proposals must fall within at least one of the NFNECP Steering Committee research priority areas and must involve a partnership between two or more First Nation communities. They must also meet the mandatory criteria as outlined in the Funding Application Guide.
Proposals that meet the requirements are then evaluated and rated by the NFNECP Selection Committee. The Selection Committee is comprised of First Nation representatives from each of Health Canada’s 7 major regions, south of the 60th parallel, across Canada. The Selection Committee meets annually to discuss proposal evaluations and to determine the ranking of each eligible proposal received for consideration. Selection Committee recommendations are dependent upon: good research ethics; projected outcome/results and utility of the proposals; annual program funding allocation; national relevance; alignment with program priority areas and/or research themes; and, the rated criteria as outlined in the Funding Application Guide. Selection Committee members are provided with science peer reviews where requested to help with their rated criteria evaluations.
Funding Review and Allocation:
Proposal rankings and recommendations resulting from the Selection Committee’s review meeting are provided to Health Canada for verification and consideration for funding. Next, all project teams are informed of the results of their respective proposal evaluations. Health Canada adheres to the Selection Committee’s recommendations subject to verification of tallied numerical scores, any possible funding constraints, and consideration of any late factors that may affect the ability of a project team to follow through with their project (e.g. principal investigator is no longer available to project, change in support for project by Chief and council).
Selected projects are funded directly by Health Canada, at the start of the fiscal year. The average project value is approximately $150K and the funding mechanism for each project is via contribution agreement. Any project that involves human subjects requires approval by the Health Canada Research Ethics Board . Health Canada will identify any such project and provide them with the required forms for REB review.