Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society

Request for Proposal Information Fact Sheet

Introduction

ACCESS (Aboriginal Community Career Employment Services Society) is one of Canada’s most comprehensive Aboriginal training providers. It is an Aboriginal Skills & Employment Training Strategy Agreement (ASETS) Holder with its major funding provided by the Government of Canada via the Department of Human Resources and Skills Development Canada. ACCESS is dedicated to assisting urban Aboriginal people in overcoming employment barriers and to pursuing life-long learning and rewarding career opportunities.

Request for Proposals

The Request for Proposal process usually begins in November with the deadline for receiving of proposals the following January. The proposals are reviewed and assessed by ACCESS’ Internal Review Committee with recommendations presented to the ACCESS Board of Directors in February for final approval. Start dates of projects are usually April. All projects must be completed within the fiscal year, which ends on March 31. Proposals are also accepted any time during the year but approval may depend on funding availability.

Eligibility

The sponsor group must:

  • Be an urban Aboriginal organization
  • Have a fully operational office in Metro Vancouver
  • Be incorporated for at least one year
  • Be willing and capable of entering into a contract

Applications from individuals will not be accepted

Project Criteria

Funding criteria for service providers of group employment and training initiatives are as follows:

  • The training or employment project must meet the client criteria of the ASETS: training is to be for urban Aboriginal people residing only within Metro Vancouver
  • The project must be employment-related or develops identified priority skills that meet local labour market demands (supported by adequate labour market research)
  • The project must not duplicate any current related programs and services
  • The project must be cost effective and should be innovative
  • The sponsor must have a successful track record in the proposed program or project
  • All projects must lead to:
  • An employable or more employable urban Aboriginal individual
  • Long term employment that enables self-sufficiency
  • Savings to EI or social assistance programs
  • Further education or training of clients with disabilities, extensive employment barriers or for those who have been long-term unemployed

Types of Projects

The types of projects that can be applied for include Employment Assistance Services, Job Readiness/Pre-employment, Project-Based Training and Labour Market Partnerships.

Funding Amounts

The type and amount of funding available for programs is determined by ACCESS’ annual and long-term operating plans. Interested project sponsors are encouraged to call for information.

Application

  • All applications for funding must be submitted using ACCESS Project Proposal Funding Application Form
  • All areas of the application form should be filled in and all required documents attached
  • An electronic copy of the completed application form and budget/cash flow spreadsheets has to be submitted
  • Project budget should have a complete breakdown of costs with brief explanations of how each line item is derived
  • Incomplete applications will not be accepted until they meet all application requirements; this delay may result in late processing of the application and could result in loss of project funding

Provide only what is required in the application form and please:

  • Do not send multiple copies of the project application and its attachments (two is maximum)
  • Do not send extensive supporting documentation, letters of support (3 maximum), presentation folders or binders, videotapes or other electronic media (except one electronic copy of proposal application, budget and cash flow)