Black Canadians Fund to Promote Health Equity – Incubator Stream

Deadline: 15-Nov-2024

The Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund (“Fund”) supports Black people in Canada to develop more culturally focused knowledge, capacity and programs to improve mental health in their communities.

Objectives

• The objectives of the Promoting Health Equity: Mental Health of Black Canadians Fund are to:
  • Increase understanding of the unique barriers to and social determinants of mental health for Black people in Canada
  • Increase knowledge of effective, culturally focused approaches and programs for improving mental health and addressing its key social determinants for Black people in Canada including a focus on priority
  • Increase capacity within Black communities in Canada to address barriers to mental health services

Funding Information

• Applicants to the   may request funding of up to $100,000 for capacity-building activities.

Duration

• All Incubator Stream activities must be completed by March 31, 2026.

Eligible Projects

• The Fund is guided by the following key principles. Applicants to the Incubator Stream must apply all of these principles to their proposals when submitting a request for funding:
  • Black Leadership: Projects are led by, or developed in close collaboration with, Black community groups in Canada, not-for-profit organizations, and/or researchers. Projects are delivered in, and are of primary benefit to, Black communities in Canada.
  • Evidence-based: Projects are based on meaningful data and evidence that demonstrates positive impact on mental health among Black people in Canada. Applicants are required to consult scholarly and other available evidence to assess effective interventions and approaches that improve mental health.
  • Social determinants of health approach: Projects address one or more social determinants of mental health for Black communities in Canada, such as anti-Black racism, education, housing, policing and criminal justice systems, poverty, and/or social exclusion. Projects can be based in a range of settings related to these determinants of health, including schools and post-secondary institutions, workplaces, community health care settings, community centers, police departments, and detention and correctional institutions.
  • Health equity lens: Projects integrate a health equity lens that considers and addresses unfair and avoidable differences in determinants of health, health outcomes, reach and impact of interventions for various subgroups within diverse Black communities throughout their design, implementation and evaluation. For example, it recognizes and responds to differences based on sex and gender, age, ethnic/cultural backgrounds, migration histories, geographic locations, sexual orientation and socioeconomic status.
  • Cultural competence and safety: Where applicable, projects recognize and challenge the unequal distribution of power between organizations and project participants by building equitable, two-way relationships characterized by respect, shared responsibility and cultural exchange. Project participants must have their culture, values and preferences taken into account in the provision of programming.
  • Partnerships and collaboration: Projects are informed by, and benefit from, in-kind and/or financial support provided by partners from various sectors (for example, not-for-profit sector, academic/research sector, private sector, organizations within and outside of the health sector and other levels of government).

Eligible Activities

• The following activities are eligible for funding:
  • Building and strengthening community-based engagement, networks, collaborations and partnerships
  • Gathering and analyzing data and information from diverse sources (for example, community consultations and needs assessments, peer and key informant interviews, focus groups, secondary data)
  • Consolidating knowledge of what works through knowledge synthesis, mobilization of evidence or community resources and assets, and analysis of relevant data;
  • Assessing past and present mental health promotion programs for lessons learned and promising practices
  • Developing the design or methodology for a novel, culturally focused mental health programs

Eligibility Criteria

• The following types of applicants are eligible for funding under Incubator Stream:
  • Canadian not-for-profit organizations and unincorporated groups, societies and coalitions, with priority given to those led by and serving Black communities in Canada
  • Non-federal Canadian public institutions such as boards of education, schools, colleges and universities, chambers of commerce, law enforcement and police agencies, hospitals and other health care institutions (must apply in partnership with at least one not-for-profit organization)
  • Crown Corporations as defined in the Financial Administration Act (must apply in partnership with at least one not-for-profit organization)
  • Provincial, territorial, regional and municipal governments and their agencies (must apply in partnership with at least one not-for-profit organization)
  • Research organizations and academics affiliated with post-secondary institutions (must apply in partnership with at least one not-for-profit organization)
  • Private sector organizations (must apply in partnership with at least one not-for-profit organization)

Ineligibility Criteria

• The following activities and expenses are not eligible for funding under the incubation Stream:
  • Provision of mental health services or clinical treatment for mental illnesses (for example, psychological counselling)
  • Provision of services that are the responsibility of other levels of government
  • Core operating expenses, including those incurred by the organization in its normal or daily conduct of business (for example, rent)
  • Capital costs or expenditures (for example, purchase of land, buildings, vehicles)
  • Any type of Director’s fees for volunteer members of Boards or other governing bodies
  • Annual general meetings or regular executive board meetings of an organization or association, including related travel

For more information, visit Government of Canada.