Opportunities Fund for Persons with Disabilities – National or Regional Component

Application period

The Call for Proposals (CFP) is open for 8 weeks. You can apply between May 30, 2022 and July 22, 2022 at 3:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time (EDT).

We expect to give decisions to applicants by early winter 2022. For any questions and inquiries, please contact us.

Description of the funding

This CFP will fund projects that support individuals, employers and others that work to support disability inclusion and accessibility in employment. The CFP is soliciting projects that:

• Promote an inclusive recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic;
• Address both new and long-standing labour market barriers for persons with disabilities; and
• Embrace innovative programming in support of persons with disabilities who are most underserved and/or further from the labour market.

The CFP’s objective is to invite eligible organizations to submit proposals that:

• Support persons with disabilities:
  • prepare for, find, and keep good jobs;
  • advance in their careers or become self-employed; and/or
  • thereby increase their economic participation and independence.
• Assist employers to create inclusive and accessible workplaces, through activities, such as:
  • Coaching, training, human resources support; and
  • Other activities, to help them diversify their workforces by hiring and retaining persons with disabilities.
• Increase supply, skills and capacity of individuals that work to support disability inclusion and accessibility in employment, including by ensuring smooth transitions and long-term retention.

These objectives align with the Government of Canada’s broader goals under the Employment Strategy for Canadians with Disabilities.

Eligible organizations can apply for funding up to $15,000,000 for a project that is up to 3 years (36 consecutive months).

There are 2 funding components available through this call for proposal:

1. National - Projects that deliver activities in 3 or more provinces or territories.
2. Regional - Projects that deliver activities in 1 or 2 provinces or territories.

An organization can apply with 1 proposal under the National component and 1 proposal under the Regional component. Each proposal must be for different activities.

A separate proposal must be submitted for each component.

The objective of this CFP is to fund projects that fall under 1 or more of the following 3 streams:

• Stream 1: Participant-focused Stream
• Stream 2: Employer Stream
• Stream 3: Career Advancement Stream

Organizations can apply to receive funding to deliver activities under more than 1 stream for each component. For example, a project may focus on Steam 1 and Stream 3 activities.

Refer to Eligible Activities for activities specific to each stream.

If an organization wants to apply to more than 1 stream, they must clearly separate the information for each stream, for example:

Stream 1: Participant-focused Stream

• Project Objectives
• Project Activities
• Expected Results

Stream 2: Employers Stream

• Project Objectives
• Project Activities
• Expected Results

Stream 3: Career Advancement Stream

• Project Objectives
• Project Activities
• Expected Results

An organization can only apply for a maximum of 2 projects (one regional and one national). If more than 1 application is received per component (National or Regional), only the first application received for each component will be considered.

Objective of the Opportunities Fund Program

The Opportunities Fund (OF) program helps persons with disabilities:

• prepare for, find, and keep good jobs;
• advance in their careers or become self-employed; and
• thereby increasing their economic participation and independence.

The program also provides supports to employers to help them make their workplaces more inclusive and accessible.

The OF program funds a wide range of supports and services, including:

• Pre-employment and employability supports;
• Job search supports;
• Work experience;
• Self-employment assistance;
• Wage subsidies;
• Skills development;
• Career advancement supports; and
• Employer engagement and awareness initiatives to encourage employers to hire and retain persons with disabilities and make their workplaces more inclusive and accessible.

Eligibility

To apply, you must meet all the following eligibility criteria:

Eligible applicants

Your organization must be 1 of the following types:

• Individuals acting as project sponsors or employers in relation to an eligible activity;
• Not-for-profit organizations;
• For-profit organizations (if nature and intent of the activity in its proposal is non commercial, not intended to generate profit, and supports program priorities and objectives);
• Municipal governments;
• Educational Institutions (including post-secondary institutions), school boards;
• Indigenous organizations (including band councils, tribal councils and self-government entities); or
• Provincial and territorial governments, institutions, agencies and Crown Corporations with approval from the Minister.

Learn more and apply