Backgrounder: Canada Service Corps – Results of the 2023 call for proposals

The Canada Service Corps (CSC) promotes civic engagement among youth aged 12 to 30 by funding organizations that offer national and regional service placements as well as micro-grants for youth-led projects. CSC-funded organizations deliver service opportunities that equip youth across Canada with meaningful skills and experience, while also empowering them to give back to their communities. CSC-funded opportunities help youth:

• practice leadership;
• learn new skills;
• grow personal and professional networks;
• learn about community-oriented service; and
• gain valuable experiences that may help prepare them for further education or transition into the labour market.

Since its launch in April 2018, the CSC has made it possible for youth to participate in more than 52,000 service opportunities in over 200 projects. This represents over 40,000 service placements which have contributed about 3.9 million service hours to communities across the country, as well as over 10,000 micro-grant projects, which support the implementation of small-scale, innovative community service ideas across the country.

2023 call for proposals
The fall 2023 call for proposals requested applications for new projects that would expand and diversify the program. All project applications were screened for eligibility, then were assessed against stream-specific eligibility criteria and against program- and stream-specific objectives. Projects were also required to meet one or more of the following CSC service themes:

• Reconciliation
• Building an inclusive Canada
• Preserving the environment
• Promoting civic and democratic engagement
• Strengthening youth resilience
• Other potential new themes that are identified by youth.

The Department also prioritized the following to ensure a diverse range of projects were selected:

• Youth-led prioritization: Organizations in which at least 50% of their leadership and, if applicable, at least 50% of their governance is comprised of youth between 15 and 30 years of age.
• Diversity-related prioritization: Organizations in which at least 50% of their leadership and, if applicable, at least 50% of their governance represents one or more of the groups they currently serve (including Indigenous peoples, Black and racialized people, 2SLGBTQ2I+ people, persons with disabilities, and people from official language minority communities).
• Geographic coverage prioritization: In an effort to ensure youth across the country are able to participate in funding opportunities, priority may have been given to projects that, together, ensure geographic coverage across provinces and territories.
• Only for the Micro-grants component: Organizations that aim to ensure a high percentage of the total amount of funding (70%) goes directly to youth with the remaining 30% to be used to cover other eligible costs such as overhead costs as well as other eligible participant and project costs.

National Service Placement stream
Starting in 2024-25, the National Service Placements stream will provide about 10 eligible organizations with approximately $80 million over three years, supporting about 7,000 service opportunities for youth in Canada.

This stream provides organizations with up to $8 million annually to deliver projects that take place in at least two provinces/territories. Projects may offer flexible and/or full-time service placements, ensure a minimum of 14,400 volunteer hours per fiscal year, and ensure at least 50% of participants per project identify as Indigenous youth, underserved youth, or both.

Projects are expected to begin in Winter 2025.

Regional Service Placement stream
Starting in 2024-25, the Regional Service Placements stream will provide up to 50 eligible organizations with approximately $83 million over three years, supporting about 9,400 service opportunities for youth in Canada.

This stream provides organizations with a local or regional reach with annual funding of up to $3 million to implement projects in communities across Canada, ensuring nationwide coverage. Projects will help improve the social, economic, and environmental well-being of communities through local action, while supporting skills development and fostering leadership and personal growth amongst youth. These placements must include at least 40 service placements per fiscal year (totalling a minimum of 4,800 hours April to March) for youth participants and must be flexible (minimum duration of 120 hours over a 12-month period) and ensure at least 50% of participants per project identify as Indigenous youth,  under-served youth, or both.

Projects are expected to begin in Winter 2025.

Micro-grants
Starting in 2024-25, The Micro-Grants stream will provide about 25 eligible organizations with approximately $37 million funding, supporting about 6,000 youth-led projects across Canada. 

The Micro-Grants stream offers one-time cash payments (“micro-grants”), up to a maximum of $5,000 per youth, to support the implementation of youth-led projects to address a community need. 

Projects are expected to begin in Winter 2025.

To learn more, visit the Canada Service Corps and explore volunteering opportunities.