First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program for communities and organizations south of 60th Parallel: 2025 to 2026 call for proposals
The First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program (FNECP) helps First Nations communities improve their health and assess the impact of exposure to environmental contaminants.
Proposal submission deadline
Your proposal package must be received by Indigenous Services Canada (ISC) no later than November 1, 2024 at 11:59 pm, Mountain time.
Proposals may be submitted electronically via email to fnecp-plcepn@sac-isc.gc.ca before the deadline.
Alternatively, a hard-copy proposal submission may be sent via Canada Post or courier. Please note that proposals that are submitted exclusively by courier or Canada Post must be postmarked by November 1, 2024.
For additional contact information and deadline submission requirements, please see How to submit a proposal.
Important
This call for proposals has been revised. Please read through it carefully for changes such as the funding stream, length of agreements, amounts of funding, and so forth.
Please send completed proposals to:
First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program
Environmental Public Health Division
Office of Population and Public Health
Population Health and Primary Care Directorate
First Nations and Inuit Health Branch
Indigenous Services Canada
A.L. 1919D
10 Wellington Street, Suite 1455,
Gatineau, QC, K1A 0H4
What the First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program is
Indigenous Services Canada's First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program (FNECP) is helping First Nations improve their health and wellbeing by supporting their capacity to identify, investigate and characterize the potential impact of exposure to environmental contaminants on their health and environment through multi-disciplinary approaches incorporating community-based research, monitoring, risk assessment and risk communication.
Chemical monitoring and exposure assessments enable First Nations communities and First Nations organizations south of 60° parallel to gather timely and accurate information to identify and characterize human exposures to environmental contaminants. This information provides First Nations leaders with an early indication of key contaminant concerns in their community, traditional territory or traditional lands across Canada, creating a foundation for risk mitigation actions.
1. Primary research proposals should:
- focus on an environmental contaminant identification, investigation and characterization
- collect sufficient information on:
- the level(s) of the environmental contaminant(s) of concern in different media (food, water, soil or air)
- Human exposure routes (dietary surveys and water consumption surveys for ingestion, frequency of recreational water exposure (for example, swimming), for dermal contact and inhalation, frequency and duration that people spend at home for radon exposure assessment, and so forth.)
- be achievable within 2 years
Selected research proposals can receive up to $125,000 per project in funding over 2 years (April 2025 to March 2027).
2. Knowledge integration proposals should:
- focus on secondary research using existing scientific data
- integrate the existing scientific data with community-based knowledge to support knowledge integration for an environmental public health issue or environmental contaminants of concern
- be submitted prior to and in preparation for a future primary research proposal, should knowledge integration demonstrate the need
- be achievable within 1 year
3. Risk communication proposals
This funding stream can be used for extensive and sophisticated risk communication of the results of previously completed primary research to increase First Nations' awareness of the new knowledge and its implications for human health.
Selected Knowledge integration and risk communication proposals can receive up to $25,000 per project in funding over 1 year (April 2025 to March 2026).
Important:
- Knowledge integration and risk communication proposals cannot be combined with a primary research proposal component.
- FNECP funded projects that are still in progress cannot apply for new or additional funding for the same or similar project until its conclusion, and the project report on the analysis of results has been submitted and approved by the program.
- Only 1 proposal per First Nation/First Nation organization will be accepted.
- No more than 2 proposals from the same principal investigator or research team will be accepted.
Who can apply for funding
- First Nations communities (on-reserve) and First Nations organizations south of 60° parallel in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island).Footnote 1Footnote 2
- Bands, districts, tribal councils and associations, councils, governments of self-governing First Nation communities.
- Non-government and voluntary associations and organizations, including non-profit corporations that work on behalf of, or in partnership with, entities detailed in 1) and 2).
In order to be eligible for funding, First Nation communities must be recognized under the Indian Act.
Important:
- The FNECP program requires that:
- primary research projects be carried out in partnership with academically trained scientists (a MSc or PhD -level) with a strong background in chemical/radiological exposure assessment, environmental epidemiology and human biomonitoring, and with a track record of peer-reviewed publications in the field of the proposed project
- knowledge integration projects be carried out in partnership with a project lead with at least a bachelor's degree in environmental sciences, health sciences or education
- risk communication projects be carried out in partnership with academically trained experts (at least a BSc or MSc-level) with proven experience in conducting risk communication in the field of the proposed project
- The scientific/academic partner(s) must be identified in the proposal.
What the areas of primary concern are
1. Chemical contaminants
Below is a list of contaminants identified as of particular concern for the FNECP. Other environmental contaminants of potential health concern to First Nations communities not outlined here may also be included in FNECP research projects if there is documented evidence of these substances being a risk to human health:
- Persistent organic pollutants monitored under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (2004-2020).
- Aldrin
- Chlordane
- Chlordecone
- Dieldrin
- Dicofol
- Decabromodiphenyl ether (Commercial mixture, c-DecaBDE)
- Endrin
- Heptachlor
- Hexabromobiphenyl (HBB)
- Hexabromodiphenyl ether and heptabromodiphenyl ether (c-decaBDE)
- Hexabromocyclododecane (HBCD or HBCDD)
- Hexachlorobenzene (HCB)
- Hexachlorobutadiene (HCBD)
- Alpha hexachlorocyclohexane (α-HCH)
- Beta hexachlorocyclohexane- (β-HCH)
- Lindane
- Mirex
- Pentachlorobenzene
- Pentachlorophenol and its salts and esters
- Polychlorinated naphthalene
- Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB)
- Technical endosulfan and its related isomers
- Tetrabromodiphenyl ether and pentabromodiphenyl ether (commercial pentabromodiphenyl ether)
- Toxaphene
- DDT
- Perfluorooctane sulfonic acid (PFOS) and, its salts and perfluorooctane sulfonyl fluoride (PFOSF)
- PFHxS
- Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), its salts and PFOA-related compounds
- Polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDD)
- Polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDF)
- Short-chain chlorinated paraffins (SCCPs)
- Heavy metals monitored under the Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution Protocol on Heavy Metals (1998–2012) (cadmium, lead and mercury) as well as arsenic.
- Agricultural chemicals such as pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, rodenticides, algicides, and fertilizers.
- Pharmaceutical residues in drinking and surface water or traditional/country foods.
- Naturally occurring toxins, such as aflatoxins, mycotoxins and marine biotoxins (in shellfish).
2. Radiological contaminants
Radon is a radioactive, colourless, odourless gas occurring naturally as an indirect decay product of uranium or thorium.
Important:
- Primary research proposals focusing on radon exposure assessment and monitoring should provide a letter of support from the Director of Housing supporting the project and expressing a commitment to request and provide funds for radon remediation in homes with radon levels exceeding the Health Canada radon guideline (200bq/m2).
- Radon research proposals cannot be combined with any other types of research proposals submitted to FNECP.
- The FNECP program generally does not accept drinking water quality research proposals because drinking water quality is monitored systematically and on an ongoing basis in all First Nations communities by First Nations communities and Indigenous Services Canada. Only very novel and innovative state-of-the-art research project proposals that aim to contribute to the publishable body of knowledge, which cannot be achieved through the existing surveillance structure, may be considered.
How to submit a proposal
Please adhere to the following format:
- Proposal should not exceed 20 single-sided pages, not including the cover page, appendices and resumes/CVs.
- Proposal must be provided in English or French.
- Proposal must be submitted in size 12 font formatted for 8.5" x 11" size paper.
- Proposal needs to be post-dated before the deadline.
Complete proposals (electronic or hard copy) must be received by Indigenous Services Canada
no later than November 1, 2024 at 11:59 pm Mountain time.
Proposals may be submitted electronically via email before this deadline.
Alternatively, a hard-copy submission may be sent via Canada Post or courier. Please note that proposals that are submitted exclusively by courier or Canada Post must be postmarked by the submission deadline. Proposals arriving after the deadline will not be eligible for consideration.
Successful applicants will be notified of the funding decisions by February 15, 2025.
Electronic submissions can be sent to:
fnecp-plcepn@sac-isc.gc.ca
Hard/paper-copy submissions can be sent to:
First Nations Environmental Contaminants
Program Environmental Public Health Division
Office of Population and Public Health
Population Health and Primary Care Directorate
First Nations and Inuit Health Branch
Indigenous Services Canada
A.L. 1919D
10 rue Wellington, Suite 1455,
Gatineau, QC, K1A 0H4
Important: The funding recipient shall provide the minister with 60 days to review any reports submitted under this agreement which contain environmental analysis, findings or recommendations prior to any release of such reports, or disclosure of any of their findings, to the media or the public.
Who to contact for more information
For more information on the FNECP, including funding eligibility and project ideas, or to submit a proposal, please contact
fnecp-plcepn@sac-isc.gc.ca or call (613) 293-5517
For additional information on OCAP principles, please contact the following website:
https://fnigc.ca/ocap-training/
How eligible proposals are evaluated
This program involves a competitive selection process. As a result, not all eligible proposals that meet mandatory criteria will receive funding.
All research proposals will undergo the mandatory criteria review (MCR), a science peer review (SPR) and a community-based merit review (CBMR). Scores from both the SPR and CBMR will be tallied, and the highest-ranking proposals will be funded up to the maximum available program funding.
The following are the steps involved in the review process:
Mandatory criteria review
Indigenous Services Canada's role is to assess the merit of the proposal against the criteria provided below. All criteria below must be met in order for proposals to move onto the next step in the evaluation process (for example, science peer review).
- Request for funding per proposal for a primary research project must not exceed $125,000 over 2 years (April 2025 to March 2027).
- Knowledge integration and risk communication proposals must not exceed $25,000 per project over 1 year (April 2025 to March 2026)
- Projects must be community-based (that is, First Nations must be the lead on the project)
- The community, through its representatives, must be involved in the project design, implementation and throughout all stages of the project
- Project proposal must include a letter of support from the leadership of the organization or the community that is applying (for example, Chief, Chief Executive Officer). If 2 or more communities participate in the research project, each partnering communities must provide a letter of support acknowledging the partnership
- The lead of the primary research project must partner with a PhD or MSc -level scientist(s) who has a strong background in chemical/radiological exposure assessment, environmental epidemiology and human biomonitoring,Footnote 3, and have a proven track record of peer-reviewed publications in the field of the proposed project
- The lead of the knowledge integration project must have at least a Bachelor's degree in environmental sciences, health sciences or education
- The lead of the risk communication project must have or partner with an academically trained expert(s) (at least a BSc or MSc -level) with proven experience in conducting risk communication in the field of the proposed project
- Project outcomes must be linked to the human health impacts or mitigating human health impacts on community members (for example, use results to develop recommendations for health promotion and disease prevention or to support mitigation measures, such as radon remediation). This requirement applies to primary research, knowledge integration and risk communication streams
- Primary research project proposals must include conventional research methodologies recommended by Health Canada that assess human exposure and body burden of
Contaminants Footnote 4Footnote 5 through an appropriate combination of the following (knowledge integration/risk communication projects are exempt)
- Sampling of traditional foods, water, indoor air or soil (soil and water sampling must not be related to assessments of contaminated sites, improper waste management and/or wastewater)
In Combination With
- An appropriate human health exposure assessment methodology that would enable the examination of a link between environmental contaminants and human exposure. For example, human exposure assessments focused on traditional foods would require dietary surveys through the administration of a 24-hour dietary recall and a food frequency questionnaire or biomonitoring where appropriate. This link is essential to assess potential impacts of environmental contaminants on human health.
- Project proposal must state which accredited laboratory will be used to analyze samples (knowledge integration/risk communication projects are exempt from this requirement).
- Project must include the integration of local and traditional knowledge.
- A project that has previously received funding from the FNECP must include a summary of the analysis and results from the previous project(s) and, if appropriate, needs to demonstrate how the new proposal builds on previous project results.
- Project proposal must demonstrate how it will report on the implementation and results of the project.
- Projects seeking additional funding from other sources must provide a letter of commitment from the other funding organization(s).
- Primary research projects focusing on radon exposure assessment and monitoring should provide a letter of support from the Director of Housing supporting the project and expressing a commitment to request and provide funds for radon remediation in homes with radon levels exceeding the Health Canada radon guideline (200bq/m2).
- Project proposal must include all elements outlined in the Proposal template.
Science peer review
After mandatory criteria review all research proposals will undergo an external science peer review, which will assess the suitability of project design, project team expertise, research methodology, timeframe, budget, and so forth.
The science peer reviewers use the following criteria to evaluate each eligible proposal.
| Description | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific excellence/expertise of principal investigator and team: | Relevant academic credentials | /20 |
| Relevant experience/expertise/knowledge | /20 | |
| Relevant publication track | /20 | |
| Methodology: | Does the research project address the call for proposals research priority areas? | /20 |
| Clarity of objectives and sound methodology | /20 | |
| Suitability of proposal design for meeting the objectives | /20 | |
| Does the proposal include a review of existing literature on key topics of the proposal? | /10 | |
| Does the proposal include a knowledge translation plan? | /20 | |
| Achievable within the appropriate timeframe (2 years)? | /10 | |
| Appropriateness of budget (professional fee and services, community consultations, cost of lab analyses/equipment, stationery, community support (salary and honoraria), travel-associated expenses, etc.) | /25 | |
| Overall clarity and organization of a proposal | /25 | |
| Total | /200 | |
| Description | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Scientific excellence/expertise of principal investigator and team: | Relevant academic credentials | /25 |
| Relevant experience/expertise/knowledge | /25 | |
| Methodology: | Does the methodology effectively address the research objectives and purpose? | /30 |
| Clarity on search strategy and literature selection criteria | /30 | |
| Does the proposal include a knowledge translation plan? | /20 | |
| Achievable within the appropriate timeframe (1 year)? | /10 | |
| Appropriateness of budget (professional fees and services, community support (salary/scholarship/honoraria), stationery, travel-associated expenses, etc.) | /30 | |
| Overall clarity and organization of a proposal | /30 | |
| Total | /200 | |
Community-based merit review
Once the science peer review is completed, a First Nations-led selection committee who have a strong background in environmental monitoring and First Nations health and community issues, will review and assess aspects in the proposal that include community involvement, strengthening capacity, training, traditional knowledge, budget, and so forth.
The selection committee uses the following criteria to evaluate each eligible proposal.
| Description | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Does the project team include: | Community-based researcher(s) and community member(s), and | /20 |
| Principal investigator(s)/project leader with recognized skills and relevant expertise? | /20 | |
| Does the proposal follow OCAP principles*? | /20 | |
| Does the project demonstrate a rigorous approach to community engagement? | Does the project engage different types of knowledge and expertise (for example, fishers/hunters/trappers, environmental specialists, community planners/coordinators, health practitioners, youth, Elders and women)? | /10 |
| Does the project involve the community in the research project design development? | /10 | |
| Does the project provide local training opportunities for First Nations involved? | /10 | |
| Does the project include the hiring of community members? | /10 | |
| Does the project support engagement of youth? Are there any beneficial activities for youth (for example. learning new skills, knowledge acquired)? | /10 | |
| Does the project strengthen capacity in First Nations communities in other ways to drive empowerment and environmental sovereignty? | /10 | |
Has traditional and local/community knowledge been integrated into the research?
|
/15 | |
| Are there plans to incorporate traditional knowledge into the project risk communication plan? | /10 | |
| Does the proposal include well-thought-out plans for communicating with the community throughout the project and sharing research results with the community when it is completed? | Will the project activities and results be communicated to the community throughout all project stages? | /10 |
| Will the results be communicated/disseminated to other interested parties and decision-makers (for example, funding organizations, other First Nation communities, governments, etc.)? | /10 | |
| Are there plans to communicate the results regionally, nationally or internationally (for example, conferences, scientific journals, etc.)? | /5 | |
| Are communications activities well budgeted in their proposal? | /10 | |
| Is there a data management plan incorporated into the proposal (for example, how to handle the data for analysis, decision-making, security and storage**)? | /5 | |
| Is the time frame for completion of the project feasible? | /10 | |
| Are the budget and resource requirements realistic and appropriate to the project (professional fee services, community consultations, cost of lab analyses/equipment and facilities, stationery, community support (salary and honoraria), travel-associated expenses, etc.)? | /10 | |
| Is the budget appropriately balanced towards the community (for example, no more than 40% towards consulting services or academic researchers)? | /10 | |
| Total | /215 | |
| * First Nations Principles of OCAP: First Nations Principles of OCAP ** Refer to methodology and data collection. |
||
| Description | Rating | |
|---|---|---|
| Does the project team include: | Community-based researcher(s) and community member(s), and | /20 |
| Principal investigator(s)/project leader with recognized skills and relevant expertise? | /20 | |
| Does the project demonstrate a rigorous approach to community engagement? | Does the project involve the community in the project implementation? | /20 |
| Does the project support engagement of youth? Are there any beneficial activities for youth (for example, learning new skills, knowledge acquired)? |
/20 | |
| Does the project include the hiring and engagement of community members? | /20 | |
| Does the project strengthen capacity in the First Nations community to develop a full research proposal? | /20 | |
| Does the project plan to solicit traditional knowledge input within the project? | /20 | |
| Does the proposal include well thought out plans for communicating with the community during the project and sharing research results with the community when it is completed? | Will the project activities and results be communicated to the community? | /10 |
| Will the results be communicated/disseminated to other interested parties and decision-makers (for example, funding organizations, other First Nation communities, governments, etc.)? | /10 | |
| Are there plans to communicate the results regionally, nationally or internationally (for example, conferences, workshops, publications in peer-reviewed journals)? | /10 | |
| Are communications activities well budgeted in their proposal? | /10 | |
| Is the time frame for completion of the project feasible? | /10 | |
| Are the budget and resource requirements realistic and appropriate to the project (professional fee services, community consultations, cost of lab analyses/equipment and facilities, stationery, community support (salary and honoraria), travel-associated expenses, etc.)? | /10 | |
| Total | /215 | |
Once proposals have been evaluated, they will be ranked and funding recommendations will be communicated to the FNECP Secretariat of the Environmental Public Health Division (EPHD), First Nations and Inuit Health Branch (FNIHB), ISC.
Proposal template
(In preparing your proposal, please use the list of tips and questions provided in each section below)
Proposal element checklist:
- Cover page
- Plain language summary (maximum 1 page)
- Table of contents
- Community background (maximum 2 pages)
- Project description:
- Introduction (including literature review and a summary of analysis/results from previous FNECP funded project(s), if applicable)
- Rationale
- Objectives (specific and numbered objectives of the proposal project)
- Methodology (including data collection and data management)
- For primary research proposals: study design, sampling methodology, data collection strategy, exposure assessment methodology, data analysis, data management strategy, etc.
- For knowledge integration/risk communication proposals: literature search strategy and selection criteria
- Activities/outcomes
- Strengthening capacity
- Traditional knowledge
- Youth engagement
- Workplan and timelines
- Project team/partners
- Communication and dissemination plan
- Project evaluation
- Budget
- Research ethics review (as conducted by academic partner's research ethics board) (knowledge integration/risk communication projects are exempt)
- Letter(s) of support from mandated authority
- References
- Resumes/CVs for each scientific project team member and the community project manager/lead/coordinator
- Appendices (any relevant project materials, such as questionnaires, laboratory quotes, consent forms, etc.)
Cover Page
First Nations Environmental Contaminants Program
* Insert official organization logo here
Project title:
Research stream (e.g., primary research, knowledge integration or risk communication proposal)
Applicant information
Name of community or organization:
Address:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Name of Chief:
Address:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Name of community lead/coordinator for project:
Address:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Scientific partner
Name of academic institution:
Name of principal investigator:
Address:
Telephone:
E-mail:
Date of submission:
Amount of funding requested from Indigenous Services Canada: $
Duration of the project (e.g., one or two years)
Plain language summary
(Maximum 1 page)
- Give an overview or a story that explains what you want to research.
- Introduce the question(s) that the project will answer.
- Why is this important to your community?
- How is this project linked to environmental contaminants?
- How is this project linking environmental contaminants to the health of community members?
- How will the anticipated results of the project help your community?
- What activities are you proposing to do to answer these questions?
- Who will be involved (for example, youth, males, females, hunters, etc.)?
- Where and when will the project work be done?
- What are the expected outcomes or results of the project?
- How can the information from this project be useful to others?
Research proposal requirements
Throughout your research proposal you must:
- demonstrate a strong link between environmental contaminants and the health of First Nations People.
and - be clear that this project is driven by the community in the hopes that the outcomes will benefit that community
Table of contents
Create a table of contents with page numbers. This is a list that includes all the major sections in your proposal. The sections should be the ones in the column to the left.
Community background
(Maximum 2 pages)
This is an opportunity to share information about the community and why this project is important. Please include the following information in this section:
- Some information on the history of your community (for example, population information, main activities of community members, history of the presence of environmental contaminants, etc.).
- Explain what makes your community vulnerable to environmental contaminants (for example, past and present industrial activities, dependence on country foods, pesticide use, etc.).
- How does your community's exposure to environmental contaminants potentially impact health issues in your community (for example, food safety, access to safe drinking well water, altered lifestyles/cultural activities, etc.)?
- Are environmental contaminants and their effects on health an issue for members of your community (for example, Elders, women, children, etc.)?
Project description
Introduction
- Describe the project (purpose, scope, type).
- Provide a literature review that summarizes any previous research on your topic (maximum 1-2 pages) with references. If no information exists, please indicate this.
Describe any other similar projects that have been undertaken in First Nations communities. Please cite these studies. - Provide a summary of analysis and results from previous project(s) funded by the FNECP and describe how the new proposal will build on previous research/projects or answer a new question that has not yet been answered or considered.
- Indicate if this project is a continuation of any other community research project, including the names of any partners and funders. Include a summary of the analysis and results.
Rationale
- How have environmental contaminants affected the health of your community and how might they affect your community in the future?
- Have steps been undertaken in the past to understand or solve this issue? If so, what were they and were they effective? Why or why not?
- How will your community benefit from this project?
- How will the outcomes of the research be of direct or indirect relevance for other First Nations communities?
Objectives
Objectives are planned outcomes that outline what you intend to achieve through your project in the short and long term. Objectives are measurable and time-sensitive so that they can be evaluated and adjusted if necessary.
- What are your short-term objectives for this project?
- What are your long-term objectives for this project?
Develop a few simple objectives for your proposed research. Ask yourselves, "What do we want to accomplish with this research?" and "Can we do this throughout this 1 or 2-year project?" Make sure that your sentences use active verbs. Restrict yourselves to a maximum of 5 objectives. You must be able to measure your progress towards your objectives during the research. Your objectives should also help you select your methodologies and form a guide to your data analysis and presentation of results.
An example of a short-term objective for a research proposal: "Determine the quantity and frequency of traditional foods consumed by community members over the prior year".
Methodology and data collection
Primary research proposals
Describe how you will accomplish the research activities outlined in the work plan (for example, data collection methods including population sampling strategies, community consultations, analyses of results, etc.). Data can include any of the following: interview transcripts, water samples, plant samples, animal samples, photos, videos, etc. Please identify the activity number for each activity.
- Where will the work be conducted?
- How will the data be collected, analyzed, interpreted, disseminated and stored?
- Where and when will sampling take place?
- Who will participate in the study (for example, youth, males, females, hunters, etc.)? What sampling method will be used? How many people will be selected?
- How many samples of water, sediments and types of plants, mammals or fish will be collected? What tissues of animals will be selected?
- Who will analyze the data and interpret the results?
- How will the data be protected and shared throughout the research project?
- Who will own the data?
- Who will be able to access the data?
- Who will have control over the data?
- How will the First Nations' principles of ownership, control, access and possession (OCAP) be respected?
- If your community has an existing protocol, please include details.
- Which accredited laboratory will you use to analyze your samples for contaminants?
Please see examples of conventional methodologies that may be used in the study. You can include one or a combination of the following:
- fish, mammals, plants, water and sediment sampling along with sampling protocol pertaining to also assessing the extent of the community members' exposure to the sampled media
- hair, blood, urine and breast milk sampling along with sampling protocol
- administration of a 24-hour dietary recall or a food frequency questionnaire to the same individuals as those who supplied hair, blood, urine or breast milk samples
- administration of semi-structured interviews to the same individuals as those who supplied hair, blood, urine or breast milk samples
- social, health and lifestyle questionnaire (see example in Annex 3)
- creation of a seasonal or "harvest" calendar to capture information such as harvesting periods, species, and locations of the harvest to show month-to-month variations and constraints potentially linked to environmental contamination (this calendar can also include information related to pesticide application, snowmelt, storms, industrial production peak, etc.)
- examination of secondary health data such as hospitalization records, nursing station records, etc.
- collect information on perceptions about the research issue or to capture local histories related to your research topic
Knowledge integration/Risk communication proposals
- Describe the scope of work
- Provide details on search strategy and types of knowledge (for example, published, verbal communications, interviews, surveys, community reports and others) and the type of publications selected (for example, peer-reviewed journal articles, books, government documents and others)
- List knowledge integration methods and other search tools (for example, databases) that will be part of the project and will be consulted to find relevant sources
- Describe inclusion and exclusion criteria for the selection of literature
- Outline the planned report structure for a knowledge integration or risk communication project
Activities and outcomes
- Describe the research activities that will take place during your research project. Be sure to describe how each activity is connected to your project objectives
- State the expected results and project deliverables (for example, reports, publications, conferences and workshops, communication initiatives and materials such as newsletters, pamphlets, plain-language summary, videos and others)
- Please state if you plan to develop consumption recommendations from the results
Activities are more specific and detailed statements than your objectives. You can have many activities for each one of your objectives.
Please see activities to reach the objective previously given as an example (for a research proposal only):
"Determine the quantity and frequency of traditional foods consumed by community members over the prior year" could be, for example:
- Activity 1: "Using the band council list, randomly select 40 individuals of different age and gender groups to participate in the research."
- Activity 2: "Inform selected participants about the project and seek their written consent."
- Activity 3: "Administer a food frequency questionnaire to these participants."
Strengthening capacity
- Explain how your project will provide and engage your community with new tools, knowledge and methods to increase the ability to better understand and manage the health impacts of environmental contaminants.
- Provide detailed information on how this project will support community members' engagement in research. Will any local training be involved?
Traditional knowledge
- The integration of traditional knowledge is a key component in research. Explain how your project will incorporate and protect traditional knowledge and culture.
Youth engagement
- The FNECP strongly encourages the engagement of youth in projects. Please provide details as to how youth will be involved. Give examples of planned activities and how they can or will be beneficial (for example, new skills and knowledge acquired).
Workplan and timelines
Prepare a table with a list of each activity of the project with an assigned activity number, the timelines for each activity and any factors that might affect timing (for example seasons, availability of resources, migration patterns, etc.).
| Project objective |
Activity description | Timeline/ dates |
Factors affecting timing | Activity # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Project team and partners who will do the work?
- This table should include all individuals who will be involved in the project including their name, affiliation, role within the project and the associated activity number (from the work plan) in which they will be participating. Be sure to list all the partners that will be involved in this project (for example, First Nations, government, agencies, groups, associations, academics, professionals, financial contributors, etc.)
- All scientific project team members and the community project manager/lead/coordinator must provide their resumes or CVs along with a list of relevant publications
Important: Principal investigator(s) are required to be committed to complete the project. If they have to leave the project because of unforeseen reasons, they must notify the community project manager/lead/coordinator and the FNECP secretariat, find a replacement with the same expertise/experience and provide an addendum to the proposal. The replacement must be acceptable to the community.
| Name | Contact information (phone/email) | Affiliation | Project role | Associated activity # |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Communication and dissemination plan
- Describe in detail how the results will be communicated to the community throughout the project (for example, Facebook, newsletter, a community bulletin, etc.)
- Describe how the results will be communicated or disseminated to other interested parties and decision-makers (for example, funding organizations, other First Nation communities, governments, etc.)
- Describe how the project's results will be communicated regionally, nationally or internationally (for example, peer-reviewed publications, presentations at conferences, etc.)
The FNECP secretariat has to be informed about upcoming scientific publications prepared of funded projects' results.
All scientific publications submitted to peer-reviewed journals, as well as conference presentations, have to acknowledge Indigenous Services Canada (FNECP) as a funding program.
Important: Think of how you will report sampling results (for example, hair, blood, etc.) to research participants. This should protect the confidentiality of individuals.
Project evaluation
- Indicate how the project will be evaluated and by whom. How will you determine the successes and lessons learned?
- For suggestions on how you might structure your evaluation please see the information at the end of this document Suggestions for developing your project evaluation
Budget
Provide a detailed budget breakdown for core expenditures, administrative/management costs and funding/support from other sources for each year of the project, as well as a total budget for the duration of the project. You should feel free to remove or add budget categories based on your own needs.
Core expenditures
Salaries and wages
Indicate the salaries paid to people specifically hired for the project and the amount of time they will dedicate to the project ($ per hour/day/week).
Honoraria
Honorarium compensation for participants (for example, Elders) is a gratuitous payment as distinguished from compensation for service or hire and is often used as a way to thank them for their time and knowledge. Honoraria should not be used as an alternative to a service contract or as a replacement for salary, wages or professional fees.
Professional service fees (if appropriate)
Indicate the estimated total value of each contract to be awarded under the project, the contractor's name (if known) and the purpose of the contract. For any services provided by a community member (for example, laborers, Elders), the community member should be identified in the proposal by name.
Travel, accommodations and meal costs
Include all travel, accommodation and meal costs, and indicate the purpose of travel. Please use government travel rates by visiting the Travel Directive of the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat website, Appendix C—Meal & Incidental Rates. (Canada/USA)
Equipment and facilities
Specify the type of equipment that is needed to conduct your project and the extent to which it will be used by the community for public purposes after the end of the project (for example, camera, microphone, monitoring or sampling equipment). Equipment costs can not exceed $10,000 per primary research project.
Laboratory expenses
Provide estimates for laboratory testing and analysis (cost per sample) accompanied by laboratory quotes.
Ownership of equipment purchased with FNECP funding
All equipment purchased with FNECP funding that is not returned to the Crown :
- to remain the sole property of the First Nations communities
- to be used for public good
- not be in the private ownership
The project team must submit a letter from the First Nation's financial officer stating that the equipment will continue to be used for public purposes after the end of the project.
Important: Fees for professional services offered by consultants and academics cannot exceed 40% of the total fund provided by the FNECP in order to ensure economic equity between the scientific and community partners.
Administrative and management costs
The First Nations and Inuit Health Branch will allow up to 10% of the total agreement amount for administration costs.
Operating costs
- Office materials and supplies, telephone, printing, computer time, fax, postage
- Supplies (including lab supplies)
- Publication costs (specify publisher and projected date of publication)
- Administration fees (if applicable)
Other costs
If any budget item does not fit into any of the above categories of expenditure, it must be entered as "Other" with a brief description.
Budget summary
Total funding requested from Indigenous Services Canada = $
Total support from other sources, including in-kind = $
The total cost of the project (Indigenous Services Canada request plus the support from other sources) = $
Important:
- The FNECP funding as well as funding from external sources have to be used exclusively for the objectives as per the proposal
- Please complete your budget using the budget table provided below. Use a separate table for each year, and an additional table for the overview of all years
- Indigenous Services Canada's fiscal year runs from April 1 to March 31. Please align your budget with these dates
| Expense | Description | Indigenous services canada funding request | Funding from other sources (including in-kind) | Comments | Associated activity # |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Core Expenditures | |||||
| Salary | |||||
| Salary | |||||
| Salary | |||||
| Honoraria | |||||
| Benefits | |||||
| Professional services | |||||
| Translation | |||||
| Training fees | |||||
| Transportation, accommodation and meals | |||||
| Equipment and facilities | |||||
| Laboratory expenses (detailed with cost per sample) | |||||
| Other | |||||
| Core Expenditures Subtotal 1 | |||||
| Administrative/Management Costs (maximum 10% of total request from Indigenous Services Canada) | |||||
| Office materials/supplies | |||||
| Copier and photocopies | |||||
| Telephone and telecommunication | |||||
| Material and equipment rental | |||||
| Maintenance and repairs | |||||
| Postage, shipping and handling | |||||
| Accounting fees | |||||
| Human resources, pay-services | |||||
| Other | |||||
| Admin Subtotal 2 | |||||
| Total Cost of Project (Subtotal 1 plus subtotal 2) |
|||||
Research ethics review
Every human health research project involving First Nations will be required to obtain an approval certificate from at least one ethics review board or committee before receiving funding approval from the FNECP (for example, University research ethics board).
The research ethics review does not need to be completed at the time of application but will be needed before funding can be provided. Your project team will be responsible for this part of the review.
Letter(s) of support from a mandated authority
- Letter(s) of support by a mandated authority (Chiefs, Chief Executive Officer of the First Nations organization or community, etc.) for each community involved in your project should be included in your submission. The letter(s) should be on official letterhead and be signed by an authorized person
- All successful projects are required to provide a Band Council Resolution from the community leading the project at the time of funding
- Successful projects might be asked to provide certification documentation for their organization (for example, letter of incorporation, registration number, bylaw, audited financial statements etc.). It is therefore recommended that applicants keep these files nearby in case the project is funded. Communities are encouraged to communicate with their appropriate authorities/community representatives to obtain any approvals needed for their proposed research
References
Include reference to any documents, publications, or third-party information that you used in writing your proposal. This is a very important part of your proposal as it shows that your research would build on existing knowledge.
Appendices
This could include the following:
- relevant background information (if available)
- relevant project materials that you may have ready, such as interview questions, questionnaires, laboratory quotes, consent forms, etc.
Resumes/CV for each project team member
- Resumes or CVs are required to show that the person conducting the research and the research team members have the knowledge and skills required to successfully run this research project
- All scientific project team members and the community project manager/lead/coordinator must provide their resumes or CVs along with a list of relevant publications
Annexes
Sample consent forms
Place community logo here
Sample consent form
Name of project: ________________________________________
Project start/end date: ________________________________________
Purpose of project: ________________________________________
Name of interviewee: ________________________________________
Name of interviewer(s): ________________________________________
Place: ________________________
Date: ______________
I, ________________________, hereby agree to give my consent and involvement in the (state the name of your project).
- The participants are informed that:
- This is an invitation for you to participate in this study,
- You have a right to choose to not participate at any time.
- You have the right to not answer any questions that you are not comfortable with, before the interview has even started or during the interview.
- The data/information collected is going to be permanently stored by (state who will store the data and who will have access to it).
- The interview recordings, whether they are audio, video, written or photographic, and the resulting translations, transcriptions and images, will be used for the following purposes: (list the purposes)
- This is an invitation for you to participate in this study,
Place community logo here
Sample consent form
(Name your organization or community) will not use the interview recordings, whether they are audio, video, written or photographic, and the resulting translations, transcriptions and images, for any other purposes without the consent of the interviewee.
________________________________________
Participant name (print name)
____________________
Date
________________________________________
Participant signature
____________________
Date
________________________________________
Witness signature
____________________
Date
(Name of organization or community) agrees to use the information according to the terms outlined above.
________________________________________
Signature of interviewer
____________________
Date
Copy provided to participant:
Yes
No
Suggestions for developing your project evaluation
(Not mandatory but very useful)
Evaluation techniques
Below please find some evaluation techniques you might want to include as part of your project evaluation:
Activity logs
Track regular activities and provide a running account of what happened. These can provide anecdotal information that is not usually captured in more formal surveys or consultations. Keeping an activity log is a great tool to assist in writing reports, providing regular updates on initiatives and providing valuable qualitative data to evaluations.
Surveys
Surveys consist of a series of closed or open-ended questions. They can be done by hand, on-line, over the telephone and through email or face-to-face. Surveys are easy to administer, but developing questions that are easy to understand and measure can be difficult. Plan to test out survey questions on colleagues and members of your target audience ahead of time so you can modify them accordingly.
Interviews
An interview is a conversation between 2 or more people where questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from the interviewee. Interviews can be done over the telephone, on the radio or face-to-face.
Focus groups
Focus groups provide opportunities for an in-depth engagement. Traditionally they consist of between 6 to 10 participants with a particular interest, involvement or stake in the subject being discussed. During focus groups, a facilitator leads the group through a series of questions with a recorder summarizing the discussions.
Community engagement
Community engagement brings together interested people for information and discussion of an issue. Community engagement is open to the public and can attract either a small or a large group based on the level of interest in the issue being discussed. During community engagement, presentations are given followed by a facilitated discussion.
Audits
An audit is a form of evaluation that assesses an organization, system, process, project or product. It can consist of simple inventories (for example, how many community freezers are in a community) or be more detailed such as the assessment of how many community members have access to safe drinking water. An audit can be performed at the beginning of a project to provide a baseline for future measurements. By doing this you are able to track changes, modify activities and determine their impact.
Developing a project evaluation table
To structure your project evaluation, you might want to consider developing a table that includes your objectives and activities. If you want to develop a table, below are some suggestions that might be helpful.
- Fill in the objectives and activities by copying what you have already completed in the previous sections of the proposal.
- For each activity, include performance indicators that will be used to evaluate the activities. Performance indicators are qualitative or quantitative measures used to monitor project performance. Quantitative indicators are statistical measures such as number, frequency, percentile, ratios, variance, etc. Qualitative indicators are judgment and perception measures, such as the presence or absence of specific conditions, the extent and quality of participation or level of satisfaction.
- For each performance indicator, describe how data will be collected and what tools will be used (some techniques are described above).
- Include any comments (if needed) to further explain what you plan to do.
| Project objectives | Project activities | Performance indicators | Data collection techniques/tools | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Examples of surveys and questionnaires
Examples of dietary surveys, such as a traditional food questionnaire and a 24 hour recall, as well as social, health and lifestyle questionnaires can be derived from the First Nations Food, Nutrition & Environment Study (FNFNES), and used or modified as needed. Please refer to: (FNFNES).