Evaluation and Selection
A Selection Committee will evaluate each application on the basis of all information provided by the Applicant. The Selection Committee will evaluate applications based on, but not limited to, the following criteria:
- Rationale and demonstrated need
- Community impact
- Clarity of the initiative, project goals, and key activities
- Organizational capacity to deliver services and potential linkages to broader human services sector
- Budget submitted
- Opportunities for collaboration, including partnerships that strengthen service delivery and align resources to address community needs
Each application will be individually reviewed and scored. York Region reserves the right, in its sole and absolute discretion, to follow up with the Applicant to seek further information and/or clarification with respect to any information included in its application. There is limited funding available and there is no guarantee that any project that meets the overall criteria will be funded.
It is each Applicant’s responsibility to seek clarification on any matter that may seem unclear before submitting an application. The Region cannot be held responsible for any misunderstanding of the application by any Applicant.
Funding Agreement
Successful Applicants will be required to enter into a Community Investment Fund Agreement (the “CIF Agreement”) with York Region as a “Funded Agency”. The CIF Agreement will identify the parties’ respective roles and responsibilities and will become legally binding once it is signed, digitally or electronically, by all parties. A failure by a party to perform their duties under the CIF Agreement will be considered a breach of the agreement.
Listed below are the indemnification and insurance requirements deemed necessary by the Region's Risk Manager. These provisions, or similar provisions as considered necessary by York Region, will be included in the funding agreement with York Region as well as additional requirements.
Indemnification
The Funded Agency shall indemnify, hold harmless and defend the Region, its Chair, its Council members, employees, contractors, successors and assigns, from and against all actions, claims, demands, losses, costs (including all legal costs), damages, suits or proceedings whatsoever which may be brought against or made upon the Region and against all losses, liabilities, judgments, claims, suits, demands or expenses which the Region may sustain, suffer or be put to that arise directly or indirectly out of or are attributable to the Funded Agency’s omissions, or failure to exercise reasonable care, skill or diligence in the performance or rendering of any work or service required to be performed by the Funded Agency, its agents and employees. This indemnification shall include any legal costs incurred by the Region on a complete indemnity basis, including those incurred to defend all prosecutions against the Region resulting from the actions or inactions of the Funded Agency.
Insurance Requirements
Without restricting the generality of the requirement to indemnify the Region, the Funded Agency shall obtain, maintain, pay for and provide evidence of the insurance coverage, taken out with insurance companies licensed to transact business in the Province of Ontario and acceptable to the Region’s Risk Manager. Listed below are the insurance requirements deemed necessary for the CIF Agreement by the Region's Risk Manager.
Commercial General Liability Insurance
Commercial General Liability (CGL) insurance must include York Region as an Additional Insured, with limits of not less than two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) inclusive per occurrence for bodily and personal injury, death and damage to property including loss of use. The CGL insurance will include Cross Liability and Severability of Interest Clauses, Products and Completed Operations coverage (twelve (12) months), and Standard Non-Owned Automobile Liability.
Automobile Liability Insurance
Automobile Liability Insurance in respect of licensed vehicles must have limits of not less than two million dollars ($2,000,000.00) inclusive per occurrence for bodily injury, death and damage to property. Coverage shall be in the form of a standard owner’s form automobile policy providing third party liability and accident benefits insurance and covering licensed vehicles owned and/or leased or operated by or on behalf of the Funded Agency.
Directors’ & Officers’ Liability Insurance
Directors’ & Officers’ Liability Insurance for non-profit agencies with a Board of Directors, must have limits of not less than one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) per claim.
The Region will accept in place of the above-mentioned insurance coverage, a combination of primary liability limits and umbrella insurance or excess liability limits which meet the CGL and/or Automobile Liability coverage limits noted above.
Such coverage must in all respects be satisfactory to the Region’s Risk Manager and shall be maintained continuously by the Funded Agency from either the commencement of the services or the signing of the contract, whichever is earliest. The policies must be endorsed to provide York Region with not less than thirty (30) days’ written notice in advance of cancellation, or any change or amendment restricting coverage.
Agencies shall provide evidence of this coverage on the Region’s Standard Certificate of Insurance form. York Region may, in its sole discretion, revise the Insurance Requirements under the CIF Agreement as it considers necessary.
Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB)
The Funded Agency must be in compliance with the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act, 1997, throughout the term of the agreement and shall submit to the Region a valid and current Workplace Safety and Insurance Board (WSIB) Clearance Certificate prior to commencement of the agreement and at any other time during the agreement at the Region’s request.
Where the Funded Agency is not required to be registered with the WSIB and is not covered by WSIB Optional Insurance, the Funded Agency shall maintain Employers’ Liability Insurance in the amount of one million dollars ($1,000,000.00) per occurrence.
Agencies shall provide evidence of this coverage on the Region’s Standard Certificate of Insurance form.
Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA)
Also, the Funded Agency must comply with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act, 2005 (AODA). Under the Act, the Region must also ensure that every contractor who interacts with the public on behalf of the Region completes training on the requirements about how to serve customers with disabilities, the accessibility standards referred to in the AODA’s Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation and on the Human Rights Code as it pertains to people with disabilities. This includes all volunteers, students and employees of the Funded Agency who have a role in providing the service on behalf of York Region. Training materials are available from York Region at no cost to all Agencies to facilitate meeting this requirement.
Definitions
Administrative Costs: Ongoing expenses associated with operating or delivering a funded project. Administrative costs include items such as bookkeeping, human resources, and project oversight, etc.
Applicant: An organization that has submitted an application to receive funding from York Region under the Community Investment Fund in accordance with the guidelines, requirements, and criteria set out in this document.
Audited Financial Statements: Financial reports prepared by a licensed accountant who is independent of the Applicant, who certifies that the accounting records and process of the Applicant have been audited and verified in accordance with Canadian generally accepted accounting principles.
Collaborative Application: Two or more organizations with a well-defined relationship applying for funding of a project in which the organizations will work together to achieve a common goal. Collaborative projects must be led by an eligible organization which accepts responsibility for the funding.
Community Investment Fund Agreement: The binding agreement that a successful Applicant will enter with the Region for funding Community Investment Fund’s Food Security System Development funding program as set out in this document.
Community Investment Fund (CIF) Priority Groups: Residents from marginalized and vulnerable groups that would most benefit from programs and services, as outlined in the October 2021 Community Investment Fund Program Framework.
Community Gardens: Gardens where residents can grow their own fruits and vegetables, increasing access to fresh produce, promoting healthy eating, and fostering community engagement.
Flow-Through Partnership: An existing registered not-for-profit organization or registered charity that is incorporated under Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010, S.O. 2010, c. 15, or the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (S.C. 2009, c. 23) which acts on behalf of an Applicant to access funding for a project. The flow-through agency acts as the lead and assumes all contractual obligations, including responsibility for all aspects of the funding and the administration of funds.
Funded Agency: A successful Applicant who has entered into a Community Investment Fund Agreement with York Region pursuant to the guidelines set out in this document.
Low Income: Statistics Canada’s 2023 low income cut-off, before tax for residents living in jurisdictions with 500,000+ populations:
- 1-person household: $30,526
- 2-person household: $38,003
- 3-person household: $46,720
- 4-person household: $56,724, etc.
Organization: An incorporated not-for-profit agency or registered charity that is governed by a Board of Directors providing community services, or an unincorporated entity with a Steering Committee that provides community services, requiring a flow-through agency.
Partnership or Partnerships: A relationship of mutual and reciprocal obligation between two or more community agencies for the purpose of implementing a Project. A partnering agency is an agency or organization that has agreed to a partnership with an Applicant, providing either in-kind or direct support.
Resident: Any person living in the Town of Georgina, Town of East Gwillimbury, Town of Newmarket, Town of Aurora, Township of King, Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville, City of Richmond Hill, City of Markham, or City of Vaughan, in permanent or temporary accommodation or with no fixed address.
Selection Committee: A group of employees from York Region and/or other community funders with human services sector experience or expertise tasked with evaluating applications received in a call for proposals and preparing funding recommendations.
York Region: The Regional Municipality of York as a municipal corporation. The geographic boundaries include nine areas municipalities, Town of Aurora, Town of East Gwillimbury, Town of Georgina, Township of King, City of Markham, Town of Newmarket, City of Richmond Hill, City of Vaughan, and Town of Whitchurch-Stouffville.
