Study to Review the Safeguards in Place to Prevent Conflicts of Interest in Federal Government Expenditure Policies - August 11, 2020

[ * ] An asterisk appears where sensitive information has been removed in accordance with the Access to Information Act and Privacy Act.

On this page

• Additional information
• Final Contribution Agreement
  • Email
  • Agreement
• Emails
  • Louise Bowles - Email #1
  • Louise Bowles - Email #2
  • Finance Canada emails
• Lobbying Act
• Standard Committee on Finance - Evidence number 42 - Tuesday, July 21, 2020
• Unedited copy of Standing Committee on Finance, evidence number 47 - July 30, 2020
• V&E for Public Sector 2011
• Privy Council Office - Values & Ethics
• Notes to file
• Canada Student Service Grant - April 2020 – June 2020
  • Chronology
  • Key dates
  • Narrative
• Examples of Contributions agreements used during COVID-19
• [ * ]
• Canada Service Corps
• Rachel Merissa email
  • Attachment - Engaging Young Canadians in Service and Social Entrepreneurship Programming
• Standing Committee on Access to information, Privacy and Ethics, 43rd parl, 1st session
• Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan
• Conflict of Interest Act
  • Key dates April-June 2020
  • Questions and answer – Conflict of interest
    • Establishing and applying an ethical screen
    • Current conflict of interest screens for ministers
  • Expenditure transparency
• Speaking points - Government of Canada contracting safeguards
• Clerk letter to Daniel Therrien
• Note from Catherine
• Response to FINA re: Request of financial due diligence
• Examples of third party delivery through COVID-19
• [ * ]
• Letter to David Gagnon
• Call with Finance - April 18
• Emails from Benoit Robidou
• Response to FINA re: Request of financial due diligence
• Note from Chris Fox
• Table of contents
• Memorandums
• Excerpts from key guidance documents on conflict of interest
• Standing Order of the House of Commons - Consolidated version as of April 20, 2020
• A Special Calling: Values, Ethics and Professional Public Service
• Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics
  • ETHI Committee meeting
• Email to Saba Khwaja
• Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

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Additional information

1. Chronology
2. Summary of the program and breakdown of the costs
3. Examples of third party delivery
4. Answer to question on document release
5. Q&As
6. Documents to submit to the Finance Committee by ESDC following the testimony

Final Contribution Agreement

Email

Merissa, Rahel

The final contribution agreement in English and in French. This was provided to the committee on July 24th.

Tara

Sent from my iPhone

Begin forwarded message:

Agreement

Canada’s COVID-19 Economic response plan

Support for students and recent graduates

Funding agreement

between

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of State (Diversity and Inclusion and Youth) styled as the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth (hereinafter referred to as “Canada”)

and

WE Charity Foundation of Canada

(hereinafter referred to as “the Recipient”)

Hereinafter collectively referred to as “the Parties”

Articles of agreement

Whereas Canada has established the Youth Service Initiative also known as “Canada Service Corps” (hereinafter referred to as “the Program”) to support projects that create, promote and facilitate access to volunteer service opportunities that are meaningful to youth, that support lasting civic engagement, and that provide youth with life and work skills;

Whereas Canada has taken strong and quick action to protect its economy, the health, safety, and jobs of all Canadian during the global COVID-19 outbreak;

Whereas Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan provides targeted support for students and recent graduates;

Whereas Canada has determined that the Recipient is eligible to receive funding under Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan to Support Students and Recent Graduates; and

Whereas Canada has agreed to provide funding to the Recipient towards the costs of the Project;

Now, therefore, Canada and the Recipient agree as follows:

1.0 Interpretation

1.1 Unless the context requires otherwise, the expressions listed below have the following meanings for the purposes of this Agreement:

• “Agreement” means this agreement, including all schedules, and all amendments or restatements as permitted.
• “Cohort 1” means up to 20,000 Project Participants, and a minimum of 50 Not-for-Profits, engaged in or offering volunteer service opportunities, respectively, as outlined in Schedule A.
•  “Cohort 2” means up to 20,000 Project Participants, and a minimum of 50 Not-for-Profits, engaged in or offering volunteer service opportunities, respectively, above those participating as part of Cohort 1.
• “Eligible Expenditures” means expenditures (including applicable taxes):
  1. that are directly related to the carrying out of the Project under this Agreement or are Program Costs;
  2. that meet the conditions governing eligibility under section 5.0;
  3. that ensure value for money because the costs they relate to have been negotiated to ensure best value, prudence and probity; and,
  4. that are incurred during the Project Period except the cost of preparing audited financial statement requested by Canada notwithstanding if it incurred outside the Project Period.
• “Force Majeure” means an event, condition or circumstance (and the effects thereof) which is not within the reasonable control of the Party claiming Force Majeure and which the Party claiming Force Majeure is unable to prevent or overcome, including events in the nature of acts of God, pandemic, epidemic, quarantine, illness outbreak, fire, explosion, civil disturbance, war, riot, insurrection, military or guerrilla action, terrorist activity, economic sanction, blockade or embargo, sabotage, flooding, earthquake, drought and action or restraint by the order of any governmental authority.
• “Not-for-profit” means organizations under that are established for purposes other than financial gain for their members. This category includes:
  1. community, charitable or voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations (for example, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques);
  2. organizations that are tax exempt under paragraph 149(1)(l) of the Income Tax Act; and
  3. non-governmental organizations.
• “Project” means the project described in Schedule A.
• “Program Costs” means the expenditures incurred by the Recipient or Sub-Agreement Holder in the course of its regular operations that, though indirectly related to the delivery of the Project activities under section 3.0 enable the Recipient or Sub-Agreement Holder to manage the delivery of the Project activities under section 3.0 successfully.
• “Project Participant” means an eligible student as specified in Schedule A and includes all students of Cohort 1 and 2 and the Supplementary Cohort.
• “Project Period” means the period beginning on the Project Start Date specified in Schedule A and ending on the Project End Date specified in Schedule A.
• "Sub-Agreement" means a written agreement between the Recipient and an organization under which the Recipient further distributes a portion of the funding received by the Recipient under this Agreement to the organization and delegates all or part of its responsibilities relating to the delivery of eligible activities under this Agreement to the organization.
• "Sub-Agreement Holder" means an organization other than the Recipient, to whom a portion of the funding received by the Recipient under this Agreement is further distributed to enable the organization to carry out a Sub-Agreement.
• “Supplementary Cohort” means up to 60,000 Project Participants engaged in volunteer service opportunities as part of the Supplementary CSSG Program (as defined in Schedule A), and who are not part of Cohort 1 or Cohort 2;
• “Working Day” means Monday through Friday except statutory holidays.

2.0 Effective date and duration

This Agreement shall come into effect on May 5th, 2020, and shall expire at the end of the Project Period unless the Agreement is terminated on a prior date in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

All obligations of the Parties shall expressly or by their nature survive termination or expiry of this Agreement and shall continue in full force subsequent to and notwithstanding such termination or expiry until and unless they are satisfied or by their nature expire.

3.0 Purpose of the contribution

The purpose of Canada’s funding is to enable the Recipient to carry out the Project. The funding provided by Canada shall be used by the Recipient solely for the purpose of paying the Eligible Expenditures.

The Project’s objective is to provide opportunities for Project Participants to take part in meaningful volunteer service activities and gain labour market and skills development experiences while giving back to their communities during the global COVID-19 outbreak through the implementation of Project activities as specified in Schedule A.

4.0 Canada’s contribution

4.1 The total maximum amount of Canada's contribution towards the Eligible Expenditures (subject to section 4.1(d)) is up to $543,530,000 (five hundred and forty-three million five hundred and thirty thousand dollars) for the Project Period, which shall be allocated as follows:

1. Award funding to be disbursed directly to eligible CSSG students: Up to $500,000,000 (five hundred million dollars), to be paid as per section 4.3(d), to be distributed as awards to eligible Program Participants as follows:
   1. Up to $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) to provide for the award of up to $5,000 to each Project Participant who volunteers as per the conditions specified in Schedule A for Cohort 1 and is eligible to receive an award;
   2. Up to $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) to provide for the award of up to $5,000 to each Project Participant who volunteers as per the conditions specified in Schedule A for Cohort 2 and is eligible to receive an award; and
   3. Up to $300,000,000 (three hundred million dollars) to provide for the award of up to $5,000 to each Project Participant who volunteers as per the conditions specified in Schedule A for the Supplementary Cohort and is eligible to receive an award;
2. Cohort 1 program design, implementation and delivery: The following amounts, to be paid as per section 4.3(a), shall be allocated for the design, implementation and delivery of the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 1:
   1. $18,350,000 (eighteen million three hundred and fifty thousand dollars), which funds are intended to be allocated as follows, though the Recipient may reallocate amounts between any of subsections (A) to (C) below as the Recipient sees fit:
      1. $5,000,000 (five million dollars) in funding to Not-For-Profit partners (as defined in Schedule A) for Eligible Expenditures;
      2. $300,000 (three hundred thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures to program participants to help support accessibility to the program with focus on vulnerable populations;
      3. $13,050,000 (thirteen million and fifty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures which are required to set up and deliver activities in respect of Cohort 1 as specified in Schedule A, and for related Program Costs;
   2. $1,150,000 (one million one hundred fifty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures to pay for the management and administration of the award for eligible youth for Cohort 1, including to verify the eligibility of Project Participants and volunteer hours, and to disburse awards to eligible Project Participants (including the issuance of tax slips or other documents).
3. Cohort 2 program design, implementation and delivery: The following amounts shall be allocated for the design, implementation and delivery of the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 2:
   1. $12,380,000 (twelve million three hundred and eighty thousand dollars), paid as per section 4.3(b) or (c) as applicable, which funds are intended to be allocated as follows, though the Recipient may reallocate amounts between any of subsections (A) to (C) below as the Recipient sees fit:
      1. $3,750,000 (three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars) in funding to Not-For-Profits partners (as defined in Schedule A) for Eligible Expenditures;
      2. $300,000 (three hundred thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures to program participants to help support accessibility to the program.
      3. $8,330,000 (eight million three hundred and thirty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures which are required to set up and deliver activities in respect of Cohort 2 as specified in Schedule A, and for related Program Costs;
   2. Up to $1,150,000 (one million one hundred fifty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures, which shall be included in the payment under section 4.3(b), if applicable, to pay for the management and administration of the award for eligible Project Participants for Cohort 2, including to verify the eligibility of Project Participants and volunteer hours, and to disburse awards to eligible Project Participants (including the issuance of tax slips or other documents).
4. Program Costs for Project Participants in Supplementary Cohort: $10,500,000 (ten million five hundred thousand dollars), paid as per section 4.3(e), shall be allocated for the activities described in Schedule A in respect of the design, implementation and delivery of the Supplementary Cohort and the disbursement of cash awards to eligible Project Participants outside of Cohort 1 and Cohort 2. For greater certainty, payments by the Recipient of this amount to one or more affiliates referred to in section 18.4 to subcontract delivery of the activities in Schedule A associated with the Supplementary Cohort shall constitute Eligible Expenditures.

4.2 The Recipient may reallocate surplus funds without prior approval by Canada from activities specified in Schedule A between 4.1(b), (c) and (d) or to activities under 4.1(a). The Recipient will report reallocations under section 4.2 in the final report provided for in section 12.0.

4.3 Canada will pay the funding to the Recipient in the following series of payments:

1. one payment of $ 19,500,000 (nineteen million five hundred thousand dollars) upon the signature of this Agreement for expenditures under section 4.1(b);
2. unless either Party has given written notice before July 1, 2020 that it will not proceed with the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 2, one payment of $13,530,000 (thirteen million five hundred and thirty thousand dollars) on July 2, 2020, for expenditures under section 4.1(c);
3. if either Party has given notice prior to July 1, 2020 that it will not proceed with the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 2, one payment shall be made to reimburse the Recipient for all Eligible Expenditures related to Cohort 2 incurred up to the date of such notice, and all Eligible Expenditures related to Cohort 2 in respect of which the Recipient has, up to the date of notice, entered into binding commitments to pay to third parties, which amount shall be paid within ten (10) days of a delivery by the Recipient of a report setting out all Eligible Expenditures incurred in respect of Cohort 2 up to the date of notice;
4. one or more payments, with the last payment request to be submitted by the Recipient no later than September 23rd, 2020, to support awards to eligible Project Participants, up to an aggregate maximum of $500,000,000 (five hundred million dollars), with each payment to be paid to the Recipient in the amount requested by the Recipient within five (5) business days of the submission by the Recipient and acceptance by Canada of a request for payment, which shall include the requested payment amount as well as the anticipated number of awards to be covered by the payment along with the values of such awards. Total payments under this section 4.3(d) shall not exceed the maximum combined total amount identified in sections 4.1(a)(i), 4.1(a)(iii), and, if neither Party has given notice that it will not proceed with Cohort 2, section 4.1(a)(ii); and
5. for the administration of the Supplementary Cohort one payment of $10,500,000 (ten million five hundred thousand dollars) upon the signature of this Agreement for expenditures under section 4.1(d).

5.0 Conditions governing the eligibility of expenditures

5.1 To qualify as Eligible Expenditures, expenditures are subject to the following conditions:

1. subject to section 14.2, expenditures must be incurred during the Project Period;
2. expenditures must be reasonable;
3. the portion of the cost of any travel, meals and accommodation costs that exceeds the rates for public servants set out in the National Joint Council of Canada’s Travel Directive is not eligible;
4. the portion of hospitality costs that exceed the rates set out in Appendix B of Canada’s Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conferences and Event Expenditures, is not eligible;
5. the portion of the cost of any goods and services purchased by the Recipient for which the Recipient may claim a tax credit (other than an input tax credit as defined by the Excise Tax Act) or reimbursement is not eligible;
6. depreciation of capital assets is not eligible;
7. fines and penalties are not eligible; and
8. the cost of alcoholic beverages is not eligible.

For greater certainty, to the extent that staff of the Recipient, WE Charity, WEllbeing Foundation, or ME to WE Foundation of Canada perform duties or activities related to the Project, the Recipient may allocate a reasonable portion of their salary as an Eligible Expenditure and shall not be required to maintain timesheets in respect of such allocation.

6.0 Interest earned from advances

6.1 If the total interest earned by the Recipient on the advance payment provided by Canada, as set out in Section 4.0, is in excess of one hundred dollars ($100), the Recipient may use the earned interest for Eligible Expenditures to advance the projects set out in this Agreement. All interest earned in excess of one hundred ($100) remaining at the end of the Project Period will be subject to Section 19, and as such, shall be a debt due and owing to the Crown.

7.0 Recipient declarations

7.1 The Recipient declares that any person who has been lobbying on its behalf to obtain the contribution that is the subject of this Agreement was in compliance with the provisions of the Lobbying Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.)), as amended from time to time, at the time the lobbying occurred and that any such person to whom the aforementioned act applies has received, or will receive, no payment, directly or indirectly, from the Recipient that is in whole or in part contingent on obtaining this Agreement.

8.0 Project records

8.1 The Recipient shall keep proper books and records, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, of all expenditures, costs and revenues relating to this Agreement, including:

1. Agreement-related contracts and agreements;
2. All invoices, receipts, vouchers, electronic payment requisitions and records relating to Eligible Expenditures;
3. Bank records including bank statements and cancelled cheques; and,
4. Agreement-related activity, progress and evaluation reports and reports of agreement reviews or audits carried out for, by, or on behalf of the Recipient.

8.2 The Recipient shall retain the books and records referred to in section 8.1 for a period of six (6) years following the Project Period.

9.0 Obligations of the recipient regarding collection and protection of information

9.1 Personal information may be collected and used by the Recipient in carrying out the Project and to provide aggregate data to Canada as per section 10.0.

9.2 The Recipient is solely responsible for personal information collected as part of this Agreement and will take all security measures reasonably necessary for the protection of same against unauthorized release or disclosure, as required by law in the jurisdiction of operation.

9.3 The Recipient must notify ESDC as soon as possible in the event of a privacy breach. This notification is for information purposes and may be considered in relation to the overall management of this Agreement. The Recipient remains solely responsible for the management of the privacy breach.

9.4 For greater certainty, any personal information about identifiable individuals that is contained in the Recipient’s books and records may be excluded from disclosure or redacted as necessary to enable the Recipient to comply with its obligations under applicable law when providing Canada with copies of or access to the Recipient’s books and records under this Agreement.

10.0 Reporting

10.1 The Recipient will provide to Canada bi-weekly report on project data as outlined in Schedule A.

10.2 The Recipient will only share aggregated statistics with representatives of Canada. No personally identifiable information will be included in regular reports.

10.3 The Recipient shall ensure that Project Participants are still allowed to participate in the Project if they do not agree to share with the Recipient any of the information on which the Recipient is required to include in the aggregated project data reported to Canada under Schedule A.

11.0 Financial and activity monitoring

11.1 The Recipient shall also, upon request, provide representatives of Canada with copies and extracts of all Project-related books and records referred to in section 8.0 at all reasonable times on reasonable notice for the purpose of conducting financial and activity monitoring reviews of the Project.

12.0 Canada’s right to audit

12.1 During the Project Period and for a period of six (6) years thereafter, the Recipient shall, upon request, grant representatives of Canada access to the books and records referred to in section 8.0 for the purpose of conducting an audit to verify compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and verify expenses claimed by the Recipient as Eligible Expenditures. The Recipient shall permit Canada’s representative(s) to take copies and extracts from such accounts and records. The Recipient shall also provide Canada with such additional information as Canada may require with reference to such books and records.

13.0 Inquiry by the Auditor General of Canada

13.1 If, during the Project Period or within a period of six years thereafter, the Auditor General of Canada, in relation to an inquiry conducted under subsection 7.1(1) of the Auditor General Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-17), requests that the Recipient provide him or her with any records, documents or other information pertaining to the utilization of the funding provided under this Agreement, the Recipient shall provide the records, documents or other information within such period of time as may be reasonably requested in writing by the Auditor General of Canada.

14.0 Final report

14.1 The Recipient shall provide Canada with a final report as specified in Schedule A that summarizes the project scope and includes Eligible Expenditures, description of the results achieved, an explanation of any discrepancies between the results and the planned or expected results and also contains such other information as Canada may specify in writing to the Recipient as well as a summary of the reports provided under section 10. The Recipient shall provide Canada with the final report no later than ninety (90) days following the Project Period in a form and fashion acceptable by Canada.

14.2 The Recipient will provide to Canada their audited annual financial statement covering the Project Period. Where the Recipient’s annual audited financial statement does not provide sufficient project detail to satisfy Canada’s auditing requirements, Canada may request that an additional, more detailed audit be undertaken, and, the cost of preparing such report shall remain an Eligible Expenditure notwithstanding that it is incurred outside the Project Period.

15.0 Sub-agreements

15.1 The Recipient will establish its own service delivery structure to accomplish the Project’s objective by delegating its responsibilities for the delivery of some of its activities under this Agreement to Sub-Agreement Holders. The Recipient may authorize Sub-Agreement Holders to further sub-delegate responsibilities that have been delegated under a Sub-Agreement. Any persons to which such responsibilities are sub-delegated shall be made subject to the same obligations, mutatis mutandis, as apply to Sub-Agreement Holders.

15.2 Any Sub-Agreement with a Sub-Agreement Holder will include the necessary obligations, as specified in section 15.4, to allow the Recipient to fully report to and to provide Canada with information under the terms of this Agreement.

15.3 When the Recipient provides a portion of the funding provided by Canada to a Sub-Agreement Holder to carry out the Project, the Recipient must enter into a Sub-Agreement. The Sub-Agreement must respect the terms and conditions under which the Recipient is receiving the funding from Canada such that the Recipient is able to fulfill its obligations as set out in this Agreement, including reporting and evaluation obligations. The Sub-Agreement can only be entered into on or after the date of signature of this Agreement, but may be effective as of May 5, 2020.

15.4 The written Sub-Agreement referred to in section 15.3 shall include at a minimum:

1. the effective date, the date of signing and the duration of the Sub-Agreement;
2. a requirement for the Sub-Agreement Holder to repay to the Recipient the amount of any financial assistance provided under the Sub-Agreement to which it is not entitled. The Sub-Agreement should specify that amounts to which it is not entitled include the amount of any payments:
   1. made in error;
   2. made for costs in excess of the amount actually incurred for those costs; and
   3. that were used for costs that were not eligible under the Sub-Agreement;
3. to the extent that a Sub-Agreement Holder provides funding to a Not-for-Profit, a requirement that the Sub-Agreement Holder publicly disclose the name of the funded Not-for-profits and the amount of the funding provided to those Not-For-Profit;
4. a requirement for the Sub-Agreement Holder to notify the Recipient as soon as possible in the event of a privacy breach; and,
5. The disclaimer set out in section 16.

15.5 The Recipient must provide Canada with a copy of any Sub-Agreement that Canada requests within ten (10) business days. By submitting copies of a Sub-Agreement, the Recipient certifies and warrants that the Sub-Agreement complies with the requirements of this Agreement.

16.0 Canada’s disclaimer respecting sub-agreement holders

16.1 Nothing in this Agreement creates nor is to be interpreted, construed or held out as creating any role, responsibility, obligation or interest for or in Canada as it pertains to Sub-Agreements. Canada disclaims any and all responsibility, accountability and liability with respect to Sub-Agreements and the relationships between the Recipient and Sub-Agreement Holders.

17.0 Evaluation

17.1 The Recipient agrees to cooperate with Canada in the conduct of any evaluation of the Project and/or the Program that Canada may carry out during the Project Period or within a period of three years thereafter. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, if requested by Canada to do so for the purpose of conducting an evaluation, the Recipient agrees to:

1. participate in any survey, interview, case study or other data collection exercise initiated by Canada, and
2. subject to section 17.2, provide Canada with contact information of the Not-for-Profit Project partner organizations, if any, who participated in the Project.

17.2 The Recipient shall provide Canada with the contact information of a person (name, address, phone number and e-mail address) referred to in section 17.1(b) only if the person has given their written consent to the release of the information to Canada. The Recipient agrees to make all reasonable efforts to secure such consent during the Project Period. When providing a person’s contact information to Canada, the Recipient shall provide Canada with an accompanying written statement certifying that the person has given their consent to the sharing of their contact information with Canada.

18.0 Contracting procedures

Contracting

18.1 The Recipient shall use a fair and accountable process when procuring goods and services from contractors in relation to the Project. The Recipient shall select the bid or proposal offering a reasonable value.

Restrictions regarding non arms-length contracts

18.2 (1) Subject to section 18.4, and unless otherwise authorized in writing by Canada, all goods or services contracts, regardless of their value, entered into in relation to the Project between the Recipient and

1. an officer, director or employee of the Recipient,
2. a member of the immediate family of an officer, director or employee of the Recipient,
3. a business in which an officer, director or employee of the Recipient, or a member of their immediate family, has a financial interest, or
4. a business which is related to, or associated or affiliated (as these terms are defined in the Canada Business Corporations Act) with, the Recipient,

require the prior written approval of Canada. In any such contract, the Recipient shall ensure that Canada has a right of access to the relevant records of the supplying entity for the purpose of verifying, if necessary, the amount of the expenditure claimed by the Recipient in relation to a contract referred to in this subsection.

(2) In this section, “immediate family” means the father, mother, step-father, step-mother, brother, sister, spouse (including common law partner), child (including child of common law partner), step-child, ward, father in law, mother in law or relative permanently residing in the household of the officer, director or employee.

Restrictions regarding sub-contracting of Recipient duties or responsibilities

18.3 Subject to section 18.4, the Recipient shall not subcontract the performance of any of its duties or responsibilities in managing the Project to another party without the prior written consent of Canada unless the Recipient has already indicated in the approved Project Description attached as Schedule A to this Agreement that it intends to use a subcontractor or subcontractors to perform those duties or responsibilities.

Exception

18.4 Notwithstanding section 18.3 the above, the Recipient may enter into contracts to procure goods and services from, and may subcontract the performance of its duties and responsibilities in managing the Project to, WE Charity, WEllbeing Foundation or ME to WE Foundation of Canada without prior written approval by Canada. The Recipient anticipates that it will subcontract with WE Charity for the performance of some or all of its duties under this Agreement.

19.0 Repayment requirements

19.1 In the event payments made to the Recipient exceed the amount to which the Recipient is entitled under this Agreement, the amount of the excess is a debt due and owing to Canada and shall be promptly repaid to Canada upon receipt of notice to do so and within the period specified in the notice. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, amounts to which the Recipient is not entitled include:

1. the amount of any expenditures paid for with the contribution which are disallowed or determined to be ineligible; and
2. any amount paid in error or any amount paid in excess of the amount of the expenditure actually incurred.

19.2 Interest shall be charged on overdue repayments owing under section 19.1 in accordance with the Interest and Administrative Charges Regulations (SOR/96-188) (the “Regulations”) made pursuant to the Financial Administration Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-11). Interest is calculated and compounded monthly at the “average bank rate”, within the meaning of such expression as contained in the Regulations, plus three per cent (3%) during the period beginning on the due date specified in the notice to repay and ending on the day before the day on which payment is received by Canada.

19.3 The Recipient acknowledges that where an instrument tendered in payment or settlement of an amount due to Canada under section 19.1 is, for any reason, dishonoured, an administrative charge of $15 is payable by the Recipient to Canada in accordance with the Regulations.

20.0 Termination of the funding or agreement

Termination for default

20.1 (1) The following constitute Events of Default:

1. the Recipient becomes bankrupt, has a receiving order made against it, makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, takes the benefit of a statute relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors or an order is made or resolution passed for the winding up of the Recipient;
2. the Recipient ceases to operate;
3. the Recipient is in material breach of the performance of, or compliance with, any provision of this Agreement;
4. the Recipient, in support of its application for Canada’s contribution or in connection with this Agreement, has made materially false or misleading representations, statements or declarations, or provided materially false or misleading information to Canada; or
5. in the opinion of Canada, acting reasonably, there is a material adverse change in risk in the Recipient’s ability to complete the Project or to achieve the expected results of the Project set out in Schedule A.

(2) If

1. an Event of Default specified in section (1)(a) or (b) occurs, or
2. an Event of Default specified in sections (1)(c), (d) or (e) occurs and has not been remedied within thirty (30) days of receipt by the Recipient of written notice of default, or a plan satisfactory to Canada to remedy such Event of Default has not been put into place within such time period,

Canada may, in addition to any remedies otherwise available, immediately terminate the Agreement by written notice. Upon providing such notice of termination, Canada shall have no obligation to make any further contribution to the Recipient.

(3) In the event Canada gives the Recipient written notice of default pursuant to section (2)(b), Canada may suspend any further payment under this Agreement until the end of the period given to the Recipient to remedy the Event of Default.

(4) The fact that Canada refrains from exercising a remedy it is entitled to exercise under this Agreement shall not be considered to be a waiver of such right and, furthermore, partial or limited exercise of a right conferred upon Canada shall not prevent Canada in any way from later exercising any other right or remedy under this Agreement or other applicable law.

Termination for convenience

20.2 Canada may also terminate this Agreement at any time without cause upon not less than ninety (90) days written notice of intention to terminate.

Obligations relating to termination under section 20.2 and minimizing cancellation costs

20.3 In the event of a termination notice being given by Canada under section 20.2.

1. the Recipient shall make no further commitments in relation to the Project and shall cancel or otherwise reduce, to the extent possible, the amount of any outstanding commitments in relation thereto, and
2. all Eligible Expenditures incurred by the Recipient up to the date of termination, and all Eligible Expenditures in respect of which the Recipient has, up to the date of termination, entered into binding commitments to pay to third parties, will be paid by Canada, including the Recipient’s costs of, and incidental to, the cancellation of obligations incurred by it as a consequence of the termination of the Agreement; provided always that payment and reimbursement under this section shall only be made to the extent that the costs mentioned herein were actually incurred by the Recipient and the same are reasonable and properly attributable to the termination of the Agreement.

20.4 The Recipient shall negotiate all contracts related to the Project, including employment contracts with staff, on terms that will enable the Recipient to cancel same upon conditions and terms that will minimize to the extent possible their cancellation costs in the event of a termination of this Agreement. The Recipient shall cooperate with Canada and do everything reasonably within its power at all times to minimize and reduce the amount of Canada’s obligations under section 20.3 in the event of a termination of this Agreement.

21.0 Indemnification

21.1 The Recipient shall, both during and following the Project Period, indemnify and save Canada harmless from and against all claims, losses, damages, costs, expenses and other actions made, sustained, brought, threatened to be brought or prosecuted, in any manner based upon, occasioned by or attributable to any injury or death of a person, or loss or damage to property caused or alleged to be caused by any wilful or negligent act, omission or delay on the part of the Recipient or its employees or agents, Not-For-Profit partners (as defined in Schedule A) or Project Participants that are participating as part of Cohort 1 or Cohort 2, in connection with anything purported to be or required to be provided by or done by the Recipient pursuant to this Agreement or done otherwise in connection with the implementation of the Project.

21.2 The Recipient will include a provision in each Sub-Agreement requiring the Sub-Agreement Holder to indemnify and save harmless both the Recipient and Canada from each of the matters set out above, and to specifically permit Canada to directly claim indemnification from, and to assert a legal claim to enforce the indemnification against, the Sub-Agreement Holder.

22.0 Insurance

22.1 The Recipient shall arrange and maintain, during the Project Period, appropriate comprehensive general liability insurance coverage to cover claims for bodily injury or property damage resulting from anything done or omitted by the Recipient or its employees, agents or Project Participants, in carrying out the Project.

23.0 Relationship between the parties and non-liability of Canada

23.1 The management and supervision of the Project are the sole and absolute responsibility of the Recipient. The Recipient is not in any way authorized to make a promise, agreement or contract on behalf of Canada. This Agreement is a funding agreement only, not a contract for services or a contract of service or employment. Canada’s responsibility is limited to providing payments to the Recipient towards the Eligible Expenditures and otherwise in accordance with this Agreement. The parties hereto declare that nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as creating a partnership, an employer-employee, or agency relationship between them. The Recipient shall not represent itself as an agent, employee or partner of Canada.

23.2 Nothing in this Agreement creates any undertaking, commitment or obligation by Canada respecting additional or future funding of the Project beyond the Project Period, or that exceeds the maximum contribution specified in section 4.1. Canada shall not be liable for any loan, capital lease or other long-term obligation which the Recipient may enter into in relation to carrying out its responsibilities under this Agreement or for any obligation incurred by the Recipient toward another party in relation to the Project.

24.0 Conflict of interest

24.1 No current or former public servant or public office holder to whom the Conflict of Interest Act (S.C. 2006, c. 9, s. 2), the Policy on Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment or the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector applies shall derive a direct benefit from the Agreement unless the provision or receipt of such benefit is in compliance with the said legislation or codes.

24.2 No member of the Senate or the House of Commons shall be admitted to any share or part of the Agreement or to any benefit arising from it that is not otherwise available to the general public.

25.0 Informing canadians of the government of Canada’s contribution

25.1 The Recipient and Canada shall cooperate and consult in the communication and promotion of the CSSG and its components across all channels, which may include, but is not limited to social media, Internet, advertising, virtual events, and media relations.

25.2 The Recipient agrees that Canada may, for the purposes of advertising and promoting the CSSG and its components, reproduce, redistribute and otherwise make available to the public or any part of the public materials that they make available via social media or otherwise on the Internet. 

25.3 To support Canada's ongoing communications efforts to demonstrate the success of CSSG, the Recipient agrees to identify and provide contact information for CSSG student recipients and/or Not-for-profits willing to share their service story in writing, including photographs and/or in video format, provided that such student recipients and Not-for-profits have provided their written consent to the release of such information in the manner described in section 17.2.

25.4 If the Recipient documents the project or any activity funded under the Project using photographs, videos, audio recordings or written accounts, Canada may request to reproduce, distribute and further use any photograph, video, audio recording or written account or part thereof to promote, advertise and communicate the CSSG.

25.5 The Recipient will endeavour to provide Canada with all permissions, consents, releases and rights considered necessary by Canada for Canada to use the photograph, video, audio recording or written account or part thereof for the purposes set out in this section by signing the document provided by Canada for this purpose.

25.6 The Recipient must contact Canada fifteen (15) business days in advance to provide an opportunity for the Minister to participate in events, virtual or in person.

25.7 In addition to the text, the Recipient must include an approved quote from Canada in all releases that refer to funding sources for Project. The Recipient must contact Canada for the quote at least fifteen (15) business days in advance of issuing the release.

25.8 The Recipient may also provide a quote for any media release that Canada issues.

25.9 The Recipient must acknowledge, orally and/or in writing, Canada's funding contribution for any work which is produced under this Agreement. For written recognition the Recipient must use:

1. « [Recipient to insert name of Project] is funded by the Government of Canada under the Canada Student Service Grant», or,
2. any other statement provided to the Recipient by Canada.

26.0 Access to information

26.1 The Recipient acknowledges that Canada is subject to the Access to Information Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-1), and information obtained by Canada pertaining to this Agreement may be disclosed by Canada to the public upon request under the aforementioned act.

27.0 Proactive disclosure

27.1 The Recipient acknowledges that the name of the Recipient, the amount of the contributions and the general nature of the Project may be made publicly available by Canada in accordance with the Government of Canada’s commitment to proactively disclose the awarding of grants and contributions.

28.0 Disposition of capital assets

28.1 During the Project Period, the Recipient shall preserve any capital asset purchased by the Recipient with the funding provided by Canada and shall not dispose of it unless Canada authorizes its disposition.

28.2 At the end of the Project Period, to the extent that the total value of all Capital Assets purchased by the Recipient exceeds $200,000, Canada reserves the right to direct the Recipient to dispose of any capital asset purchased by the Recipient with the funding provided by Canada by:

1. selling it at fair market value or otherwise for an amount reasonably obtainable or realizable in the circumstances and applying the funds realized from such sale to offset Canada’s funding of the Eligible Expenditures;
2. turning it over to another organization or to an individual designated or approved by Canada; or
3. disposing of it in such other manner as may be determined by Canada.

28.3 Where Canada elects to exercise its right under section 28.2, the Recipient agrees to comply with the related direction provided by Canada.

28.4 For the purposes of section 28.0, “capital asset” means any single item, or a collection of items which form one identifiable functional unit, that is not physically incorporated into another product or not fully consumed by the end of the Project, and has a purchase or lease value of more than $1,000 (before taxes).

29.0 Intellectual property

29.1 Where in the course of carrying out the Project, the Recipient produces any work using funds provided by Canada, the copyright in the work shall vest in the Recipient. However, the Recipient hereby grants to Canada a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty free license to use, translate, adapt, record by any means or reproduce, except for commercial sale in competition with the Recipient, any such work which is produced by the Recipient.

29.2 The license granted under section 29.1 shall be for the duration of the copyright and shall include:

1. the right to sub-license the use of the work to any contractor engaged by Canada solely for the purpose of performing contracts with Canada, and
2. the right to distribute the work outside the Department of Employment and Social Development as long as the distribution does not undermine any commercial use of the work intended by the Recipient.

29.3 The Recipient agrees to execute any acknowledgements, agreements, assurances or other documents reasonably deemed necessary by Canada to establish or confirm the license granted under section 29.1.

29.4 Additionally, with respect to any work licensed under section 29.1, the Recipient:

1. warrants that the work shall not infringe on the copyrights of others,
2. agrees to indemnify and save harmless Canada from all costs, expenses and damages arising from any breach of any such warranty, and
3. shall include an acknowledgment, in a manner satisfactory to Canada, on any work which is produced by it with funds contributed by Canada under this Agreement, acknowledging that the work was produced with funds contributed by Canada and identifying the Recipient as being solely responsible for the content of such work.

29.5 The Recipient shall include in the final report for the Project, that the Recipient is required to submit to Canada under the terms of this Agreement, a copy of any work licensed under section 29.1.

30.0 Notices

30.1 Any notices to be given and all reports, information, correspondence and other documents to be provided by either party under this Agreement shall be given or provided by personal delivery, courier service, or email at the postal address, fax number or email address, as the case may be, of the receiving party as shown in Schedule A. If there is any change to the email address or contact person of a party, the party concerned shall notify the other in writing of the change as soon as possible.

30.2 Notices, reports, information, correspondence and other documents that are delivered personally or by courier service shall be deemed to have been received upon delivery, or in the case of notices and documents sent by email, one (1) working day after they are sent.

31.0 Assignment of the agreement

31.1 The Recipient shall not assign this Agreement or any part thereof without the prior written consent of Canada.

32.0 Successors and assigns

32.1 This Agreement is binding upon and enure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors and assigns.

33.0 Compliance with laws

33.1 The Recipient shall carry out the Project in compliance with all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws, by-laws and regulations, including any environmental legislation and legislation related to protection of information and privacy. The Recipient shall obtain, prior to the commencement of the Project, all permits, licenses, consents and other authorizations that are necessary to the carrying out of the Project.

34.0 Applicable law

34.1 This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the applicable laws of the province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.

35.0 Amendment

35.1 This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent of the parties, as required. To be valid, any amendment to this Agreement shall be in writing and signed by the parties.

36.0 Force majeure

36.1 During the occurrence of an event of Force Majeure, the obligations of the Party affected by such event of Force Majeure, to the extent that such obligations cannot be performed as a result of such event of Force Majeure, shall be suspended, and such Party shall not be considered to be in breach or default hereunder, for the period of such occurrence. The suspension of performance of the activities or deliverables contemplated by this Agreement or a part thereof shall be of no greater scope and of no longer duration than is reasonably required by the Force Majeure condition.

36.2 The non-performing Party shall give the other Party prompt written Notice of the particulars of the event of Force Majeure and its expected duration, shall continue to furnish reasonable reports with respect thereto on a timely basis during the continuance of the event of Force Majeure and shall use its reasonable commercial efforts to remedy its inability to perform.

36.3 Notwithstanding sections 36.1 and 36.2 and the definition of the term “Force Majeure” at section 1.0, the Parties agree that COVID-19’s impacts within Canada as of the date of signing of this Agreement do not constitute an event of Force Majeure for the purposes of this Agreement. However, the Parties also agree that COVID-19’s impacts may possibly become an event of Force Majeure for the purposes of this Agreement if circumstances were to change significantly. In the event that either Canada or the Recipient decide that COVID-19’s impacts may constitute an event of Force Majeure because of a significant change in circumstances, they shall so notify the other Party immediately and the Parties will negotiate in good faith to determine whether the change in circumstances resulted in an event of Force Majeure and what options are available to ensure the performance of the obligations of the Parties.

37.0 Official languages

37.1 Where the Project is to be delivered to members of either language community, the Recipient shall:

1. make Project-related documentation and announcements (for the public and prospective Project Participants, if any) in both official languages where applicable;
2. actively offer and provide in both official languages any Project-related services to be provided or made available to members of the public, where applicable; and,
3. organize activities and provide its services, where appropriate, in such a manner as to address the needs of both official language communities.

38.0 Counterparts

38.1 This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but both of which taken together shall constitute one and the same agreement. The exchange of copies of this Agreement and of signature pages by facsimile or electronic transmission shall constitute effective execution and delivery of this Agreement as to the parties and may be used in lieu of the original Agreement for all purposes. Signatures of the parties transmitted by facsimile or electronic transmission shall be deemed to be their original signatures for all purposes.

39.0 Project participant eligibility

39.1 In determining Project Participant eligibility, the Recipient shall be entitled to rely upon information submitted by Project Participants or ESDC. The Recipient shall include a requirement that applicants declare their eligibility and may require the submission of supporting documentation that they determine necessary but will not be required to verify or validate such information and is not liable for any statements or information provided by a Project Participant that are untrue.

Signatures

Signed this ___ day of ___, ____

For the Recipient, by the following authorized officer(s):

Signed this ___ day of ___, ____

For Canada, by the following authorized officer:

Schedule A - Project description

Name of recipient
WE Charity
Project title
Project title

Objectives

WE Charity Foundation of Canada (WE) will administer cash awards and develop volunteer opportunities, in collaboration with other not-for-profit (NFP) organizations, for the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG), a new national initiative that recognizes the voluntary contributions of students to the community response to COVID-19. Through this project, students will gain valuable skills and experience and be recognized for their volunteer efforts with financial awards to help pay for their post-secondary education.

Definitions: In this Schedule A, in addition to the defined terms in the Agreement, the following definitions will apply:

1. “Core Program” has the meaning set out below and applies to Cohort 1 and Cohort 2;
2. “IWTH Platform” means the “I Want To Help” online platform managed by the Government of Canada;
3. “non-WE volunteer service opportunity” means a volunteer service opportunity generated by a Not-for-Profit and posted to the IWTH Platform as part of the Supplementary CSSG Program;
4. “Not-for-Profit partner” means a Not-for-Profit that has entered into an agreement with WE to offer volunteer service opportunities as part of the Core Program;
5. “student” means an individual that meets the “Eligibility of Students” or the “Eligibility of Students Receiving Other Income Benefits” criteria under the “CSSG Eligible Criteria” set out below;
6. “Supplementary CSSG Program” has the meaning set out below and applies to the Supplementary Cohort;
7. “volunteer service opportunity” means an individual volunteer position under the Core Program or the Supplementary CSSG Program that meets the “Eligibility Criteria for Volunteer Service Opportunities” set out below;
8. “WE Platform” means a white label online platform to be managed by WE to administer volunteer service opportunities as part of the Core Program;
9. “WE service opportunities” means volunteer service opportunities offered as part of the Core Program.

The project will consist of:

• 1) Core Program (0-40,000 volunteer service opportunities):
  • Up to 40,000 volunteer service opportunities (including Cohort 1 and, if not aborted, Cohort 2) made available for students by WE directly and by Not-for-Profit partners, of which a minimum of 10,000 volunteer service opportunities will be provided by WE to the extent that sufficient volunteer service opportunities cannot be offered through Not-for-Profit partners;
  • On-boarding, training, coaching of up to 40,000 student volunteers across Canada;
  • Posting eligible volunteer opportunities in bilingual format to the IWTH platform;
  • The disbursement of the CSSG cash award to up to 40,000 eligible students who have submitted validated volunteer service hours.
• 2) Supplementary CSSG Program (up to 60,000 student participants):
  • Facilitating the posting of additional non-WE volunteer service opportunities for students generated by Not-for-Profits who proactively reach out and would like to be part of the program on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform or through Canada. WE will not be responsible for recruiting such volunteer service opportunities, but will be responsible for ensuring such proposed volunteer service opportunities meet the eligibility criteria and are in bilingual format before they are posted;
  • Providing registration and enrollment support for non-core student participants to access the CSSG;
  • Collecting information from students to confirm eligibility for the CSSG cash award (via student card and additional verification if required), and collecting and storing payment information for eligible students;
  • The disbursement of the CSSG cash award to students who have submitted validated volunteer service hours.
• The specific objectives of the project are to:
  • Place up to 40,000 students in WE volunteer service opportunities across Canada, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups and official language minority communities (OLMC), through the ‘I Want to Help’ platform;
  • Facilitate the posting of additional non-WE volunteer service opportunities for students on the IWTH Platform, including registration and enrollment support for the non-core students to access the cash award generated by Not-for-Profits who proactively reach out and would like to be part of the program beyond Cohort 1 and, if applicable, Cohort 2;
  • Disburse the CSSG cash award to up to 100,000 Project Participants (including from Cohort 1, Cohort 2 and the Supplementary Cohort) who have submitted validated volunteer service hours;
  • Increase skills development for students; and
  • Increase the civic engagement and contributions of students in their communities in response to COVID-19.

Activities

Ongoing from May to September 2020

• Validate and post volunteer service opportunities in bilingual format from Not-for-Profits partners and other Not-for-Profits through web-based input module and electronic feed to ESDC’s ‘I Want to Help’ platform;
• Promote the program and the CSSG, including through digital and social channels;
• Register and match students from Cohort 1 and, if applicable, Cohort 2 to WE volunteer service opportunities;
• Register all students interested in applying for the CSSG cash award; 
• Provide bilingual supports to Not-for-Profit partners to ensure they have the capacity to train and safely onboard volunteers to WE service opportunities;
• Provide bilingual supports, youth skills training, and COVID-19 training to volunteers in WE service opportunities;
• Monitor program roll-out between WE and Not-for-Profit partners;
• Monitor WE service opportunities to ensure they continue to meet criteria;
• Provide bi-weekly reports to ESDC on all students registered in service opportunities and all students who register for the CSSG, with the following indicators as available:
  • estimated volunteer service hours completed;
  • first three digits of the student’s postal code;
  • number of students per birth year;
  • number of students who identify as first language English or French;
  • number of students who identify as male, female, or other;
  • number of students who identify as LGBTQ2+;
  • number of students who identify as a visible minority or racialized;
  • number of students who identify as having a disability;
  • number of students who identify as Indigenous, and whether they identify as: registered, on-reserve, off-reserve, non-status, Métis, and/or Inuit;
  • number of students who are newcomers to Canada (person who has left another country to settle in Canada within the last 5 years); and
  • number of students by their highest level of education completed, i.e. elementary, secondary, or post-secondary (college or CEGEP or university).
• NB: WE is only accountable to seek broad and diverse participation (as measured by the above indicators of success) in respect of Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 and is not accountable for the composition of the Supplementary Cohort for which WE will not engage in active recruitment.
• Collect information on all students to confirm eligibility (via student card and additional verification if required); and
• Collect and store payment information for students and disburse one-time CSSG cash awards, as per the directives below, to all Project Participants based on their validated service hours.

May 2020

• Map out administrative needs, capturing of financial data and payment processes for the management and disbursement of the CSSG; 
• Develop overall expenses tracking process; and
• Develop website, online registration and backend learning system for Project Participants.

June 2020

• Engage and sign agreements with a minimum of 50 Not-for-Profits, ensuring a diversity of partners across Canada that include those serving youth from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• Collaborate with Not-for-Profit partners to develop the basis for WE volunteer service opportunities for students, ensuring up to 10,000 service opportunities through WE charitable entities and up to another 10,000 service opportunities through Not-for-Profit partners;
• Develop a bilingual training program and resources for youth skills development;
• Develop processes and tools to implement and distribute the CSSG cash award to all Project Participants, including processes to validate service hours;
• Establish a bilingual support centre to provide information on program and CSSG eligibility to all Project Participants;
• Develop and provide bilingual supports to volunteers in WE opportunities to ensure inclusivity for a diversity of students, including alternative participation methods for those without technology;
• Launch a bilingual online WE Platform to register and intake volunteers for WE opportunities;
• Promote the launch of the program and the CSSG through an integrated bilingual marketing campaign across WE’s owned channels and paid media;
• Engage up to 15,000 total volunteers by July 7 (up to 10,000 with WE directly and a minimum of 5,000 with Not-for-Profit partners);
• Post sufficient volunteer service opportunities on the IWTH Platform to facilitate minimum participation within two weeks of the signature of this Agreement; and
• Organize official public announcement and launch of the Project.

July to August 2020

• Host a virtual national launch event for all Project Participants and Not-for-profit partners to promote and amplify the program and its anticipated social impact through the profiling of select volunteer service opportunities and special guests and speakers;
• Launch and test a bilingual CSSG registration portal for Project Participants to apply for the cash award;
• Enhance promotional efforts and storytelling of impacts achieved by Cohort 1;
• Continue outreach and engagement of students, particularly those from vulnerable populations;
• Launch Cohort 2, if not aborted, and develop up to an additional 20,000 WE volunteer service opportunities; and
• Engage up to 25,000 total volunteers by August 8 (up to 10,000 with WE directly and a minimum of 15,000 with Not-for-profit partners);

September to November 2020

• Support the wind down of WE volunteer service opportunities;
• Support the wind down of volunteer service placements and final activities by Project Participants;
• Host optional regional virtual summer-end celebrations (Western Canada, the Prairies, Ontario, and Quebec and Atlantic Canada) for Not-for-Profit partners and volunteers in WE service opportunities to celebrate their collective social impact, which will profile selected volunteers and include special guests and speakers;
• Follow up with Not-for-Profit partners for feedback, results, outcomes and lessons learned;
• Ensure any relevant accreditation is provided to all Project Participants for their validated volunteer service hours;
• Obtain, prepare and provide letters of reference for Project Participants as requested;
• Complete the disbursement of CSSG cash awards to Project Participants based on their validated completed volunteer service hours within the service standard of 60 days after payment is received from Canada for awards, subject to delays necessary to process or validate incomplete and problematic applications; 
• Process remaining payments for Not-for-Profit partners;
• Budget management, tracking and reconciliation.

December 2020 to April 2021

• Complete project wrap-up activities, including but not limited to follow-ups with Not-for-profit partners, any dissemination of project results, final data collection, and final financial information, etc.;
• Provide additional reporting and support to Not-for-profit partners to ensure their most up-to-date information is on the IWTH Opportunities Uploader;
• Final engagement with Not-for-profit partners and debrief of project activities and deliverables;
• Follow up with volunteers in WE service opportunities, with optional ongoing basic mentorship focused on areas of skill development and training;
• Optional low-touch ongoing support to volunteers in WE service opportunities on volunteer engagement and training;
• Storytelling and amplification of the impact of completed volunteer service opportunities;
• Issue tax receipts to all Project Participants who received the CSSG cash award;
• Direct in-bound Not-for-profit partner leads to the IWTH Platform;
• Conduct simple end of year survey with Not-for-Profit partners and a select sample of Project Participants;
• Reconcile expenses, close books and prepare for end of Project financial reporting;
• Ongoing website maintenance and handling of in-bound questions from Project Participants and Not-for-Profit partners;
• Prepare report on lessons learned and suggestions and deliver to ESDC;
• Compile social media and PR assets compendium and deliver to ESDC; and
• Deliver final report to ESDC.

Disbursement of the CSSG cash award

• Applicants from the Core Program and the Supplementary CSSG Program must register on the WE created platform by the deadline of August 8, 2020 in order to be eligible to receive the cash award.
• Cash awards will be paid in a lump sum amount based on the number of validated volunteer service hours that an applicant has completed between the launch of the program and September 15, 2020.
• Applicants may only apply for and receive the cash award once.
• The amounts for five levels of awards are as follows:
  • 100 hours for $1,000.
  • 200 hours for $2,000.
  • 300 hours for $3,000.
  • 400 hours for $4,000.
  • 500 hours for $5,000.
• Applicants must reach the minimum number of hours for each threshold, e.g. an applicant who submits 270 hours is only eligible to receive the $2,000 level award.
• Cash awards will be disbursed within 60 days of receipt of payment from Canada, unless demand is reported to exceed 100,000 applicants, and subject to delays necessary to process or validate incomplete and problematic applications.

Expected results

Outputs

• Up to 40,000 students engaged across Canada, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• Up to 40,000 eligible WE volunteer service opportunities across Canada are posted on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform for students, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• A broad range of Not-for-Profit across Canada have provided eligible volunteer service opportunities on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform, including those serving youth from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• CSSG cash awards are disbursed to up to 100,000 Project Participants within 60 days of receipt of payment from Canada, subject to delays necessary to process or validate incomplete and problematic applications, to recognize their validated volunteer hours towards the COVID-19 response and provide financial support towards post-secondary studies;
• A bilingual online platform to register and intake Project Participants;
• A bilingual online platform to register and intake CSSG applicants;
• Bilingual resources, including onboarding and training materials, for Not-for-Profit partners and volunteers in WE service opportunities;
• A bilingual support centre to provide information on program and CSSG eligibility to all Project Participants;
• Bi-weekly reports with the agreed-upon indicators; and
• A final report, including audited financial statement as required by section 14.2 of the Agreement.

Outcomes

Students from diverse backgrounds and regions across Canada:

• successfully contribute to the community response to COVID-19;
• are recognized for their voluntary service to the COVID-19 response;
• receive financial support towards their post-secondary studies;
• gain valuable experience and skills development that will benefit their transition into the labour market; and
• increase their civic engagement and contributions in their communities.

CSSG eligibility criteria

Eligibility of students

1. To be considered an eligible student, a person must:

• be enrolled and attending post-secondary education (PSE) during the spring/summer 2020 and/or September 2020; or
• have graduated from PSE no earlier than December 2019; and
• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, registered Indian, or have refugee status.

2. Domicile:

• International students are not eligible.
• Canadian students who study abroad but are currently residing in Canada, and do their volunteer hours in Canada, are eligible.

3. No age restriction:

• All students who meet the eligibility criteria will receive the cash award.

4. Post-secondary education includes:

• part-time or full-time study over a period of at least twelve weeks which must be in pursuit of a degree, diploma or certificate at an accredited institution. Accredited institutions are universities, colleges and Indigenous learning institutions accredited by the province or territory in which they are located.

Eligibility of students receiving other income benefits

1. The following students are eligible:

• those receiving the Canada Emergency Student Benefit;
• those who are employed; and
• those receiving a stipend under the Canada Service Corps (CSC) micro-grant stream.

2. The following students are ineligible:

• Students who are receiving, or who have received at any time, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), are not eligible to receive the CSSG. Students will be required to attest that they are have at no time been in receipt of the CERB. 

Eligibility criteria for volunteer service opportunities

1. Eligible organizations:

• An eligible volunteer service opportunity must be with a Not-For-Profit, which includes non-profits and registered charities.

2. Eligible opportunities must:

• take place in Canada;
• be in support of Canada’s response to COVID-19;
• be a minimum of two hours a week for four weeks and run within the period from the official date of program launch until September 15th, 2020;
• adhere to public health regulations; and
• provide a meaningful experience for student volunteers.

3. Canada Service Corps participants:

• Those in a CSC placement or using a CSC micro-grant to lead a service project can count their volunteer hours towards the CSSG cash award.

4. Ineligible opportunities:

• Those used for lobbying, advocacy or that provide financial benefits to an organization or its members; and
• Those used as a way to replace a position where a person was previously paid, or, where a person would reasonably expect to be paid.

5. Ineligible organizations:

• For-profit organizations are not eligible to post opportunities on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform. 

Signatures:

Emails

Louise Bowles - Email #1

Bowles, Louise

Hi,

For awareness, please see below summaries of today’s Ethics Committee appearances from Mala. 

Thanks

ETHI Aug 10 Summary - 2nd Final Panel

Louise Bowles - Email #2

Bowles, Louise

From: Shannon, Tara
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2020 1:43 PM
To: Shugart, Ian <Ian.Shugart@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Cc: Bowles, Louise <Louise.Bowles@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Subject: RE: FINA Motion 2020-07-07 FIinance Final_E.pdf

Oops, tablet crashed and sent before I finished the list:

• Page 45 – Grant noted to have ‘potential to be marquee measure’ (April 18).
• Page 50- end of an April 18 exchange with Finance mino noting that ESDC is suggesting WE (April 18 is the date of the meeting between officials where both Rachel and MK noted WE was discussed, this meeting was part of ESDC and Finance undertakings).
• Page 96 – MK to Finance Mino (Amit, Elder and others): “Thank you v. much for keeping the relationship with WE strong...”.
• Page 98 – MK to Chris Fox noting ’20,000 kids now!...”.
• 159 – An April 22 9 am exchange between Mino Finance and WE (forwarded later to MK) that says “Thank you so much for all your help and guidance throughout this process, you’ve been most helpful.” And attaches the revised proposal that is seen to have become the grant.
• 193 – Finance mino to MK noting that the Minister is concerned that without Finance lead ‘the government will drop the ball’, asks for the final framework by May 8.
• 225 – May 7 exchange between Rachel and MK where MK refers to ‘they are all besties’. Another part of the exchange notes that the administration will cost more than anticipate and the comment is ‘Money. Meh no problem’.

From: Shannon, Tara
Sent: Monday, August 10, 2020 1:28 PM
To: Shugart, Ian <Ian.Shugart@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Cc: Bowles, Louise <Louise.Bowles@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Subject: FINA Motion 2020-07-07 Finance Final_E.pdf

The Finance motion package is attached. I understand you would like to read the emails. On those, I would call your particular attention to:

• Page 45 – Grant noted to have ‘potential to be marquee measure’ (April 18)
• Page 96 -

Finance Canada emails

Yes please – a quiet reach out would be appreciated

Is it okay if we reach out to WE

Sent by MK ’s sassy smartphone
[ * ]

Simpson, Maggie (FIN)

I have not reached out yet

Sent from my iPhone

On April 19, 2020, at 12:26 PM, Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca> wrote:

[ * ]

Canada Student Experience Grant

• We are doing a map of stacking and eligibility. Restricting access to students who want to provide national service – even if it is over and above their full time work – is perverse. That is counter to the spirit of national service. Hey, if you work, don’t bother volunteering?

---

---

Hey Michelle,

Connecting you with Sophia. We spoke today on the CSSG and work ahead of us on the national service file. As well as the 20k positions both of us have talked about through WE to help launch this initiative. Hoping you can set up sometime before the end of the week to quickly touch base.

Thanks

Amitpal Singh
Policy Advisor
Office of the Minister of Finance
(C) [ * ]

Begin forwarded message :

Policy Advisor
Office of the Minister of Finance
(c) [ * ]

---

Hi Michelle and Rachel,

I hope you were able to find a little bit of time to rest and reconnect with loved ones this weekend.

I wanted to thank you so much for having taken time out of your super busy schedules to connect with Craig and I last week.  

As discussed over the phone, I would love to know what would be the appropriate next steps for us to continue the conversation. If easier, I’m happy to connect over the phone any time.

Thank you kindly,
Sofia

339 Queen St E, Toronto, ON M5A 1S9 - WE.org

Confidential: This email (including any attachments) is private, confidential and meant only for the addressee(s).
Unauthorized use or disclosure of this message is not permitted. If you gained access to this message in error or without WE’s authorization, please permanently delete the message and notify us right away. Thank you.

---

Rachel

From: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Sent: May 7, 2020 1:31 PM
To: Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject : heyo

good presentation at cabinet committee the other day, including the explanation of the. we english only website. i got that q several times.   

WE is connecting with my mino (they are all besties). – i don’t want my guys to get ahead of you and have told them that they should tell WE that you are canada’s point of contact.     

that said – have you started any nitty gritty convos with them yet (my guess is that this is why they are calling. anxious for a commitment of sorts)

thanks rachel!
MK
Sent by MK ’s sassy smartphone
[ * ] 

Basic rules for Contribution Agreements

• Contribution Agreements are governed by the Treasury Board Directive on Transfer Payments, which among other things requires an agreement needs to include the Minister’s right to undertake an audit (a recipient based audit). Treasury Board has published guidelines for recipient based audits, which notes that the level of monitoring is to increase proportionally with the importance or sensitivity, complexity and materiality of the program, the value of funding, and the risk profile of the recipient.
• Contribution Agreements also stipulate performance reporting and audit requirements. Recipients are responsible for ensuring that projects adhere to timelines, including milestone deliverables, which may be assessed by departments. Departments may audit agreements at varying junctures, including upon completion, to ensure that the program/service upholds the terms of the agreement.
• While there is not a central template for a contribution agreement, departments generally follow their own template that meets the requirement of the transfer payment directive.
• Contribution Agreements must be consistent with the terms and conditions for the program under which it is being finalized. Terms and conditions are approved by Treasury Board, although Ministers can from time to time make minor amendments to their terms and conditions without requiring additional approval.
• A contribution agreement must be in place before any funding can flow to a recipient.

PCO due diligence

• PCO undertakes a number of measures to ensure that Cabinet proposals receive thorough vetting.  
• Generally (though this has shifted during COVID), proposals must be submitted four weeks in advance of a Cabinet date to provide sufficient time to undertake thorough due diligence.
• Sectors within PCO analyze proposals and assess financial, legal, reporting, machinery of government, and intergovernmental considerations. Ongoing engagement between PCO and departmental officials provides an opportunity to engage the relevant parties and to directly scrutinize a given proposal.
• Meetings between PCO, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Department of Finance, Treasury Board, and respective departments, which include officials and political staff, occur where necessary to assess the development of proposals from early stages through implementation. PCO provides meeting notes for participants to ensure cohesion and a common understanding of the outcomes, further objectives, and next steps.
• In managing the Cabinet agenda, PCO determines the readiness of a proposal for discussion amongst Ministers, and item may be postponed until outstanding concerns are addressed.
• When items are finally presented to Cabinet/Committees, PCO provides an analysis of the overall merits of a proposal to inform the meeting chairperson. Following Cabinet/Committee discussion, PCO accurately documents Ministers’ decisions and communicates this to departments, identifying any amendments required.

---

Paul/Eider,

This issue is clearly going to be hot this week. We need to have a real brainstorming on ideas. We probably need a suite of measures, to deal with the scale of the problem (some reasonable proportion of the 1.6 million post-secondary students). Some starting thoughts: 

• A program from Agriculture to come up with an approach for students to take over TFW spots. Need to recognize the lack of knowledge, the challenging nature of the work, the travel (and therefore lodging issue) and the pay scales.
• A program from the grocery store association for students that want to work in their sector – maybe coordinate this through ISED.
• A program from ESDC to develop a Canada Student COVID Response Effort. This probably needs multiple branches: a testing group, which could employ tens of thousands if we have the testing capabilities; a door to door information campaign, making sure that people have information (yes, standing six feet away from the door); a sanitation group that will be focused on sanitation of public spaces, which could employ tens of thousands; a call centre approach for navigation of information needs, possibly through CRA or ESDC; etc.  
• A program enabling students to provide support to families with children, like a child care child activities program, delivered in the home or hopefully outside the home, once quarantine efforts are over, by students who have been tested negative.
• For students with a medical/nursing/science focus, develop a program to have them involved on the delivery of health care in hospitals, nursing care centres, old age homes, etc.
• A program paying students to continue their studies during the spring and summer term, in an accredited college or university. This has the advantage of also helping colleges and universities. This could be an important catch all, and keep hundreds of thousands of students ‘working’ on their studies.

I am sure a team of people will come up with many other potentially better ideas. We need to be on this today. 

Thanks

Sent from my iphone

---

I am hearing that a student announcement might be tomorrow!!! Saturday at the latest. My mino says you guys are briefing Min Q imminently (see the intel we have!) You want to set up a meeting afterward?

Sent by MK ’s laptop, which is home alone doing its part to flatten the COVID-19 curve.
Assistant Deputy Minister
Finance Canada
[ * ] (portable)
613-369-9572 (office)

---- Original message ----
From: rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 16, 2020 9:55 AM
To: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>; benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
Subject: RE: Cda Service Corps proposal

I think it would be good to have a call, its amazing how insight from you can clear up so much telephone game versions of what is desired. So we have split the youth world into two buckets – paid jobs-employment – which we have looked at all our programs and how to squeeze more out of them in the near term. I don’t think youth are willing to do jobs for free more than any other age group. [ * ]

The other bucket is service – volunteering. So we are also trying to squeeze what we can out of CSC on service – but service as defined under that program is more intense than a couple of hours of ad hoc volunteering. I do think there is potential to get more youth helping out in communities, but it comes down to helping them understand what help is needed and how to get involved, that’s why the web based matching service using job bank supported by some big promotion might be the way to go – it could perhaps leverage WE social media following to direct youth to the site where they can sign up to help out.

--- Original Message ---
From: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Sent: April 16, 2020 9:40 AM
To: Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>; Robidoux, Benoît B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: RE: Cda Service Corps proposal

V helpful, Rachel
I think you guys know best. If Volunteer Canada is a low capacity outfit – absolutely let’s not do it. The PM wants to connect students to ways to help the economy in these unique times. Obviously a sustained type of volunteering for which we could offer a tuition waiver is better than one-offs. but I think we propose what makes sense and what is reasonable. 
We take your advice and lead on this entirely. 

If there is something with WE that is doable, propose it. If it is one-off volunteer opportunities, so be it.

It might be that if a student can demonstrate that they volunteered xx hours over the summer from a variety of things, the tuition waiver will be there for them.

On the compensation – gift cards and grocery vouchers is not at all where these guys are at. You will get thrown off the island for mentioning it. They want to incent students to volunteer, provide service and give big treats (tuition help). I see no way of getting out of the tuition waiver. Just suspend your big brain and your twisted guts – we at least will need to look and see what is doable. Though that is on a slower track – we have a little time for suss that out. Everything else is in the queue for a weekend announcement. (I know, I know)     

Is it helpful to have a call today? We absolutely need to put a note up by end of day. Morneau and PMO have leaned in heavily – and their expectations are that Qualtrough and Chagger a part of the proposal/frame.     

Sorry to sound like a hag – this is the reality!  

Sent by MK ’s laptop, which is home alone doing its part to flatten the COVID-19 curve
Assistant Deputy Minister
Finance Canada
[ * ] (portable)
613-369-9572 (office)

---- Original Message ----
From: rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 16, 2020 9:22 AM
To: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>; benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca
Subject: RE: Cda Service Corps proposal

Good morning,

Good to know what people are thinking. So here’s a bit of background on these organizations and proposals

TiG – we can go back to them and push on what more they could do. Need to be realistic though, they are a 20 person nfp, their staff help the youth with their applications for projects, they rely on partners to do some outreach in communities, and many of those partners are closed right now. The microgrants are mini projects proposals with other youth, it’s not just a quick volunteering opportunity, eg showing up to pack groceries.  

My sense from the interest in Volunteer Cda is that the real interest here is connecting youth with one-off volunteering activities that help out in the current context. But, and it’s a big but, please do not think Volunteer Canada is the organization to use. We stopped funding them under CSC because they could not deliver. The have very low technological capacity and poor geographic coverage. Please don’t send us back there! I have asked my Job Bank team to come back to me with a proposal. Remember Job Bank as an underlying capability. The branding / skinning of the website can be adjusted. Dedicated webpages can be posted, We could have a « Help Out in your community » landing page that had the matching architecture behind it.

WE has big scope and scale, huge social media following, we are reaching out to them to see potential. 

If you can help me understand exactly what problem we are trying to fix, which I think is matching youth to volunteering in their communities (which is not the same as service projects under CSC) we can get you better options. I think the tuition voucher is barking up the wrong tree. But the businesses or organizations offering the volunteering could have gift cards for low income youth – it is what they always ask for – grocery and internet gift cards.  

Hope this helps,
Rachel

---- Original Message ----
From: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Sent: April 15, 2020 10:10 PM
To: Robidoux, Benoît B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Cc : Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: RE: Cda Service Corps proposal

https://volunteer.ca/index.php?MenultemID=355

I think this is what my mino might be looking at.
If not this, maybe we do a call to action linked to that darn tuition credit. Maybe we could flow funding through the SDPP program that the NFP money is using (still you guys!) to fund a campaign with key charitable and NFP orgs to an org like Volunteer Canada.

Sent by MK ’s laptop, which is home alone doing its part to flatten the COVID-19 curve
Assistant Deputy Minister
Finance Canada
[ * ] (portable)
613-369-9572 (office)

---- Original Message ----
From: benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 15, 2020 10:02 PM
To: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Cc: Wernick, Rachel (Ext.) <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: RE: Cda Service Corps proposal

Rachel, how much can we scale that up? 

Benoît Robidoux
Associate Deputy Minister
Employment and Social Development Canada
140 Promenade du Portage, Gatineau, Québec
Tel. : (819) 654-5597 <tel: (819) 654-5597> benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>

On April 15, 2020 at 9:46 PM, Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michèlle.kovacevic@canada.ca> wrote:

Thanks for sending!
We know about this proposal already and had put a marker for it in an early funding brief. these details are very helpful.
All the federal student job and service placement opportunities combined amount to a tiny tiny slice of the needs for the 1.4 Million kids who will be looking for work.

This increase is for an incremental 1800 microgrants for the summer period. My Minister will be ‘good thing to do, but how will that help the enormous need”?

We are certainly supportive but I think you need to think of something bigger – i.e., leveraging the service stream of CSC and the Volunteer Canada portal to receive more submissions for match making or whatever. The PM’s head was here.  

Sent by MK ’s laptop, which is home alone doing its part to flatten the COVID-19 curve
Assistant Deputy Minister
Finance Canada
[ * ] (portable)
613-369-9572 (office)

From: benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 15, 2020 8:11 PM
To: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Cc: Wernick, Rachel (Ext.) <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: FW: Cda Service Corps proposal

Michelle. I think this fits the bill with respect to the service experience for the student package. This was prepared by Rachel’s team for Minister Chagger. [ * ] We may want to work on the eligibility criteria (not receiving CERB or the new grant) and few other aspects but overall looks good to me. Your suggestions and take on it would be appreciated.

From: Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <:rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 15, 2020 3:33 PM
To: Robidoux, Benoît B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Cc: Coté, Steven S [NC] <steven.f.cote@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <:steven.f.cote@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>; Arruda, Daisy D [NC] <daisy.arruda@hrsdc-hdcc.gc.ca <:daisy.arruda@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: Cda Service Corps proposal

Rachel Wernick
Senior Assistant Deputy Minister
Skills and Employment Branch
Mobile : [ * ] 
rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>

Lobbying Act

• Lobbying Act

Standard Committee on Finance - Evidence number 42 - Tuesday, July 21, 2020

• Standard Committee on Finance - Evidence number 42 - Tuesday, July 21, 2020

Unedited copy of Standing Committee on Finance, evidence number 47 - July 30, 2020

• Unedited copy of Standing Committee on Finance, evidence number 47 - July 30, 2020

V&E for Public Sector 2011

• V&E for Public Sector 2011

Privy Council Office - Values & Ethics

• Privy Council Office - Values & Ethics

Notes to file

Note to file: Chronologies (Tabs 1 a-c) in Clerk’s Briefing Binder for July 21, 2020 FINA Appearance

The chronologies located in Tabs 1 a-c of the Clerk of the Privy Council’s July 21, 2020 FINA appearance note that on May 8, 2020 Cabinet ran out of time to consider the Canada Student Service Grant. This is an error. Subsequent to preparing these chronologies and including them in the briefing binder, PCO Priorities and Planning confirmed that the Canada Student Service Grant proposal was instead deferred from the May 8, 2020 Cabinet meeting. This corrected information was reflected in the final chronology provided to the FINA committee as part of the Clerk of the Privy Council’s undertakings from the July 21, 2020 appearance. The final chronology provided to the committee was based on PCO’s understanding of the key dates.

A note to file was provided to the FINA committee regarding an April 20, 2020 email from Christiane Fox and referred to in the chronologies (see attached).

Canada Student Service Grant - April 2020 - June 2020

Chronology

Framing of the Broad Student Support Package April 6 – April 22	Context: The pandemic began on March 13, 2020 and had an unprecedented economic impact on Canadians. The March 2020 labour survey indicated that students bore the brunt of the contracting labour market. Only half of students would likely qualify for CERB. Students graduating or ending their studies for the summer would face a very challenging labour market. In this context, the Government was facing significant pressure to expand CERB to students and the government wanted to consider options to offer financial support and contribute to their studies and continued professional development. This led to the $9 billion package announced on April 22, 2020, which covered the Canada Economic Student Benefit, employment measures, student loan measures, and the Canada Student Service Grant.		Key players: Finance, Finance Mino, ESDC, PMO
	April 6	Finance officials had a first meeting with its mino on a potential student package to address students’ particular needs as a result of COVID-19 (the majority of students who did not work during the school year would be ineligible for CERB at the end of the school year in April 2020 and faced significantly diminished employment prospects). Finance subsequently reached out to ESDC to seek ideas for youth and student COVID supports.
	April 6-8	Finance mino (and PMO) hold consultations on students with a broad range of student/youth organizations and stakeholders, including: Alex Usher, CASA, Palette, Actua, Universities Canada, YWCA / YMCA, Colleges & Institutes, Canadian Mental Health Assoc., National Assoc. Friendship Centres, ITK, WE, Canadian Community Education Network, Canadian Council for Rehabilitation and Work, Fédération des cégeps, PMYC, Conseil du Patronat du Québec, and Business/Higher Education Roundtable. The results of these consultations are rolled up into a What We Heard report (not shared with PCO).
	April 8	PCO (Tara Shannon) met with ESDC (Rachel Wernick and Ritu Banerjee) to discuss their options, which included enhancements to the Canada Summer Jobs Program, Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS), Student Work Placement Program, Canada Service Corps, Workforce Development Agreements and Labour Market Development Agreements. To note, the proposed enhancements to the Canada Service Corps included expansion of placements and an increased number of micro-grants.
	April 9-15	Finance worked with ESDC to develop a revised package. ESDC’s focus was on its Canada Service Corps micro grant proposal. An April 15, 2020 email from Michelle Kovacevic to Benoit Robidoux indicates ESDC needs to “think of something bigger”.
	April 14	The Finance Minister was briefed on a revised package. Finance mino requested a note on “emergency student experience grant + mechanism(s)”.
	April 15	The Prime Minister was briefed by Finance Mino, with support from Finance (Michelle Kovacevic), PMO, and PCO (Phil Jennings) on a potential broad package for students that included a combination of employment supports, tuition supports, and volunteer incentives, with specific elements to be refined.
	April 16	ESDC chronology indicates that an email from Rachel Wernick to Michelle Kovacevic noted “Volunteer Canada low capacity, I have asked Job Bank to come back to me with a proposal.” The same chronology shows that Minister Chagger met with Craig Kielburger of WE Charity and requested briefing material from ESDC on the Canada Service Corps. This material included unsolicited WE proposals on social entrepreneurship and creating a culture of service nationwide. Finance chronology notes that email between it and ESDC regarding volunteer and service options references WE Charity.
	April 18	The Finance Minister briefed.
	April 19	Final memo to the Finance Minister on options for entire student package. First note of the Canada Student Service Grant with third party delivery suggested (includes WE, Shopify as examples). This also attached an unsolicited proposal from WE for a ten week mentorship program ($13 million), unrelated to the service grant.
	April 19-20	ESDC chronology shows Rachel Wernick call with Craig Kielburger. An email from Michelle Kovacevic to PCO (Phil Jennings and Antoine Brunelle-Côté) notes a lot of back and forth on student package over the Easter weekend between Finance Mino and PMO. The email also indicates that there has been positive communications with WE to be a partner (scope unstated). Email from Finance mino to Finance officials confirming a discussion with WE and interest in partnership.
	April 20	Phil Jennings provided a copy of the Finance package to the Clerk. Separately, Chris Fox shared a copy of the WE social entrepreneurship proposal with ESDC (Rachel Wernick) and PCH (Gina Wilson), noting that she understood the proposal had likely already been shared with them by WE. Email notes that Chris Fox was told WE met with Ministers Ng, Chagger and others to discuss the file, and were also working with DPMO and PMO.
	April 21	Prime Minister briefed on the final package (Phil Jennings in attendance).
	April 22 Announcement	Prime Minister announces the full student support package, including the Canada Student Service Grant. No policy or funding authorities were in place. Separately, PCO (Chris Fox) receives an unsolicited proposal from WE (Craig Kielburger) given her previous responsibilities with youth.
Preparation of the proposal April 23 – May 5	Context: The April 22, 2020 announcement articulated the Government’s policy objectives for students. Focus shifted to considering implementation, which was to occur over summer 2020 (May 2020 to September 2020). The objective was to get to a mid-May 2020 launch to ensure that students could reasonably accrue sufficient hours to obtain the grant. The potential role of students in Canada’s COVID-19 response was a central consideration, as was how to ensure safe opportunities in the context of the pandemic.		Key players: PCO, PMO, Finance, ESDC
	April 24-May 4	Various meetings with WE Charity, including: April 24, 2020 (Michelle Kovacevic, Rachel Wernick); April 28, 2020 (ESDC officials); May 1, 2020 (Rachel Wernick, ESDC officials); May 3, 2020 (Rachel Wernick, ESDC officials); May 4, 2020 (Rachel Wernick, ESDC officials)
	April 26	PCO receives an unofficial Finance Minister decision and routes its policy and [ * ]funding note to the Prime Minister. PCO recommended that the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth to bring a proposal to Cabinet to outline the grant parameters before seeking final funding approval. PCO recommended against the unsolicited WE social entrepreneurship proposal ($13 million).
	April 29	Pre-brief between PCO, ESDC, Finance in advance of a Four Corners meeting to discuss options for implementing the Canada Student Service Grant. ESDC noted WE Charity as an option to deliver the CSSG. PCO probed on whether other organizations could be involved.
	April 30	Four Corners with participation of PCO, PMO, ESDC, and Finance, to discuss path forward on student grant. ESDC spoke to their recommended role for WE given the need for implementation by mid-May. PCO notes show PCO asked about a competitive process for engaging a third party and PMO asked what could WE do that the public service is unable.
	May 3-4	ESDC provided a draft proposal for consideration by COVID Committee. Based on ESDC’s recommendation on WE, PCO asked why their proposal did not name their intended third party administrator. ESDC indicated this was a decision for their Minister.
Cabinet approval process May 5 – June 22	Context: Following COVID Committee approval in principle, focus turned to Cabinet ratification in order for the program to be launched by end of May.		Key players: PCO, PMO, ESDC, Committee, Cabinet
	May 5	Covid Committee meeting: the proposal was approved in principle.
	May 6	ESDC advises that Minister Chagger would like to amend her proposal as a result of input at COVID committee, including introduction of additional award levels and expansion of the program to all youth, not just post secondary students. On May 8, 2020, ESDC advised that Minister Chagger would not be amending her proposal.
	May 8	Proposal scheduled for ratification at Cabinet but time ran out.
	May 11-13	ESDC (Rachel Wernick) has calls with WE Charity to continue discuss potential Contribution Agreement.
	May 13	ESDC (Rachel Wernick) sends an email to PCO (Tara Shannon) outlining why the Canada Service Corp would not be a good option to deliver the grant.
	May 15	PM return on broad student funding package as recommended by PCO, including a $900 millon set aside for a student service grant.
	May 21	Prime Minister briefing with PMO and PCO (Phil Jennings, Chris Fox, Lisa Setlakwe, and Tara Shannon) on Minister Chagger’s proposal. The briefing focused on eligibility criteria (whether students in receipt of CERB can access the volunteer grant), role of WE charities and ensuring proper checks and balances in an agreement with WE Charities (bilingual, capacity, program integrity in terms of reach to vulnerable and underrepresented populations).
	May 22	Cabinet ratified the proposal, ad referendum on funding to the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister.
Development of the contribution agreement May 23-June 25	Context: Following Cabinet ratification, the focus shifted to obtaining final funding and policy approvals for the grant. Consistent with the PM briefing and Cabinet discussion, attention also turned to ensuring that the program would be implemented in a manner that would have the widest reach, capturing vulnerable and underrepresented students.		Key players: PCO, PMO, ESDC
	May 26-29	Focus was on ensuring in its administration that WE would have adequate reach to vulnerable and underrepresented students. PMO shares a copy of a draft Contribution Agreement with WE with PCO-SDP (Tara Shannon and Lisa Setlakwe) and requests a meeting to discuss how to ensure proper reporting in WE’s administration of the grant, with a focus on reaching vulnerable and underrepresented youth. Meeting occurs on May 27, 2020 with the participation of SDP, RDU and PMO. On May 29, 2020, ESDC provided the draft eligibility criteria being used in negotiations with WE.
	June 1	Minister Chagger submits her funding proposal in the amount of $543.8 million
	June 4	Finance Minister funding decision, providing up to $534.8 million for the Grant.
	June 6	PCO sends [ * ] funding decision to the Prime Minister, agrees with MoF.
		In response to a request from PMO, the final contribution agreement as negotiated between ESDC and WE Charity counsels, was provided to PMO for their information. PMO subsequently sent a series of technical questions on the Agreement to PCO (Contribution Agreement 101). PCO worked with ESDC to provide answers. The Contribution Agreement did not change.
	June 17	PCO hosted a Four Corners to discuss the launch of the grant, including communications, readiness of WE Charities with placements, and whether given the late launch (previously targeted for Mid-May 2020), additional time should be accorded to accrue volunteer hours.
	June 22	PM return received providing final policy and funding authority, and includes a condition that ESDC report to on progress to the President of the Treasury Board before accessing funding for cohort 2 (placements beyond an initial 20,000) and beyond.
	June 23	ESDC and WE sign the Contribution Agreement.
	June 25	PM announcement launching the grant and identifying WE Charities as the partner.

Key dates

April 6	Finance officials had a first meeting with its mino on a potential student package to address students’ particular needs
April 6-8	Finance mino and PMO hold consultations on students with a broad range of student/youth organizations and stakeholders, including: Alex Usher, CASA, Palette, Actua, Universities Canada, YWCA / YMCA, Colleges & Institutes, Canadian Mental Health Assoc., National Assoc. Friendship Centres, ITK, WE, Canadian Community Education Network, Canadian Council for Rehabilitation and Work, Fédération des cégeps, PMYC, Business/Higher Education Roundtable. The results of these consultations are rolled up into a What We Heard report (not public).
April 8	PCO met with ESDC to discuss their options, which included enhancements to the Canada Summer Jobs Program, Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS), Student Work Placement Program, Canada Service Corps, Workforce Development Agreements and Labour Market Development Agreements.
April 15	The Prime Minister was briefed by Finance Mino, with support from Finance PMO, and PCO on a potential broad package for students that included a combination of employment supports, tuition supports, and volunteer incentives
April 21	Prime Minister briefed on the final package (Phil Jennings in attendance).
April 22 Announcement	Prime Minister announces the full student support package, including the Canada Student Service Grant. No policy or funding authorities were in place. Separately, PCO (Chris Fox) receives an unsolicited proposal from WE (Craig Kielburger) given her previous responsibilities with youth.
April 24-May 4	Various meetings between ESDC, Finance with WE Charity.
April 29	Pre-brief between PCO, ESDC, Finance in advance of a Four Corners meeting to discuss options for implementing the Canada Student Service Grant. ESDC noted WE Charity as an option to deliver the CSSG. PCO probed on whether other organizations could be involved.
April 30	Four Corners with participation of PCO, PMO, ESDC, and Finance, to discuss path forward on student grant. ESDC spoke to their recommended role for WE given the need for implementation by mid-May. PCO notes show PCO asked about a competitive process for engaging a third party and PMO asked what could WE do that the public service is unable.
May 3-4	ESDC provided a draft proposal for consideration by COVID Committee. Based on ESDC’s recommendation on WE, PCO asked why their proposal did not name their intended third party administrator. ESDC indicated this was a decision for their Minister.
May 5	Covid Committee meeting: the proposal, with the recommendation of WE as third-party delivery, was approved in principle.
May 8	Proposal scheduled for ratification at Cabinet but time ran out.
May 15	PM return on the broad student funding package as recommended by PCO, including a $900 million set aside for a student service grant.
May 21	Prime Minister briefing with PMO and PCO (Phil Jennings, Chris Fox, Lisa Setlakwe, and Tara Shannon) on Minister Chagger’s proposal. The briefing focused on eligibility criteria (whether students in receipt of CERB can access the volunteer grant), role of WE charities and ensuring proper checks and balances in an agreement with WE Charities (bilingual, capacity, program integrity in terms of reach to vulnerable and underrepresented populations).
May 22	Cabinet ratified the proposal, ad referendum on funding to the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister.
May 26-29	Focus was on ensuring in its administration that WE would have adequate reach to vulnerable and underrepresented students. Meeting occurs on May 27, 2020 with the participation of PCO and PMO.
June 17	PCO hosted a Four Corners to discuss the launch of the grant, including communications, readiness of WE Charities with placements, and whether given the late launch (previously targeted for Mid-May 2020), additional time should be accorded to accrue volunteer hours.
June 22	PM return received providing final policy and funding authority, and includes a condition that ESDC report to on progress to the President of the Treasury Board before accessing funding for cohort 2 (placements beyond an initial 20,000) and beyond.
June 23	ESDC and WE sign the Contribution Agreement.
June 25 Announcement	PM announcement launching the grant and identifying WE Charities as the partner.

Narrative

I. April 6, 2020 – April 22, 2020 – Development and announcement of student support package

Context: The pandemic began on March 13, 2020 and had an unprecedented economic impact on Canadians. The March 2020 labour survey indicated that students bore the brunt of the contracting labour market. Only half of students would likely qualify for CERB. Students graduating or ending their studies for the summer would face a very challenging labour market. In this context, the Government was facing significant pressure to expand CERB to students and the government wanted to consider options to offer financial support and contribute to their studies and continued professional development. This led to the $9 billion package announced on April 22, 2020, which covered the Canada Economic Student Benefit, employment measures, student loan measures, and the Canada Student Service Grant.

Key players: Finance, Finance Mino, ESDC, PMO

• On April 6, 2020, Finance officials had a first meeting with its Mino on a potential student package to address students’ particular needs as a result of COVID-19 (the majority of students who did not work during the school year would be ineligible for CERB at the end of the school year in April 2020 and faced significantly diminished employment prospects).
• Finance subsequently reached out to ESDC to seek ideas for youth and student COVID supports.
• On April 8, 2020, PCO (Tara Shannon) met with ESDC (Rachel Wernick and Ritu Banerjee) to discuss their options, which included enhancements to the Canada Summer Jobs Program, Youth Employment and Skills Strategy (YESS), Student Work Placement Program, Canada Service Corps, Workforce Development Agreements and Labour Market Development Agreements. To note, the proposed enhancements to the Canada Service Corps included expansion of placements and an increased number of micro-grants. 
• On April 9, 2020, the Finance Minister was briefed on the potential student package.
• Between April 9, 2020 – April 15, 2020, Finance worked with ESDC to develop a revised package. ESDC’s focus was on its Canada Service Corps micro-grant proposal. An April 15, 2020 email from Michelle Kovacevic to Benoit Robidoux indicates ESDC needs to “think of something bigger”.
• On April 14, 2020, the Finance Minister was briefed on a revised package. Finance Mino requested a note on “emergency student experience grant + mechanism(s)”.
• On April 15, 2020, the Prime Minister was briefed by Finance Mino, with support from Finance (Michelle Kovacevic), PMO, and PCO (Phil Jennings) on a potential package for students that included a combination of employment supports, tuition supports, and volunteer incentives, with specific elements to be refined.
• On April 16, 2020, ESDC chronology indicates that an email from Rachel Wernick to Michelle Kovacevic noted “Volunteer Canada low capacity, I have asked Job Bank to come back to me with a proposal.” The same chronology shows that Minister Chagger met with Craig Kielburger of WE Charity and requested briefing material from ESDC on the Canada Service Corps. This material included unsolicited WE proposals on social entrepreneurship and creating a culture of service nationwide. Finance chronology notes that email between it and ESDC regarding volunteer and service options references WE Charity.
• April 17, 2020, Finance officials sent a draft funding memo to the Finance Minister. This draft did not include a reference to WE.
• April 18, 2020, Finance Minister briefed.
• April 19, 2020, Final memo to the Finance Minister on options for entire student package. First note of the Canada Student Service Grant with third party delivery suggested (includes WE, Shopify as examples). This also attached an unsolicited proposal from WE for a ten week mentorship program ($13 million), unrelated to the service grant.
• April 19 – 20, 2020, ESDC chronology shows Rachel Wernick call with Craig Kielburger. An email from Michelle Kovacevic to PCO (Phil Jennings and Antoine Brunelle-Côté) notes a lot of back and forth on student package over the Easter weekend between Finance Mino and PMO. The email also indicates that there has been positive communications with WE to be a partner (scope unstated). Email from Finance Mino to Finance officials confirming a discussion with WE and interest in partnership.
• April 20, 2020, Phil Jennings provided a copy of the Finance package to the Clerk.
• April 21, 2020, Prime Minister briefed on the final package (Phil Jennings in attendance).
• April 22, 2020, Prime Minister announces the full student support package, including the Canada Student Service Grant. No policy or funding authorities were in place.

II. April 23, 2020 to May 5, 2020 – Announcement to COVID Ad Hoc Committee

Context: The April 22, 2020 announcement articulated the Government’s policy objectives for students. Focus shifted to considering implementation, which was to occur over summer 2020 (May 2020 to September 2020). The objective was to get to a mid-May 2020 launch to ensure that students could reasonably accrue sufficient hours to obtain the grant.

Key Players: PCO, PMO, Finance, ESDC

• April 24, 2020 – May 4, 2020, Various meetings with WE Charity, including: April 24, 2020 (Michelle Kovacevic, Rachel Wernick); April 28, 2020 (ESDC officials); May 1, 2020 (Rachel Wernick, ESDC officials); May 3, 2020 (Rachel Wernick, ESDC officials); May 4, 2020 (Rachel Wernick, ESDC officials).
• April 26, 2020, PCO receives an unofficial Finance Minister decision and routes its policy and [ * ] funding note to the Prime Minister. PCO recommended that the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth to bring a proposal to Cabinet to outline the grant parameters before seeking final funding approval. PCO recommended against the unsolicited WE mentorship proposal ($13 million).
• April 29, 2020, pre-brief between PCO, ESDC, Finance in advance of a Four Corners meeting to discuss options for implementing the Canada Student Service Grant. ESDC noted WE Charity as an option to deliver the CSSG. PCO probed on whether other organizations could be involved.
• April 30, 2020, Four Corners with participation of PCO, PMO, ESDC, and Finance, to discuss path forward on student grant. ESDC spoke to their recommended role for WE given the need for implementation by mid-May. PCO notes show PCO asked about a competitive process for engaging a third party and PMO asked what could WE do that the public service is unable.
• May 3 – 4, 2020, ESDC provided a draft proposal for consideration by COVID Committee. Based on ESDC’s recommendation on WE, PCO asked why their proposal did not name their intended third party administrator. ESDC indicated this was a decision for their Minister.
• May 5, 2020, Proposal considered by COVID Committee. The proposal included references to WE. The proposal was approved in principle.

III. May 6, 2020 – May 22, 2020 – COVID Ad Hoc Committee to Cabinet ratification

Context: Following COVID Committee approval in principle, Cabinet ratification was sought in order for the program to be launched by end of May.  

Key players: PCO, PMO, ESDC, Committee, Cabinet

• May 6, 2020, ESDC advises that Minister Chagger would like to amend her proposal as a result of input at COVID committee, including introduction of additional award levels and expansion of the program to all youth, not just post secondary students. On May 8, 2020, ESDC advised that Minister Chagger would not be amending her proposal.
• May 8, 2020, Proposal scheduled for ratification at Cabinet but time ran out.
• May 11-13, 2020, ESDC (Rachel Wernick) has calls with WE Charity to continue discuss.
• May 13, 2020, ESDC (Rachel Wernick) sends an email to PCO (Tara Shannon) outlining why the Canada Service Corp would not be a good option to deliver the grant.
• May 15, 2020, PM return on original student funding package as recommended by PCO, including a $900 millon set aside for a student service grant.
• May 21, 2020, Prime Minister briefing with PMO and PCO (Phil Jennings, Chris Fox, Lisa Setlakwe, and Tara Shannon) on Minister Chagger’s proposal. The briefing focused on eligibility criteria (whether students in receipt of CERB can access the volunteer grant), role of WE charities and ensuring proper checks and balances in an agreement with WE Charities (bilingual, capacity, program integrity in terms of reach to vulnerable and underrepresented populations) should Cabinet ratify.
• May 22, 2020, Cabinet ratified the proposal, ad referendum on funding to the Minister of Finance and Prime Minister.

IV. May 23, 2020 – June 25, 2020 – Cabinet ratification to program launch

Context: Following Cabinet ratification, the focus was on obtaining final funding and policy approvals for the grant. Consistent with the PM briefing and Cabinet discussion, attention also turned to ensuring that the program would be implemented in a manner that would have the widest reach, capturing vulnerable and underrepresented students.

Key Players: PCO, PMO, ESDC

• May 26 – 29, 2020, PMO shares a copy of a draft Contribution Agreement with WE with PCO-SDP (Tara Shannon and Lisa Setlakwe) and requests a meeting to discuss how to ensure proper reporting in WE’s administration of the grant, with a focus on reaching vulnerable and underrepresented youth. Meeting occurs on May 27, 2020 with the participation of SDP, RDU and PMO. On May 29, 2020, ESDC provided the draft eligibility criteria being used in negotiations with WE.
• June 1, 2020, Minister Chagger submits her funding proposal in the amount of $543.8 million.
• June 4, 2020, Finance Minister funding decision, providing up to $534.8 million for the Grant.
• June 6, 2020, PCO sends [ * ] funding decision to the Prime Minister, agrees with MoF.
• June 9-11, 2020, In response to a request from PMO, the final contribution agreement as negotiated between ESDC and WE Charity counsels, was provided to PMO for their information. PMO subsequently sent a series of technical questions on the Agreement to PCO (Contribution Agreement 101). PCO worked with ESDC to provide answers. The Contribution Agreement did not change.
• June 17, 2020, PCO hosted a Four Corners to discuss the launch of the grant, including communications, readiness of WE Charities with placements, and whether given the late launch (previously targeted for Mid-May 2020), additional time should be accorded to accrue volunteer hours.
• June 22, 2020, PM return received providing final policy and funding authority, and includes a condition that ESDC report to on progress to the President of the Treasury Board before accessing funding for cohort 2 (placements beyond an initial 20,000) and beyond.
• June 23, 2020, ESDC and WE sign the Contribution Agreement.
• June 25, 2020, PM announcement launching the grant and identifying WE Charities as the partner.

Overview of Canada Student Service Grant

The new Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) aims to encourage young people to take part in service activities that will help them support their communities’ COVID-19 response and gain invaluable experience.

The CSSG is a one-time payment (grant) available at five levels, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000. The amount will vary based on the number of hours each volunteer completes, with $1,000 provided for each 100 hours completed, up to a maximum of $5,000 for 500 hours.

Role of WE Charity

WE Charity was to administer the CSSG program by providing back-end support for screening, onboarding, and training, and matching functions, in addition to the disbursement of grants to eligible participants.

Overview of Contribution Agreement with WE Charity

• $912M has been set aside for the CSSG, from the $9 billion student package.
• Of the $912M, $543M was allocated in a contribution agreement to WE Charity. The remainder ($369M) of the set aside could be accessed by the Minister of Diversity, Inclusion and Youth for the purpose of the student grant if the number of students participating in the grant exceeded the initial allocation.
• Of $543M:
  • $500M was allocated to fund the disbursement of the grant which would be provided directly to eligible students.
  • WE Charity was to be provided up to $43M for delivering the CSSG program.
    1. $19.5M for program delivery of cohort 1 of 20,000 volunteer placements.
       • $5.3M will go to directly support other NFP partners and provide supports to students facing barriers to access the program (such as technological devices).
    2. $13.5M was to be allocated for cohort 2 of another 20,000 volunteer placements.
       • $4.1M will go to directly support other NFP partners and provide supports to students facing barriers to access the program (such as technological devices).
    3. $10.5M for a supplementary cohort.
  • The costs cover a broad range of program delivery activities to create and support volunteer opportunities including:
    • onboarding infrastructure and supports for youth and NFPs that meet public health guidelines so that participants can safely engage in placements which reduces the liability on government;
    • infrastructure to remove impediments for disadvantaged youth to participate in the CSSG;
    • developing the technological infrastructure and processes to make placements available on the I Want to Help platform for the launch of the initiative;
    • promoting this initiative extensively through their networks and social media (WE has 4 million Facebook followers);
    • ensure that the placements are geographically distributed across Canada, and include students from underrepresented backgrounds by providing the necessary supports to attract and engage these students.

I Want to Help platform (ESDC-managed)

Not-for-profit organizations would be able to submit volunteer opportunities to the I Want to Help platform. Eligible and high quality placements will be posted on the platform, where students can search and apply for opportunities in their communities.

In order to be eligible, a placement must:

• be with a not-for-profit organization, which includes registered charities;
• take place in Canada and support Canada’s response to COVID-19;
• be a minimum of two hours per week for four, weeks; and,
• follow all applicable public health requirements.

Eligibility

In order to be eligible for the grant, participants must be 30 years of age or younger, a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or a student with a refugee status, and either:

• enrolled in and attending post-secondary education during the spring, summer, or fall 2020 semesters;
• recent post-secondary graduates (no earlier than December 2019); or
• studying abroad and currently residing in Canada.

Post-secondary students and recent graduates must register no later than August 21, 2020, to be eligible to receive the grant. Completed applications for the CSSG must be submitted no later than November 6, 2020, and participants will only be able to count hours accumulated from June 25 to October 31, 2020.

Overview of Contribution Agreements

• Contribution agreements, as outlined under the Treasury Board Policy on Transfer Payments is a frequently used tool for the Government of Canada to deliver programs.
• Recipients have the flexibility to design projects that further government policy objectives according to their experience and expertise. Costs to execute the project, including administrative costs, which include salary, are negotiated as part of the contribution agreement. Such costs must be reasonable.
• Under a contribution agreement, the government does not direct or dictate how the recipient will carry out the project. The government cannot directly benefit from a contribution agreement unlike service contracts, which are used to acquire goods or services that will directly benefit the government and supports its operations.
• All contribution agreements are subject to audit.
• Contribution agreements have been used with other recipients for other emergency programming.

Examples of Contributions agreements used during COVID-19

Emergency Community Support Fund May 2020

$350 million to improve the ability of community organizations to serve vulnerable Canadians during COVID-19.

The investment will flow through national intermediaries (United Way Centraide Canada, the Canadian Red Cross, and Community Foundations of Canada) that have the ability to get funds quickly to community organizations that serve vulnerable populations.

As of May 19, 2020, community-based organizations from across the country are able to apply for funding to support a variety of activities that address a pressing social inclusion or well-being need caused by COVID-19, such as:

• increasing volunteer-based home deliveries of groceries and medications;
• scaling up help lines that provide information and support;
• helping vulnerable Canadians access government benefits;
• providing training, supplies, and other required supports to volunteers so they can continue to make their invaluable contributions to the COVID-19 response; and,
• replacing in-person, one-on-one contact and social gatherings with virtual contact through phone calls, texts, teleconferences, or the Internet.

Canadian Red Cross: June 2020

The Canadian Red Cross and the Government of Canada have entered into a contribution agreement for up to $100 million. Funding will support additional relief and recovery efforts this year related to COVID-19, floods and wildfires, to enhance the Red Cross’s response capacity and to support public health efforts, including support in Quebec long-term care facilities and in Ontario for temporary foreign workers.

[ * ]

[ * ]

Canada Service Corps

Coalition partner contact list

Organization	Key contact
4-H Canada	[ * ]
4Rs	[ * ]
Apathy is Boring	[ * ]
Boys & Girls Club of Canada	[ * ]
Canadian Roots Exchange	[ * ]
Canadian Wildlife Federation	[ * ]
Chantiers jeunesse	[ * ]
Duke of Edinburgh's International Awards, Canada	[ * ]
Katimavik	[ * ]
mindyourmind	[ * ]
Ocean Wise	[ * ]
TakingITGIobal	[ * ]
YMCA	[ * ]

Meetings with officials from ESDC with each CSC National Organizations were held between April 14 and 21.

The purpose of the meetings was to determine the impact of Covid-19 on the capacity of the organizations to continue offering placements and serving youth. At that time, the majority of organizations were rethinking how best to move forward and most were on pause. Some organizations relayed that they did not have the capacity to continue engaging with youth given the limitations around their ability to move to digital programming.

Organization	Date of meeting
Apathy is Boring	April 14, 2020
Chantiers Jeunesse	April 14, 2020
4Rs	April 15, 2020
Katimavik	April 15, 2020
mindyourmind	April 15, 2020
Canadian Roots Exchange (CRE)	April 16, 2020
Duke of Edinburgh	April 16, 2020
YMCA	April 16, 2020
OceanWise	April 17, 2020
Boys and Girls Club of Canada	April 17, 2020
4-H Canada	April 20, 2020
Canadian Wildlife Federation	April 21, 2020

Rachel Merissa email

Merissa, Rahel

Hi Rachel,

It was terrific to connect on Sunday. I'm inspired by your Sunday call - which proves the tireless efforts and resiliency to advance public policy issues while facing COVID-19!

I appreciate your outreach to inquire about my thoughts and whether we would be interested to be involved in such a national youth service program. Allow me to share with you a proposal informed by our conversation together, which seeks to address some of the concerns that we both share, and outlines a viable solution that can reach 20,000 young Canadians with opportunities for summer service and to earn income for post-secondary studies.

As discussed, we had previously been in conversation with Minister Ng and Minister Chagger about their priorities for young people on entrepreneurship and employment. In that spirit, we have proposed two programs - and we could deliver one or both programs - to address the needs of young Canadians.

• Youth Summer Service Program: This 3-month program seeks to serve 20,000 young Canadians (ages 16-30) with the following four bilingual elements : i) digital service opportunities designed in partnership with non-profits across the country; ii) a support system to assist young people with training and user support; iii) reporting and tracking process for youth accomplishments and earned stipend for post-secondary studies; iv) a digital national celebration of service showcasing the accomplishments of young people. It would also be available to support those in all stages of life with an emphasis on supporting at least 25% of youth from underrepresented groups. Given WE's experience in launching similar initiatives, we'd be ready to accept the first cohort later this May, and comfortable to track and report their accomplishments and any microgrants they receive.
• Youth Social Entrepreneurship Program: This 12-month program seeks to serve 8,000 youth Canadians (ages 16-30) with the following three bilingual elements: i) A 10-week digital program providing entrepreneurship expertise and support in the era of COVID-19; ii) a mentorship program linking entrepreneurs with 500+ experts from established companies who would provide pro bono skill-specific services in areas such as finance, marketing, productization, human resources, legal, distribution, employing at-risk populations etc.; iii) a base payment to all participants, and access to additional incentive funds and long-term mentorship opportunities. By incentivizing and equipping youth to engage with social entrepreneurship opportunities, we'll empower them to efficiently contribute to, and boost our nation's economic output by creating small businesses while gaining practical entrepreneurship skills.

This plan also seeks to solve timely challenges, such as:

• Developing alternative opportunities to provide youth with meaningful ways to virtually connect, which in-turn, bolster the economy and social sector. These alternatives also recognize the importance of flattening the curve while providing an impactful national service program for youth to join service opportunities and summer jobs.
• Supporting non-profits who may need guidance in transforming their traditional volunteer placements into digital opportunities to place youth who're looking to earn income, complete necessary volunteer hours and meaningfully engage.
• How to jump-start entrepreneurism to create jobs for economic recovery, relevant to both 12-24 months of COVID- 19 realities and in the years to follow.
• Engaging companies who have excess employee capacity, including those benefiting from the 75% federal employee subsidy, to consider redirecting available employee's time (one day per week) to provide pro-bono skill-specific services. This’ll assist young entrepreneurs building their skills and launching their businesses, and encourage existing companies to keep employees on the payroll, which ensures the 75% Canadian employer subsidy provides further social benefit.

Attached is a proposal that summarizes both options (3-month youth summer service program and 12-month youth entrepreneurship program) that WE Charity can turn-key to launch this summer with hundreds of support staff ready to deliver. The document begins with a one-page exec summary. Recognizing your vast experience, Sofia and I hope to continue the conversation with you. If open to the idea, my EA, Lauren is happy to coordinate another call. Thank you for your consideration.

Warmest,
Craig

Craig Kielburger
Co-Founder
t: 1.416.925.5894 x160

[ * ]
[ * ]

WE makes doing good, doable. Join the WE Movement: take the pledge at WE.org.

Attachment - Engaging Young Canadians in Service and Social Entrepreneurship Programming

Overview of proposal

WE Charity is honoured to advance a comprehensive program to support young Canadians during the COVID-19 crisis. The program provides turn-key solutions to engage 20,000 or more young Canadians (aged 16 to 29 years) to develop life skills, earn income, assist their country, while safely maintaining social distancing. Participants select either of the following: i) a summer program delivering meaningful digital service opportunities that build social benefits; ii) a 12-month entrepreneurship programming to launch businesses during and post COVID-19 crisis.

Our proposal envisions the launch of a bilingual national digital platform and support network designed to provide end-to-end support and critical resources for youth in two areas:

1. Youth Service Program:

This program would support over 3-months (summer 2020) young Canadians who were planning to secure summer jobs to save up money for their post-secondary education tuition or personal needs, or those looking to participate in a service program over the summer break and will face limitations in finding safe opportunities given COVID-19. Without alternative opportunities for young people to engage in the coming months, there is a significant risk of loss to, the economy, skill development, post-secondary economic access, and, social sector as a result from youth and students not participating in summer jobs or volunteering.

The program framework includes: i) service opportunities delivered digitally and designed in partnership with non-profits across the country; ii) a support system to assist young people with training and user support; iii) a reporting and tracking process for youth accomplishments and incentivization by way of accessing alternative income, currently unavailable for youth; iv) a national digital celebration upon completion to showcase the accomplishments. By incentivizing and supporting youth to engage through a system of well-organized service opportunities, they will be empowered both to safely participate in service projects in an era of physical distancing, and to provide tangible benefits to addressing important social causes in their communities in collaboration with non-profits across Canada.

2. Youth Entrepreneurship Program:

WE's existing social entrepreneurship program can be scaled to engage thousands of youth over 12 months, targeting young people who are, looking for non-academic programs that open opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship, not enrolled in school or, unemployed. Youth partisans will acquire long-term skills for advancement in the 21st century economy, launch start-ups to help society solve current and on-going challenges, and engage in entrepreneurial activities creating new jobs.

This program framework includes: i) a 10-week entrepreneurship program delivered digitally to multiple cohorts; ii) a mentorship program linking entrepreneurs with 500+ experts from established companies who will contribute millions of dollars in functional and industry-specific pro-bono coaching and professional services in areas such as finance, marketing, productization of products, distribution, social impact measurement, etc.; iii) a base payment to all participants, access to additional incentive funds to jump start small business and long-term mentorship opportunities.

WE Charity is able to deliver either/both of these turn-key programs. Drawing from 25 years of experience in the non-profit and social enterprise sector, we are uniquely positioned to continue supporting youth through COVID-19's new challenges. Engaging over 2.4 million Canadian youth in +7,000 schools and educational institutions, WE's transformative service-learning and social entrepreneurship programs are designed and proven to support youth's skill development while increasing their service engagement in Canada as well as, providing critical ongoing support to entrepreneurs as they build and scale their ventures. WE has a proven track record achieving economies of scale to support programs for thousands of youth, capable of implementing either programming streams proposed or both simultaneously, leveraging existing staff's expertise and the strategic cross sector partnerships necessary to ensure the successful execution of this ambitious proposal.

Table of contents

• Overview of proposal
• 1. Service programming: Closing the COVID-19 opportunity gap for young people
  • Executive summary
  • Key considerations on how COVID-19 impacts youth engaging in summer service
  • Key considerations on how COVID-19 is impacting non-profits who rely on traditional physical volunteering support
  • Opportunity to engage youth via digital service program
  • Target audience
  • Proposed service framework
  • Timelines & program costs
    • Proposed budget
    • Timelines
  • Why WE is uniquely positioned
    • Our proven history of supporting the systemic rollout of service opportunities for youth
    • Our team
    • Infrastructure capabilities to deliver service programming
    • Amplification and celebration
• 2. Social Entrepreneurship Program: Closing the COVID-19 opportunity gap for young people
  • Executive summary
  • Introduction
  • The problem
  • Opportunity
  • The solution
  • Proposed model
  • Demographics we will serve
  • Why WE is uniquely positioned to lead this project
    • Our leadership team
  • Our partners
  • Conclusion
  • Appendix I: Program options

Overview of proposal

1. Service programming: Closing the COVID-19 opportunity gap for young people

Executive summary

This document outlines an opportunity to launch a national, bilingual turn-key digital service program to enable 20,000 young Canadians to engage in summer service placements and projects during the COVID-19 crisis. There is an urgent need to support young people between the ages of 16 and 29, particularly those from underrepresented groups, who are seeking meaningful opportunities to develop life skills, earn income for personal use such as paying for post-secondary studies, and serving Canada to benefit communities.

By incentivizing and supporting youth to engage through a system of well-organized service opportunities, they will be empowered both to safely participate in service projects in an era of physical distancing, and to provide tangible benefits to addressing important social causes in their communities in collaboration with non-profits across Canada.

This bilingual digital service program seeks to:

• Create meaningful service opportunities for approximately 20,000 youth between ages 16 and 29 years across Canada, bearing in mind the COVID-19 physical distancing measures
• Offer turn-key service opportunities that are flexible and supportive of social impact efforts and designed in collaboration with non-profits across Canada
• Support Canada Service Corps national partners that may be in need of support to transform their traditional volunteer placements into digital service projects
• Ensure service initiatives are diverse and inclusive in nature for youth, provide skill-development and learning for participants, allow for practical and verifiable outcomes that benefit society, and include effective economic incentives to encourage participation

Drawing from 25-years of experience providing service-learning programs to 7,000+ schools and over 2.4 million youth across Canada, WE has the track record, expert capacity, and strategic partnerships to rapidly deploy a turn-key national digital service platform. WE is a cause-inclusive platform that assists youth to volunteer and support thousands of charities and causes every year. In 2019, youth logged over 10.5M hours of service through WE programs.

This service program would include: i) digital service opportunities designed in partnership with non-profits across the country; ii) a support system to assist young people with training and user support; iii) a reporting and tracking process for youth accomplishments and incentivization. WE's extensive expertise and established staffing support network would allow this program to welcome the first cohort of youth participants in late May 2020.

The total investment would be $44,500,000 for 20,000 young Canadians - which equals $2,225 per participant. The largest share of those costs is an incentivization payment averaging $1500 per participant for personal use such as funding post-secondary studies. Secondary costs are payments to partner non-profit partners to assist with development of service opportunities and, WE's costs to launch and manage the program and support network.

The program would conclude with a national digital celebration of service in August showcasing the accomplishments of the young change-makers. Leveraging the experience of hosting 100+ WE Days over the past decade, WE has the production skillset and network of celebrity ambassadors and media partners to ensure that this is a remarkable celebration for Canada.

As Canada's largest organization engaging youth in service, WE is uniquely able to rapidly deliver a successful execution of a digital service program that is reflective of today's COVID-19 crisis' diverse needs and demands from youth looking to assist others as we navigate these challenging times.

Key considerations on how COVID-19 impacts youth engaging in summer service

• Traditionally, youth who would plan to secure summer jobs to save up money fortheir post-secondary education tuition, or those looking to complete their required high school volunteer hours over the summer break, will be looking for service opportunities (which tend to be predominately interactive in nature), such as working as a summer camp counselor, seasonal hospitality, one-on-one tutoring programs, etc.
• Due to physical distancing requirements, COVID-19 has impacted or eliminated traditional service opportunities and summer jobs that would typically be available to thousands of youth and students across Canada this summer, leaving Canada's youth looking for alternative ways to earn money, complete volunteer hours, and meaningfully engage in society.
• Without alternative opportunities for young people to engage in the coming months, there is a significant risk of loss to, the economy, skill development and, social sector as a result from youth and students not participating in summer jobs or volunteering.
• Although the COVID-19 mortality risk to youth is statistically low, young people have been identified by epidemiologists as "super-spreaders" because they are often asymptomatic and can spread COVID-19 to family and social networks. This is especially concerning given many young Canadians under-30 years of age continue to live at-home in multi-generational households. As a result, there is a significant need to develop an alternative opportunity to provide youth with meaningful ways to virtually connect and support Canada's economy and social sector in a way that is not dependent on physical contact and does not put anyone at risk by allowing the spread of coronavirus through physical contact. With a national imperative to flatten the curve and to maintain diligence for the foreseeable future, a national service program causing even one case of COVID-19 is one too many.

Key considerations on how COVID-19 is impacting non-profits who rely on traditional physical volunteering support

• Young Canadians who volunteer overwhelming contribute via physical service roles (ie. roles that require them to come in physical contact with others, in ways that do not meet the new physical distance requirements due to COVID-19). This reality is typically due to the fact that i) youth have a limited window during the summer of only a few months to engage in a service role; ii) young Canadians bring passion to their service work, but the majority do not have the skills to serve in professional roles.
• Due to COVID-19, Canada's social sector has already been severely economically affected, face dislocation due to work displacement, and facing rising demands on their services. It is not reasonable to expect that hundreds of overwhelmed non-profits across the country will have the capacity to absorb the effort required to create an alternative digital service opportunity to engage young volunteers on their own.
• There are many urgent social needs that would benefit from youth with the proper system and support to serve. There is a pressing need to find an alternative, physically distant approach that would allow Canada's youth to continue to provide support to charities and non-profits this summer, and going forward.
• Therefore, there is a need for a centralized, third-party (ie. WE) to take care of the back-end requirements or creating and running a turn-key, easy to implement program or platform that allows Canada's youth to connect, and engage with Canada's charities and non-profits in a way that addresses the social sector's critical needs during, and post COVID-19.

Opportunity to engage youth via digital service program

Taking into account all of the above mentioned considerations, this proposal outlines a digital service program tailored for the current realities impacting Canada's youth and the social sector due to COVID-19, and physical distancing requirements.

Youth across Canada play a critical role in shaping the country's future. The Government of Canada can fulfill its goals for youth service by supporting 20,000 digital service projects. This digital service-leaning program would ensure physical distancing by providing Canada's youth with a safe alternative to traditional summer jobs or volunteer opportunities that allow youth to continue to tackle some of the most prevalent issues of our time. Moreover, this digital framework would allow scalability of program offerings and increased participation by way of mentorship and microgrants.

By creating a digital service program where all young people are invited to get involved in service to their communities by supporting Canada's charities and non-profit organizations, we not only unlock transformative long-term outcomes for communities, but for youth themselves. The program aims to achieve key results such as:

• Finding safe, digital opportunities to allow youth to continue to connect and contribute to Canada's economy and social sector in a variety of meaningful ways
• Driving measurable skill development and learning outcomes for youth
• Providing opportunities that allow for tangible, trackable social outcomes

Target audience

The proposed national program will target young people underrepresented within current economic relief plans. Specifically, young people aged 16-29 who are current high school and post-secondary students, recent graduates and recent entrants into the job market who have lost their employment due to COVID-19.

The program is bilingual, designed to ensure inclusive participation and recruitment of at least 50% of participants from priority youth groups including indigenous, new Canadians, and women.

The program will be designed within a framework of digital access and digital service; however, the program will be inclusive for youth who do not have access to technology. Core resources will also be available via email, fax, and mail - including turn-key service opportunities that do not require technology. Support services will also be available via phone and mail.

Our program's digital program delivery platform, program leaders, support staff and incentives effectively targets the youth at all levels of education and can reach areas far from urban centres, provide unique connections with industry experts and essential recognition for youths' efforts respectively.

Proposed service framework

To implement our digital service program, WE will create and launch a centralized website designed to match eligible young people with turn-key digital volunteering opportunities, designed in partnership with leading partner charities and non-profit organizations. Visitors to the website will be able to select from four areas of interest and learn more about the opportunities that exist within them. In addition to the four core areas, there will be an additional firth area to access resources and support youth in creating their own service initiative. This centralized system will aggregate youth participating in the program and allow WE to provide accurate verification and reporting of the volunteer service initiatives.

The five identified volunteer areas available are:

1. Arts and Culture: Initiatives that further arts-based programs and non-profits that are using the arts to create healthier communities.
2. Environment: Promoting, supporting or creating initiatives to engage Canadians on environmental protection and climate sustainability.
3. Social Services: Service opportunities and causes that provide social services to Canadians in need.
4. COVID-19 Specific: Supporting initiatives that are responding directly to the challenges that Canadians are facing due to COVID-19 and physical distancing measures.
5. Other: Young people who are passionate about a cause and have an idea that they wish to explore will be connected to a WE youth service mentor who will provide them with a framework and coaching support to build a custom program, in addition to verifying the actions and outputs of these youth.

Within each of the four pre-determined volunteer categories (Arts & Culture, Environment, Social Services and COVID-19 Specific), there will be 10-15 activities that have been co-created in partnership with partner charities and non-profit organizations and meet the following criteria:

• Can be completed digitally and physically distant
• Have a minimum and maximum number of hours allocated to achieve completion of the initiative
• Verifiable outputs exist to ensure the activity is complete
• Provide youth participants with personal skill development and learning
• Completed activities will provide a clear and tangible benefit to a partner charity or cause, thus making a meaningful contribution to Canadian society

Each activity will be developed to create a turn-key user experience for youth who are looking to provide a tangible social benefit. This will ensure youth are able to start activities immediately after registering. Every activity will be accompanied by detailed information on:

• Social benefit of the initiative
• The charity, non-profit organization, or cause that is being supported
• The required task(s) and detailed steps on how to complete the task(s)
• Easy on-boarding and skill training resources
• Estimated number of hours
• Accessibility information
• Eligibility and qualification requirements
• Verification process
• Support network

In order to draw efficiencies and build a cost-effective program, WE will serve as a centralized service provider for this program, designing the turn-key service initiatives in collaboration with social sector partners across Canada. This approach will also ensure a seamless client experience for youth, experienced facilitators and mentors on service projects, and sourcing specialized resources to enable the involvement of underserved youth. All service opportunities can be co-created and implemented in partnership with charities, non-profits, and experts in the field to ensure they identify legitimate gaps in their capacity to deliver services, and thus not overwhelm them.

Examples of how this program can be implemented:

Once verified, youth can submit a log of the time they volunteered and any accompanying verification materials to receive program completion microgrants:

• 30 hours completed: $500 as money or tuition subsidy
• 60 hours completed: $1000 as money or tuition subsidy
• 120 hours completed: $2000 as money or tuition subsidy
• 180 hours completed: $3000 as money or tuition subsidy

A key component of the program is skill development for the youth participants. Each youth participant will receive a letter of commendation highlighting the skills acquired in order to complete their service initiative. This recognition can be reflected on their résumé when applying to further studies or future career opportunities, in addition to digital badging platforms such as Linkedln.

Furthermore, all youth who have completed service will be invited to a virtual celebration in August, hosted by WE and streamed live online, to congratulate them to their service to Canada and showcase some of the incredible projects that Canadian youth completed. Over the past decade WE Day has hosted 100+ celebrations of service, including working with Heritage Canada to host a special WE Day on Parliament Hill in front of Centre Block to celebrate Canada's 150th birthday. WE would engage its network of celebrity ambassadors, media partners, and technology enablers to ensure that this is an extraordinary national celebration delivered via digital platform.

Timelines & program costs

We are pleased to provide the Government of Canada with a preliminary budget and timeline for the proposed program to serve 20,000 young Canadians.

Proposed budget

Timelines

WE Charity is prepared to quickly mobilize in an effort to launch this proposed program in the coming weeks as young people complete their University/college terms and high school students complete their remaining course work. Proposed timelines include:

• Week of April 27th (or based on government preference)
  • Public announcement
  • Launch preliminary website
  • Begin outreach to non-profit partners to co-develop the turn-key volunteer roles
• Week of May 4th
  • Public promotion of the program
  • Continue outreach with non-profit partners and co-design the service placements on offer, including designing a profile of the skills they are seeking
  • Launch sign-up/registration for youth seeking volunteer placements
• Week of May 11th, 18th and 25th
  • Continue public promotion of the program including through digital and social channels
  • At the end of May begin welcoming first cohort of youth participants into the program, and matching with their first turnkey roles
• June, July, August
  • Continued registration and matching of youth volunteers
  • On-going 1 on 1 support and coaching for select youth, led by WE team members
  • Verification of service hour completion and assessments of service projects between WE and non-profit partner
• Week of August 24th
  • Host a virtual summer-end celebration for all program participants and non-profit partners to celebrate the collective social impact of all 20,000 youth participants. The event will profile select service projects, welcome special guests and speakers including inspirational Canadians, celebrities, and the opportunity for government officials to recognize the achievements of Canadian youth

Why WE is uniquely positioned

WE has a proven track record of engaging and inspiring youth in meaningful service actions. Our programs educate, engage, and inspire youth to take action on some of the world's most pressing local and global issues. Over the last 25 years we have honed our approach and become leaders in providing experiential service-learning and currently serve as an educational partner to over 7,000 schools across Canada. WE is cause inclusive, each year young people participating in the WE Schools program do service actions in support of over 5,000 local and global non-profit organizations. During the 2018-2019 academic year our programs impacted over 2.4M youth across Canada, making WE one of the largest networks of youth service in Canada.

Our proven history of supporting the systemic rollout of service opportunities for youth

WE has experience working in partnership with government to achieve specific objectives related to youth service initiatives. Most recently WE was part of the Canada Service Corps' design phase.

WE first started its service-learning programs in 1999 when the organization played a critical role in supporting the roll-out of Ontario's 40-hour service requirement for graduation. The Toronto District School Board partnered with WE Charity to develop a program that would train youth and equip educators and students about service-learning. WE Charity developed a comprehensive curriculum, a guide called "Take Action: A Guide to Active Citizenship", offered hands-on leadership workshops in schools, professional development training programs for educators, and celebrated and recognized the service actions of young people at WE Day events.

WE Charity continues its partnership with the Toronto District School Board, and our service and civic engagement programs are supported by 30 official school board partners and 3,200 schools across the province of Ontario. This model was subsequently adopted by the majority of school boards in Canada with 7,000 schools and groups actively engaged in WE Schools programming. Today, WE Schools is implemented with 130+ school board and government partners across Canada.

The Canadian model of success has also been adopted in the US. In 2017, the College Board approached WE to form a partnership to scale service-learning. The College Board is a US non-profit formed in 1899 to administer college entrance examinations, which today including the SATs. Together, College Board and WE launched AP with WE Service - which includes the first and only verification system to recognize service on the AP transcript when students apply to colleges.

WE Charity has the proven track record, the experienced team and the agility to quickly mobilize to meet the goals of the Canada Service Corps program in the summer of 2020.

Our team

The WE team is committed to delivering high-quality programming that is responsive to the needs of our core stakeholders. With incredible backgrounds in education, youth development/programming, service and volunteering, our team is well positioned to help youth across Canada thrive during their service placements. Our team leading this initiative will include:

• Dalai Al-Waheidi, Executive Director, WE Charity
  • As the Executive Director of WE Charity, Dalai Al-Waheidi has been integral in shaping the success of the WE movement into a global international charity and educational partner.
  • In 2014, Dalai was selected as one of RBC's Top 25 Canadian immigrant Award winners for her passion and desire to make the world a better place, especially for the lives of youth around the world. In addition, she's been recognized by the Women's Executive Network.
• Carrie Patterson, Chief Operations Director, WE Charity
  • An experienced Chief Operations Director with a demonstrated history of working in the non-profit organization management industry and in education. A long and extensive career specializing in work with young people with a focus on positive youth development, service-learning and social and emotional learning.
  • She was formerly served for twelve years with Tim Horton's Children Foundation, including as Director of Camp Operations.
• Roxanne Joyal, co-Founder of WE Charity
  • Roxanne has assisted in building the nonprofit since the earliest days into best-in-class organization engaging youth in service. As a proud Franco-Canadian, she helps to ensure that the organization serves youth coast-to-coast-to-coast.
  • Roxanne studied at Stanford University, followed by a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship for law at Oxford University, and started her legal practice as a clerk for the Supreme Court of Canada.
• WE Schools Youth Program facilitators and mentors
  • WE has an in-house team of experienced youth facilitators and mentors who help to coach young people and provide the tools and resources they need on their service journeys. This team will connect directly with young people in the program and offer 1 on 1 support.

Infrastructure capabilities to deliver service programming

With WE Charity's established reach and infrastructure, we believe design and delivery of new programming will be cost-effective and highly scalable.

In 2017, WE Charity opened the WE Global Learning Centre, which is our hub to deliver innovative programming across Canada. The Centre is equipped with two digital classrooms, two production bays, skype pods, and technology that enables the organization to connect and engage with youth across the country. From one-on-one mentorship, to virtual workshops for groups, to large virtual gatherings around the world-the Centre is equipped to support virtual and digital program delivery. Furthermore, strategic partnerships with leaders in technology including Microsoft, Telus, and Cisco enable WE Charity to enhance programming and increase efficiency through technology while remaining cost-effective.

Amplification and celebration

WE has unparalleled platforms for amplification and celebration of youth across Canada.

• Reaching over five million Canadians in 2018-2019 alone, WE is a pipeline to Canadians, including youth, and has the capacity and expertise to support the government in reaching its priorities, raising awareness and creating demand for service initiatives on a national level.
• WE achieved 15B+ media impressions in 2019 and has 4M+ followers on across our social channels.
• WE also has a passionate and committed network of celebrity ambassadors who would champion and amplify this program to millions of Canadians.

2. Social Entrepreneurship Program: Closing the COVID-19 opportunity gap for young people

Executive summary

This document proposes to the Government of Canada (GoC) an opportunity to create a strong multi-faceted social entrepreneurship program to support young Canadians during and post COVID-19 pandemic. By incentivizing and equipping youth to engage with social entrepreneurship opportunities, we'll be empowering them both to efficiently contribute to the economy by creating small businesses and boost our nation's economic output, while also addressing important social causes.

The program seeks to serve 8,000 young Canada (under-30) over 12-months with the following three bilingual elements: i) A 10-week digital program providing entrepreneurship expertise and support in the era of COVID-19; ii) a mentorship program linking entrepreneurs with 500+ experts from established companies who will provide functional and industry-specific support in areas such as finance, marketing, productization, distribution, employing at-risk populations, social impact measurement etc.; iii) a base payment to all participants, and access to additional incentive funds and long-term mentorship opportunities.

This program seeks to solve three timely challenges:

1. how to engage at-scale young Canadians (under-30), including those who were not previously employed;
2. how to jump-start entrepreneurism to create jobs for economic recovery, relevant to both 12-24 months of COVID-19 realities and in the years to follow;
3. how to engage companies across Canada who have excess employee capacity. Specifically, asking companies that benefit from the 75% federal employee subsidy to consider redirect a small percentage of employee's time (one day per week) to serve as skill-specific mentors for young entrepreneurs. This also encourages established companies to keep employees on the payroll and ensures that the 75% Canadian employer subsidy provides a further social benefit.

During preliminary conversations the idea to have their staff support young entrepreneurs in tackling society's problems has been well received by numerous senior executives at corporate giants including RBC, Telus, KPMG and Microsoft to name a few of our 200+ partners; however, WE would open up the program for other businesses that can also contribute including, medium-sized and smaller businesses. This program will include a robust mentorship program, with for-profit partners providing over $7 million worth (on an annualized basis) of high-value in-kind skill-specific hours from committed subject matter experts across industries, in addition to millions more via discounts on technology and resources to assist these entrepreneurs.

Drawing from 25 years of experience in social entrepreneurship, including building up ME to WE and providing service-learning programs to 7,000+ schools and over 2.4 million youth across Canada, WE has all the ingredients including vision, expert capacity and strategic partnerships to be a unique support platform for the government in enabling the successful execution of a national program that is reflective of today's COVID-19 crisis' diverse needs and demands from youth and millions of Canadian looking to assist others as we navigate these challenging times.

Introduction

WE recognizes the immense efforts and investments being led by the Government of Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, supporting strong, immediate and effective action to protect Canadians and our economy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Equally important are the complementary economic response plans implemented by other levels of governments directly investing in critical front-line industries and support programs to all Canadians. We are rapidly learning that Canada post-COVID-19 pandemic will require a collective effort to rebuild our economy, and where youth are at the heart of creating the greatest value in our economy, bringing innovative solutions to new challenges.

Today, youth at large are becoming more vulnerable and susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic's economic contraction and social limitations despite the GoC's efforts in building safety nets for families, employers and business across Canada. There is a urgent need to proactively support young people between the ages of 19 and 29 who are recent school/university graduates without the opportunity to attain a job, looking for innovative ways to solve current and post COVID-19 challenges or build small business, and seeking to build their workplace readiness skills and professional network for when our economy stabilizes.

We know that young Canadians are passionate and committed to finding a career path that provides income, while also creating a positive impact in the world, such as creating employment for at-risk populations, protecting our environment, and assisting with health and human wellness. We have learned through our innovative work with our for-profit social enterprise ME to WE and WE Charity, to marry business with social change and encourage youth to redefine what's possible through the employment of social entrepreneurship skills. Social enterprises - also known as purpose-driven businesses - create opportunities to encourage and enable priority populations to meaningfully participate in the creation of business ventures that address the unique needs of their community, including jobs and inclusive economic growth. For example, social enterprises are two times more likely to be run by women than traditional small and medium-sized businesses. While the number of purpose-driven businesses in Canada continues to increase, programming and support services available to such enterprises have not kept up with the demand, hence the importance of dedicated initiatives like our proposed social entrepreneurship program.

Now more than ever, WE is galvanizing our corporate partners to collectively support Canadian youth to build resiliency and continue their professional development during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. Although our corporate partners have also been deeply impacted by the economic contraction worldwide, many continue to express their desire to offer their employees' in-kind professional support to WE. Many of these are skilled professionals who are now working less hours as a result of the COVID-19 contraction and are passionate about giving back. This program will include a robust mentorship program offering over $7 million worth (on an annualized basis) of high-value in-kind skill-specific hours from committed subject matter experts across industries, in addition to millions more via discounts on technology and resources to assist these entrepreneurs.

The problem

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing the world, the workplace and the economy in unprecedented ways. WE has identified three critical challenges Canadians are facing during this time of economic uncertainty.

1. Young people and students are currently under-supported in the current economic relief plans. This demographic is not yet well established in the workplace, have had limited earnings or have had their summer jobs eliminated.
2. With such a dramatic change in the Canadian economy, many small businesses have already vanished so there is a critical need for entrepreneurs to help replenish the lost businesses and create new jobs.
3. There is an excess of idle and underutilized professionals as Canada's corporate sector has seen a dramatic decline in work. Companies are desperately seeking to repurpose employees or risk eliminating their jobs.

Opportunity

We see an opportunity to support the government in further deepening targeted safety nets to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, and further incentivize young Canadians to engage in social entrepreneurship and build community resilience while the economy stabilizes. We know that despite COVID-19 isolation measures, young Canadians are passionate and committed to finding a career path that continues to reinforce their skills and provides income, while also creating a positive impact on Canada and the world.

Our social entrepreneurship project is designed to engage youth during and post-COVID-19 pandemic, providing a free bilingual virtually delivered entrepreneurship program and one of kind world-class mentorship roster from leading Canadian corporate partners. Although the postsecondary education system is proactively engaging students, we are increasingly seeing the need to target youth who, are looking for non-academic programs that opens opportunities for future employment, are not enrolled in school or, unemployed youth. It is critical to emphasize that youth that engage in entrepreneurial activities not only create new business opportunities, but they also acquire essential skills for the 21st century economy like agility, leadership, collaboration and resilience - important contributions to the workforce as a whole.

We believe that creating a national entrepreneurship program is timely and strategic empowerment for young Canadians to move beyond COVID-19, particularly as we look to break down barriers such as longer transitional periods between finishing school and finding employment, high unemployment rates for out-of-school youth, and children depending on parents for a longer period than ever in our nation's history. Furthermore, we are looking to further support priority populations and underrepresented youth groups (such as Indigenous, women, rural populations, new Canadians) and build unique support services that enable world class mentoring and company creation.

The solution

Provide up to 8,000 young people across Canada (aged 19-29) with a free, bilingual, inclusive, virtual social entrepreneurship program that provides them with all the tools and mentorship needed to start and grow a successful purpose-driven business.

We believe that a national entrepreneurship program can be developed to not only focus on the youth's entrepreneurship activities but leverage their explicit desire to integrate purpose into their efforts and in turn help alleviate social problems both in Canada and beyond.

Proposed model

WE Charity's objective is to help launch a new generation of SMBs, powered by purpose-driven young people and ready for the new economic realities. There are three core components to the program:

WE Charity has modeled three options for program delivery, please see appendix I for an overview of each of the three options.

Demographics we will serve

The proposed national program will target young people underrepresented within current economic relief plans. Specifically, young people aged 19-29 who are current post-secondary students, recent graduates and recent entrants into the job market who have lost their employment due to COVID-19.

The program is bilingual, designed to ensure inclusive participation and recruitment of participants from priority youth groups including indigenous, women and new Canadians. Our program's digital program delivery platform, program leaders, diverse subject matter experts and incentives effectively targets the youth at all levels of education and can reach areas far from urban centres, provide unique connections with industry experts and essential recognition for youths' efforts respectively.

Why WE is uniquely positioned to lead this project

WE has 25 years of experience delivering meaningful and impactful programming to young people across Canada. We are uniquely positioned to take up this challenge as we have the internal expertise and resources to mobilize quickly, and multi-sector partnerships with the corporate, technology, and education to execute on a national scale.

• Proven Impact: WE is one of the largest founded in Canada charities, with programs coast-to-coast-to-coast. It uplifts the social sector by galvanizing Canadians across the country to volunteer, increase awareness and raise funds for the causes that matter most to them. In 2018-2019, 3,832 local organizations were supported and over $97 million in social value was created by Canadians participating in WE programs.¹
• Deep corporate partnerships: WE holds deep and unique relationships with 200+ best-in-class corporate partners who are committed to supporting social innovation and the ambitious vision of the WE Social Enterprise Centre.
• Unparalleled amplification platforms: Reaching over five million Canadians in 2018-2019 alone, WE is a pipeline to Canadians, including youth, and has the capacity and expertise to support the government in reaching its priorities, raising awareness and creating demand for social enterprise on a national level. WE achieved 4B+ media impressions in 2019, and has 4M+ followers on its Facebook page.
• Best practices learned through on the ground experience: WE is approached by several hundred not-for-profit peers, groups and individuals a year and there is a high demand for WE to share learnings from its successes and early failures. WE created the groundbreaking ME to WE social enterprise to support the efficiency of charity partner - WE Charity. ME to WE operates multiple successful lines of business for social purposes.

Our leadership team

Our programming will be led by our in-house team of entrepreneurial experts, with a proven track record of training and supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. Our leadership team includes:

• Jon E Worren, Entrepreneur in Residence, WE Scale Up
  • Served as the Lead Executive, Venture & Corporate Programs at MaRS, where he developed and delivered all of MaRS venture facing programming - both at MaRS and throughout Ontario. As part of his role he built MaRS digital platform, directly serving 10-15,000 entrepreneurs every year, including the award-winning Entrepreneurship 101 program - which has supported entrepreneurs in 130 countries to date. As part of that, Jon has personally worked directly with over 5,000 Canadian entrepreneurs.
  • He developed and delivered programming to support youth entrepreneurs at more than 15 university campus linked accelerators as part of Ontario's Jobs & Prosperity Program.
  • Jon also built MaRS Corporate programming, working directly with executive teams of 50+ corporate partners in helping them develop their innovation strategy.
  • Jon managed the $32.5M Ontario ScaleUp Voucher Program from 2016-2019, supporting the growth and expansion of the most promising high-growth innovation firms in the province, such as Fiix, Axonify, InteraXon, Asset Compliance, Bridgit, Wattpad and others with funding and growth coaching.
  • Jon is an accomplished entrepreneur having been co-founder of successful businesses in the software and deantech space. Jon has an MSc from London School of Economics.
• Hussam Ayyad, Managing Director, WE Scale Up
  • Held leadership positions at Communitech, DMZ, Ryerson University and the U of T's Rotman School of Management are listed below:
    • Built the core-operation of DMZ between 2016 and 2020 including all programs interfacing with entrepreneurs, investors and corporate backers, locally and internationally which most recently propelled the DMZ to become a world-leading tech accelerator and incubator that earned the ranking of #1 in the world by UBI.
    • Built the DMZ's investor network to exceed 3,000 VCs & Angel investors in less than 2 years.
    • Spearheaded building programs to support thousands of entrepreneurs nationally and internationally and support Canadian ventures who collectively raised over $1 Billion and created multiples of that in value of market capitalization.
  • Hussam is an experienced multi-time entrepreneur and business leader. Most notably, he co-founded and led the growth of Algero Canadian Metals to a $70 million revenue business in the environmental sustainability industry supplying metal scrap to world leading steel mills.
• Craig Kielburger, Co-Founder and Executive Sponsor, WE
  • He co-founded WE, a global movement that empowers people with the tools to change the world internationally and in their own communities.
  • Craig is a New York Times bestselling author who has written 12 books, including WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make a Living, and Change the World.
  • Craig is an MBA graduate with 15 honorary doctorates and has been awarded by the World Economic Forum and Roosevelt Institute, and received the Order of Canada.
• Roxanne Joyal, CEO and Co-Founder, ME to WE
  • She is CEO of ME to WE, a social enterprise that supports sustainable development projects of WE Charity.
  • Roxanne is a Francophone bilingual Canadian social entrepreneur, author, recognized leader in sustainable development and a women's empowerment advocate.
  • Roxanne is a graduate of Stanford University, she earned an Oxford degree in law and a prestigious Rhodes scholarship, and clerked for the Supreme Court of Canada. She is a recipient of the Order of Canada.
• Dalai Al-Waheidi, Executive Director, WE Charity
  • As the Executive Director of WE Charity, Dalai Al-Waheidi has been integral in shaping the success of the WE movement into a global international charity and educational partner.
  • In 2014, Dalai was selected as one of RBC's Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners for her passion and desire to make the world a better place, especially for the lives of youth around the world. In addition, she been recognized by the Women's Executive Network

Our partners

This project will leverage a multi sector partnership approach, leveraging WE's network. Through value in-kind provided through partnerships, WE will match the financial investment provided by the Government of Canada. Partners could include:

• Corporate partners:
  • Engaging WE's network of 200+ corporate partners to provide mentorship hours to young entrepreneurs. WE has already opened conversations with corporate partners, who have expressed a strong interest. They are grateful for the government's 75% wage subsidy, and they want to give-back to support Canada during this time.
  • The Business Council of Canada (BCC) has been a partner of WE to engage business leaders together to call on their employees enroll in our mentorship program and provide valuable introductions in the sector. The 150 member-companies employ 1.7 million Canadians and are responsible for most of Canada's corporate philanthropy. Craig Kielburger is the only non-profit member in the history of the BCC.
• Technology partners:
  • Microsoft - WE is the largest Canadian charitable partner of Microsoft, and one of the largest global partners. Microsoft provides inclusive technology including the provision of hardware and software platforms powering digital programming delivery and ensuring accessibility capabilities (i.e., close captioning translation, readers, visual adaptation and hearing accommodations).
  • Linkedln (owned by Microsoft) - partnership with this tech platform would be ideal as it will expose youth's skills attainment after completion of programming, including a virtual badge that can enhance their profile. Linkedln is a widely recognized platform that will offer young people a space to build their profile, highlight their training badge achieved, and which employers can easily track and validate. The Linkedln experience has important long-term value, as it will be a validated record that young people can take anywhere in the world to support their education and employment. Digital badging is proving to be the most cost-effective and scalable model to provide incentives for youth to participate. Digital badging provides meaningful recognition to youth, while removing continued reliance and incentive focused on solely financial incentive strategies.
• Community partners:
  • WE Charity currently holds 300 official educational partnerships across Canada with 17,309 active educators engaged in our network from 7,000 schools, educational institutions, and groups.
  • Junior Achievement - One of the largest networks of youth programming in entrepreneurship.
  • Enactus - The world's leading Social Entrepreneurship program based in universities and colleges (36 countries worldwide, 1.3 million people impacted annually, 1,730 universities involved). In Canada, they are present with close to 3,500 students involved on campuses.
  • Many other leading organizations such as:
    • Ryerson's DMZ - Leading accelerator in Canada
    • Ashoka Canada
    • B Lab Canada at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
    • BCG Digital Ventures
    • Boston Consulting Group
    • The Brandery
    • Brand Project
    • Bullfrog Power
    • Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund

Conclusion

WE reaches over 2.4 million youth providing a platform to further national understanding about the important role of entrepreneurship to help solve some of the most complex social challenges that we are to experience during and post COVID-19 Pandemic. We would like to humbly raise the importance of government taking a leadership role and sending a clear message of hope to youth who are seeing their future very bleak and with limited opportunities to grow at this time.

• Directly impacting up to 8,000 youth
• Providing between 12-20 hours of 1 on 1 mentorship to youth
• $500 cash grant to youth upon completion of program
• Building a network of 500 industry leading mentors across Canada to support a new generation of small business with impact
• Targeting priority youth demographics such as, indigenous, women and new Canadians

Together, we can bring a comprehensive future skills program to thousands of youth through digital programming, build a network of resilient youth deeply connected to the across sectors and, who can and will be able to reinsert themselves in the economy in a post COVID-19 world.

Appendix I: Program options

Closing the COVID-19 opportunity gap for young people through social entrepreneurship

Concept Paper Prepared by WE Charity, April 09th 2020

Executive summary

This document proposes to the Government of Canada (GoC) an opportunity to create a strong multi-faceted social entrepreneurship program to support young Canadians during and post COVID-19 pandemic. By incentivizing and equipping youth to engage with social entrepreneurship opportunities, we'll be empowering them both to efficiently contribute to the economy by creating small businesses and boost our nation’s economic output, while also addressing important social causes.

The program seeks to serve 8,000 young Canada (under-30) over 12-months with the following three bilingual elements: i) A 10-week digital program providing entrepreneurship expertise and support in the era of COVID-19; ii) a mentorship program linking entrepreneurs with 500+ experts from established companies who will provide functional and industry-specific support in areas such as finance, marketing, productization, distribution, employing at-risk populations, social impact measurement etc.; iii) a base payment to all participants, and access to additional incentive funds and long-term mentorship opportunities.

This program seeks to solve three timely challenges:

1. how to engage at-scale young Canadians (under-30), including those who were not previously employed;
2. how to jump-start entrepreneurism to create jobs for economic recovery, relevant to both 12-24 months of COVID-19 realities and in the years to follow;
3. how to engage companies across Canada who have excess employee capacity. Specifically, asking companies that benefit from the 75% federal employee subsidy to consider redirect a small percentage of employee’s time (one day per week) to serve as skill-specific mentors for young entrepreneurs. This also encourages established companies to keep employees on the payroll and ensures that the 75% Canadian employer subsidy provides a further social benefit.

During preliminary conversations the idea to have their staff support young entrepreneurs in tackling society’s problems has been well received by numerous senior executives at corporate giants including RBC, Telus, KPMG and Microsoft to name a few of our 200+ partners; however, WE would open up the program for other businesses that can also contribute including, medium-sized and smaller businesses. This program will include a robust mentorship program, with for-profit partners providing over $7 million worth (on an annualized basis) of high-value in-kind skill-specific hours from committed subject matter experts across industries, in addition to millions more via discounts on technology and resources to assist these entrepreneurs.

Drawing from 25 years of experience in social entrepreneurship, including building up ME to WE and providing service-learning programs to 7,000+ schools and over 2.4 million youth across Canada, WE has all the ingredients including vision, expert capacity and strategic partnerships to be a unique support platform for the government in enabling the successful execution of a national program that is reflective of today’s COVID-19 crisis’ diverse needs and demands from youth and millions of Canadian looking to assist others as we navigate these challenging times.

Introduction

WE recognizes the immense efforts and investments being led by the Government of Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan, supporting strong, immediate and effective action to protect Canadians and our economy from the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Equally important are the complementary economic response plans implemented by other levels of governments directly investing in critical front-line industries and support programs to all Canadians. We are rapidly learning that Canada post-COVID-19 pandemic will require a collective effort to rebuild our economy, and where youth are at the heart of creating the greatest value in our economy, bringing innovative solutions to new challenges.

Today, youth at large are becoming more vulnerable and susceptible to the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic contraction and social limitations despite the GoC’s efforts in building safety nets for families, employers and business across Canada. There is a urgent need to proactively support young people between the ages of 19 and 29 who are recent school/university graduates without the opportunity to attain a job, looking for innovative ways to solve current and post COVID-19 challenges or build small business, and seeking to build their workplace readiness skills and professional network for when our economy stabilizes.

We know that young Canadians are passionate and committed to finding a career path that provides income, while also creating a positive impact in the world, such as creating employment for at-risk populations, protecting our environment, and assisting with health and human wellness. We have learned through our innovative work with our for-profit social enterprise ME to WE and WE Charity, to marry business with social change and encourage youth to redefine what’s possible through the employment of social entrepreneurship skills. Social enterprises – also known as purpose-driven businesses – create opportunities to encourage and enable priority populations to meaningfully participate in the creation of business ventures that address the unique needs of their community, including jobs and inclusive economic growth. For example, social enterprises are two times more likely to be run by women than traditional small and medium-sized businesses. While the number of purpose-driven businesses in Canada continues to increase, programming and support services available to such enterprises have not kept up with the demand, hence the importance of dedicated initiatives like our proposed social entrepreneurship program.

Now more than ever, WE is galvanizing our corporate partners to collectively support Canadian youth to build resiliency and continue their professional development during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. Although our corporate partners have also been deeply impacted by the economic contraction worldwide, many continue to express their desire to offer their employees’ in-kind professional support to WE. Many of these are skilled professionals who are now working less hours as a result of the COVID-19 contraction and are passionate about giving back. This program will include a robust mentorship program offering over $7 million worth (on an annualized basis) of high-value in-kind skill-specific hours from committed subject matter experts across industries, in addition to millions more via discounts on technology and resources to assist these entrepreneurs.

The problem

The COVID-19 pandemic is rapidly changing the world, the workplace and the economy in unprecedented ways. WE has identified three critical challenges Canadians are facing during this time of economic uncertainty.

1. Young people and students are currently under-supported in the current economic relief plans. This demographic is not yet well established in the workplace, have had limited earnings or have had their summer jobs eliminated.
2. With such a dramatic change in the Canadian economy, many small businesses have already vanished so there is a critical need for entrepreneurs to help replenish the lost businesses and create new jobs.
3. There is an excess of idle and underutilized professionals as Canada’s corporate sector has seen a dramatic decline in work. Companies are desperately seeking to repurpose employees or risk eliminating their jobs.

Opportunity

We see an opportunity to support the government in further deepening targeted safety nets to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, and further incentivize young Canadians to engage in social entrepreneurship and build community resilience while the economy stabilizes. We know that despite COVID-19 isolation measures, young Canadians are passionate and committed to finding a career path that continues to reinforce their skills and provides income, while also creating a positive impact on Canada and the world.

Our social entrepreneurship project is designed to engage youth during and post-COVID-19 pandemic, providing a free bilingual virtually delivered entrepreneurship program and one of kind world-class mentorship roster from leading Canadian corporate partners. Although the postsecondary education system is proactively engaging students, we are increasingly seeing the need to target youth who, are looking for non-academic programs that opens opportunities for future employment, are not enrolled in school or, unemployed youth. It is critical to emphasize that youth that engage in entrepreneurial activities not only create new business opportunities, but they also acquire essential skills for the 21st century economy like agility, leadership, collaboration and resilience – important contributions to the workforce as a whole.

We believe that creating a national entrepreneurship program is timely and strategic empowerment for young Canadians to move beyond COVID-19, particularly as we look to break down barriers such as longer transitional periods between finishing school and finding employment, high unemployment rates for out-of-school youth, and children depending on parents for a longer period than ever in our nation’s history. Furthermore, we are looking to further support priority populations and underrepresented youth groups (such as Indigenous, women, rural populations, new Canadians) and build unique support services that enable world class mentoring and company creation.

The solution

Provide up to 8,000 young people across Canada (aged 19-29) with a free, bilingual, inclusive, virtual social entrepreneurship program that provides them with all the tools and mentorship needed to start and grow a successful purpose-driven business.

We believe that a national entrepreneurship program can be developed to not only focus on the youth’s entrepreneurship activities but leverage their explicit desire to integrate purpose into their efforts and in turn help alleviate social problems both in Canada and beyond.

Proposed model

WE Charity’s objective is to help launch a new generation of SMBs, powered by purpose-driven young people and ready for the new economic realities. There are three core components to the program:

WE Charity has modeled three options for program delivery, please see appendix I for an overview of each of the three options.

Demographics we will serve

The proposed national program will target young people underrepresented within current economic relief plans. Specifically, young people aged 19-29 who are current post-secondary students, recent graduates and recent entrants into the job market who have lost their employment due to COVID-19.

The program is bilingual, designed to ensure inclusive participation and recruitment of participants from priority youth groups including indigenous, women and new Canadians. Our program’s digital program delivery platform, program leaders, diverse subject matter experts and incentives effectively targets the youth at all levels of education and can reach areas far from urban centres, provide unique connections with industry experts and essential recognition for youths’ efforts respectively.

Why WE is uniquely positioned to lead this project

WE has 25 years of experience delivering meaningful and impactful programming to young people across Canada. We are uniquely positioned to take up this challenge as we have the internal expertise and resources to mobilize quickly, and multi-sector partnerships with the corporate, technology, and education to execute on a national scale.

• Proven impact: WE is one of the largest founded in Canada charities, with programs coast-to-coast-to-coast. It uplifts the social sector by galvanizing Canadians across the country to volunteer, increase awareness and raise funds for the causes that matter most to them. In 2018-2019, 3,832 local organizations were supported and over $97 million in social value was created by Canadians participating in WE programs.²
• Deep corporate partnerships: WE holds deep and unique relationships with 200+ best-in-class corporate partners who are committed to supporting social innovation and the ambitious vision of the WE Social Enterprise Centre.
• Unparalleled amplification platforms: Reaching over five million Canadians in 2018-2019 alone, WE is a pipeline to Canadians, including youth, and has the capacity and expertise to support the government in reaching its priorities, raising awareness and creating demand for social enterprise on a national level. WE achieved 4B+ media impressions in 2019, and has 4M+ followers on its Facebook page.
• Best practices learned through on the ground experience: WE is approached by several hundred not-for-profit peers, groups and individuals a year and there is a high demand for WE to share learnings from its successes and early failures. WE created the groundbreaking ME to WE social enterprise to support the efficiency of charity partner – WE Charity. ME to WE operates multiple successful lines of business for social purposes.

Our leadership team

Our programming will be led by our in-house team of entrepreneurial experts, with a proven track record of training and supporting Canadian entrepreneurs. Our leadership team includes:

• Jon E Worren, Entrepreneur in Residence, WE Scale Up
  • Served as the Lead Executive, Venture & Corporate Programs at MaRS, where he developed and delivered all of MaRS venture facing programming – both at MaRS and throughout Ontario. As part of his role he built MaRS digital platform, directly serving 10-15,000 entrepreneurs every year, including the award-winning Entrepreneurship 101 program – which has supported entrepreneurs in 130 countries to date. As part of that, Jon has personally worked directly with over 5,000 Canadian entrepreneurs.
  • He developed and delivered programming to support youth entrepreneurs at more than 15 university campus linked accelerators as part of Ontario’s Jobs & Prosperity Program.
  • Jon also built MaRS Corporate programming, working directly with executive teams of 50+ corporate partners in helping them develop their innovation strategy.
  • Jon managed the $32.5M Ontario ScaleUp Voucher Program from 2016-2019, supporting the growth and expansion of the most promising high-growth innovation firms in the province, such as Fiix, Axonify, InteraXon, Asset Compliance, Bridgit, Wattpad and others with funding and growth coaching.
  • Jon is an accomplished entrepreneur having been co-founder of successful businesses in the software and cleantech space. Jon has an MSc from London School of Economics.
• Hussam Ayyad, Managing Director, WE Scale Up
  • Held leadership positions at Communitech, DMZ, Ryerson University and the U of T’s Rotman School of Management are listed below:
    • Built the core-operation of DMZ between 2016 and 2020 including all programs interfacing with entrepreneurs, investors and corporate backers, locally and internationally which most recently propelled the DMZ to become a world-leading tech accelerator and incubator that earned the ranking of #1 in the world by UBI.
    • Built the DMZ’s investor network to exceed 3,000 VCs & Angel investors in less than 2 years.
    • Spearheaded building programs to support thousands of entrepreneurs nationally and internationally and support Canadian ventures who collectively raised over $1 Billion and created multiples of that in value of market capitalization.
  • Hussam is an experienced multi-time entrepreneur and business leader. Most notably, he co-founded and led the growth of Algero Canadian Metals to a $70 million revenue business in the environmental sustainability industry supplying metal scrap to world leading steel mills.
• Craig Kielburger, Co-Founder and Executive Sponsor, WE
  • He co-founded WE, a global movement that empowers people with the tools to change the world internationally and in their own communities.
  • Craig is a New York Times bestselling author who has written 12 books, including WEconomy: You Can Find Meaning, Make a Living, and Change the World.
  • Craig is an MBA graduate with 15 honorary doctorates and has been awarded by the World Economic Forum and Roosevelt Institute, and received the Order of Canada.
• Roxanne Joyal, CEO and Co-Founder, ME to WE
  • She is CEO of ME to WE, a social enterprise that supports sustainable development projects of WE Charity.
  • Roxanne is a Francophone bilingual Canadian social entrepreneur, author, recognized leader in sustainable development and a women’s empowerment advocate.
  • Roxanne is a graduate of Stanford University, she earned an Oxford degree in law and a prestigious Rhodes scholarship, and clerked for the Supreme Court of Canada. She is a recipient of the Order of Canada.
• Dalal Al-Waheidi, Executive Director, WE Charity
  • As the Executive Director of WE Charity, Dalal Al-Waheidi has been integral in shaping the success of the WE movement into a global international charity and educational partner.
  • In 2014, Dalal was selected as one of RBC’s Top 25 Canadian Immigrant Award winners for her passion and desire to make the world a better place, especially for the lives of youth around the world. In addition, she been recognized by the Women’s Executive Network.

Our partners

This project will leverage a multi sector partnership approach, leveraging WE’s network. Through value in-kind provided through partnerships, WE will match the financial investment provided by the Government of Canada. Partners could include:

• Corporate partners:
  • Engaging WE’s network of 200+ corporate partners to provide mentorship hours to young entrepreneurs. WE has already opened conversations with corporate partners, who have expressed a strong interest. They are grateful for the government's 75% wage subsidy, and they want to give-back to support Canada during this time.
  • The Business Council of Canada (BCC) has been a partner of WE to engage business leaders together to call on their employees enroll in our mentorship program and provide valuable introductions in the sector. The 150 member-companies employ 1.7 million Canadians and are responsible for most of Canada’s corporate philanthropy. Craig Kielburger is the only non-profit member in the history of the BCC.
• Technology partners:
  • Microsoft – WE is the largest Canadian charitable partner of Microsoft, and one of the largest global partners. Microsoft provides inclusive technology including the provision of hardware and software platforms powering digital programming delivery and ensuring accessibility capabilities (i.e.., close captioning translation, readers, visual adaptation and hearing accommodations)
  • LinkedIn (owned by Microsoft) – partnership with this tech platform would be ideal as it will expose youth’s skills attainment after completion of programming, including a virtual badge that can enhance their profile. LinkedIn is a widely recognized platform that will offer young people a space to build their profile, highlight their training badge achieved, and which employers can easily track and validate. The LinkedIn experience has important long-term value, as it will be a validated record that young people can take anywhere in the world to support their education and employment. Digital badging is proving to be the most cost-effective and scalable model to provide incentives for youth to participate. Digital badging provides meaningful recognition to youth, while removing continued reliance and incentive focused on solely financial incentive strategies.
• Community partners:
  • WE Charity currently holds 300 official educational partnerships across Canada with 17,309 active educators engaged in our network from 7,000 schools, educational institutions, and groups
  • Junior Achievement – One of the largest networks of youth programming in entrepreneurship
  • Enactus – the world’s leading Social Entrepreneurship program based in universities and colleges (36 countries worldwide, 1.3 million people impacted annually, 1,730 universities involved). In Canada, they are present with close to 3,500 students involved on campuses
  • Many other leading organizations such as:
    • Ryerson’s DMZ - Leading accelerator in Canada
    • Ashoka Canada
    • B Lab Canada at the MaRS Centre for Impact Investing
    • BCG Digital Ventures
    • Boston Consulting Group
    • The Brandery
    • Brand Project
    • Bullfrog Power
    • Capital for Aboriginal Prosperity and Entrepreneurship Fund

Conclusion

WE reaches over 2.4 million youth providing a platform to further national understanding about the important role of entrepreneurship to help solve some of the most complex social challenges that we are to experience during and post COVID-19 Pandemic. We would like to humbly raise the importance of government taking a leadership role and sending a clear message of hope to youth who are seeing their future very bleak and with limited opportunities to grow at this time.

• Directly impacting up to 8,000 youth
• Providing between 12-20 hours of 1 on 1 mentorship to youth
• $500 cash grant to youth upon completion of program
• Building a network of 500 industry leading mentors across Canada to support a new generation of small business with impact
• Targeting priority youth demographics such as, indigenous, women and new Canadians

Together, we can bring a comprehensive future skills program to thousands of youth through digital programming, build a network of resilient youth deeply connected to the across sectors and, who can and will be able to reinsert themselves in the economy in a post COVID-19 world.

Appendix I: Program options

ETHI study stemming from WE & Canada Student Service Grant – Background

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics (ETHI) has held a total of 5 meetings on matters stemming from WE charity and the Canada Student Service Grant.

The first 4 meetings (July 17, 22, 23, 29) were committee business meetings where members discussed amongst themselves various motions (see below), and amendments thereto, to launch a study on this issue. Most of the discussion focussed on the reasons to undertake a study, what is within the committee’s mandate, what is appropriate for a parliamentary committee to study, etc. The meetings were highly partisan, with considerable time taken up for political commentary and procedural points of order.

The 5th meeting (July 30) was in-camera, where the committee could hear testimony from the House Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel. This was the first official meeting of the committees ‘Study to Review the Safeguards in Place to Prevent Conflicts of Interest in Federal Government Expenditure Policies’. No other witnesses appeared before the committee during these 5 meetings.

ETHI has scheduled a meeting for Monday, August 10, 12:30-7pm with the following agenda: 

• 12:30-1:30: Committee business (in camera)
• 1:30-3: Duff Conacher, Democracy Watch
• 4-5:30: Chris MacDonald, Associate Professor, Ted Rogers School of Management
• 5:30-7: Mary Dawson, as an individual (Former Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner)

Summary of issues of interest and points raised by members of ETHI up to July 30, by Party

All opposition parties

• The letter requesting the initial meeting on July 17 indicated an interest in examining what safeguards are currently in place to prevent conflicts of interest when the government commits public funds.    
• Interested in examining the trips taken with WE by the Minister of Finance and his family, and associated expenses.  
• Argued that the present study is necessary in the context of what appears to be a pattern of ethical violations within the Trudeau Government (« ethical permissiveness » in the words of the NDP motion that was adopted).  

Conservative Party of Canada

• Interest in discovering which Cabinet members and their families have links to WE charity, and associated entities.   
• What understanding did Cabinet members have concerning potential conflicts of interest related to WE, in advance of the Cabinet decision on the Canada Student Service Grant.     

New Democratic Party

• Have expressed an interest in having the committee make recommendations for new systems and principles regarding conflict of interest avoidance.  
• The Registry of Lobbyists and why WE is not registered.  
• Have alluded to the expectations set out in ministerial mandate letters regarding ethics and accountability (i.e. what force and effect they have).   

Bloc Québécois

• Bloc members did not make many substantive interventions during the ETHI meetings on this issue up to July 30.  
• Rhéal Fortin introduced a motion calling in the Minister of finance to resign, which was defeated.

Liberal Party

• Although Liberal members voted against all of the motions presented by opposition members, they made various attempts to scope the proposed study, for example, by ensuring that witnesses who have expertise in governance appear before the committee. They also presented a motion, which was adopted, to protect any personal information of the family members of the Prime Minister that may be received by the committee.     

ETHI motions (Adopted and defeated)

• The following motion presented by Michael Barrett (CPC) was adopted on July 22, 2020. The first part sets out the mandate for the study (bold added), while the latter part requests documents from Speakers Spotlight, a private firm.

  « That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(3)(h), the Committee review the safeguards which are in place to avoid and prevent conflicts of interest in federal government procurement, contracting, granting, contribution and other expenditure policies; and that, to provide a case study for this review, an Order of the Committee do issue to Speakers’ Spotlight for a copy of all records pertaining to speaking appearances arranged, since October 14, 2008, for Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau – including, in respect of each speaking appearance, an indication of the fee provided, any expenses that were reimbursed and the name of the company, organization, person or entity booking it - provided that these records shall be provided to the Clerk of Committee within one week of the adoption of this Order; and that the Clerk provide these records to the members of the committee and the Ethics Commissioner for study; and that, any examination by this committee of the documents referred to be done in camera; and that this committee call upon Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appear to give testimony relating to these matters.”

• The committee also adopted a motion on July 22, 2020, governing the handling of the documents to be collected from Speakers Spotlight per the above motion, to ensure the privacy and security of this personal information of Canadians. It sets out that the committee is to review the material during an in-camera meeting, that it not be e-mailed, and other security protocols.
• On July 23, 2020, the committee adopted the following motion presented by Matthew Green (NDP) (final, official text still subject to confirmation). It provides for a study to be undertaken specifically with respect to ethics and conflict of interest avoidance measures in the Prime Minister’s Office (bold added). This mandate for a study effectively overlaps with that of the motion adopted on July 22 noted above. Mr. Green stated that the intention is to look into general policies, procedures, and practices, whereas the July 22 motion is more focused on the WE issue.
  • Whereas there is a culture of ethical permissiveness around the Prime Minister, and whereas the Prime Minister has twice been found to be in contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act and is under investigation for a third potential breach, and whereas the Prime Minister’s Office thus appears to lack the capability or inclination to adequately advise the Prime Minister with respect to the avoidance of conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest, in compliance with Canadian law, the Committee move, that pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)h), the Committee undertake a study of the policies, procedures, practices surrounding ethical conduct and avoidance of conflict of interest within the Prime Minister’s Office, that the witnesses must include but are not limited to the Clerk of the Privy Council, Ian Shugart, and Katie Telford, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, and that the Committee, upon completion of its study, issue a report with recommendations to better permit the Prime Minister’s Office to conduct the business of government with public confidence in its integrity.
  • The vote on this motion was tied (Liberal members opposed), requiring the chair to cast a vote which resulted in it being adopted.
• Two other motions were defeated:
  • asking the Minister of Finance to resign (NDP and Liberal members opposed);
  • asking the Chair to write to all Cabinet members to confirm whether they were aware of relationships between WE and its associated entities and «Justin Trudeau and his family, Bill Morneau and his family, Katie Telford, or Seamus O’Regan» prior to the Cabinet decision on the Canada Student Service Grant, as well as, whether they or their families have connections to WE (NDP and Liberal members opposed).

Standing Committee on Access to information, Privacy and Ethics, 43rd parl, 1st session

• Evidence #8 - July 23, 2020
• Evidence #6 - July 17, 2020
• Evidence #7 - July 22, 2020
• Evidence #9 - July 29, 2020
• Members
• [ * ]

Canada's COVID-19 Economic Response Plan

Support for students and recent graduates

Funding agreement

between

Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of State (Diversity and Inclusion and Youth) styled as the Minister of Diversity and Inclusion and Youth (hereinafter referred to as “Canada”)

and

WE Charity Foundation of Canada

(hereinafter referred to as “the Recipient”)

Hereinafter collectively referred to as “the Parties”

Articles of agreement

Whereas Canada has established the Youth Service Initiative also known as “Canada Service Corps” (hereinafter referred to as “the Program”) to support projects that create, promote and facilitate access to volunteer service opportunities that are meaningful to youth, that support lasting civic engagement, and that provide youth with life and work skills;

Whereas Canada has taken strong and quick action to protect its economy, the health, safety, and jobs of all Canadian during the global COVID-19 outbreak;

Whereas Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan provides targeted support for students and recent graduates;

Whereas Canada has determined that the Recipient is eligible to receive funding under Canada’s COVID-19 Economic Response Plan to Support Students and Recent Graduates; and

Whereas Canada has agreed to provide funding to the Recipient towards the costs of the Project;

Now, therefore, Canada and the Recipient agree as follows:

1.0 Interpretation

1.1 Unless the context requires otherwise, the expressions listed below have the following meanings for the purposes of this Agreement:

• “Agreement” means this agreement, including all schedules, and all amendments or restatements as permitted.
• “Cohort 1” means up to 20,000 Project Participants, and a minimum of 50 Not-for-Profits, engaged in or offering volunteer service opportunities, respectively, as outlined in Schedule A.
• “Cohort 2” means up to 20,000 Project Participants, and a minimum of 50 Not-for-Profits, engaged in or offering volunteer service opportunities, respectively, above those participating as part of Cohort 1.
• “Eligible Expenditures” means expenditures (including applicable taxes):
  1. that are directly related to the carrying out of the Project under this Agreement or are Program Costs;
  2. that meet the conditions governing eligibility under section 5.0;
  3. that ensure value for money because the costs they relate to have been negotiated to ensure best value, prudence and probity; and,
  4. that are incurred during the Project Period except the cost of preparing audited financial statement requested by Canada notwithstanding if it incurred outside the Project Period.
• “Force Majeure” means an event, condition or circumstance (and the effects thereof) which is not within the reasonable control of the Party claiming Force Majeure and which the Party claiming Force Majeure is unable to prevent or overcome, including events in the nature of acts of God, pandemic, epidemic, quarantine, illness outbreak, fire, explosion, civil disturbance, war, riot, insurrection, military or guerrilla action, terrorist activity, economic sanction, blockade or embargo, sabotage, flooding, earthquake, drought and action or restraint by the order of any governmental authority.
• “Not-for-profit” means organizations under that are established for purposes other than financial gain for their members. This category includes:
  1. community, charitable or voluntary organizations, including faith-based organizations (for example, churches, synagogues, temples, mosques);
  2. organizations that are tax exempt under paragraph 149(1)(l) of the Income Tax Act; and
  3. non-governmental organizations.
• “Project” means the project described in Schedule A.
• “Program Costs” means the expenditures incurred by the Recipient or Sub-Agreement Holder in the course of its regular operations that, though indirectly related to the delivery of the Project activities under section 3.0 enable the Recipient or Sub-Agreement Holder to manage the delivery of the Project activities under section 3.0 successfully.
• “Project Participant” means an eligible student as specified in Schedule A and includes all students of Cohort 1 and 2 and the Supplementary Cohort.
• “Project Period” means the period beginning on the Project Start Date specified in Schedule A and ending on the Project End Date specified in Schedule A.
• "Sub-Agreement" means a written agreement between the Recipient and an organization under which the Recipient further distributes a portion of the funding received by the Recipient under this Agreement to the organization and delegates all or part of its responsibilities relating to the delivery of eligible activities under this Agreement to the organization.
• "Sub-Agreement Holder" means an organization other than the Recipient, to whom a portion of the funding received by the Recipient under this Agreement is further distributed to enable the organization to carry out a Sub-Agreement.
• “Supplementary Cohort” means up to 60,000 Project Participants engaged in volunteer service opportunities as part of the Supplementary CSSG Program (as defined in Schedule A), and who are not part of Cohort 1 or Cohort 2;
• “Working Day” means Monday through Friday except statutory holidays.

2.0 Effective date and duration

This Agreement shall come into effect on May 5th, 2020, and shall expire at the end of the Project Period unless the Agreement is terminated on a prior date in accordance with the terms of this Agreement.

All obligations of the Parties shall expressly or by their nature survive termination or expiry of this Agreement and shall continue in full force subsequent to and notwithstanding such termination or expiry until and unless they are satisfied or by their nature expire.

3.0 Purpose of the contribution

The purpose of Canada’s funding is to enable the Recipient to carry out the Project. The funding provided by Canada shall be used by the Recipient solely for the purpose of paying the Eligible Expenditures.

The Project’s objective is to provide opportunities for Project Participants to take part in meaningful volunteer service activities and gain labour market and skills development experiences while giving back to their communities during the global COVID-19 outbreak through the implementation of Project activities as specified in Schedule A.

4.0 Canada’s contribution

4.1 The total maximum amount of Canada's contribution towards the Eligible Expenditures (subject to section 4.1(d)) is up to $ 543,530,000 (five hundred and forty-three million five hundred and thirty thousand dollars) for the Project Period, which shall be allocated as follows:

1. Award funding to be disbursed directly to eligible CSSG Students: Up to $500,000,000 (five hundred million dollars), to be paid as per section 4.3(d), to be distributed as awards to eligible Program Participants as follows:
   1. Up to $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) to provide for the award of up to $5,000 to each Project Participant who volunteers as per the conditions specified in Schedule A for Cohort 1 and is eligible to receive an award;
   2. Up to $100,000,000 (one hundred million dollars) to provide for the award of up to $5,000 to each Project Participant who volunteers as per the conditions specified in Schedule A for Cohort 2 and is eligible to receive an award; and
   3. Up to $300,000,000 (three hundred million dollars) to provide for the award of up to $5,000 to each Project Participant who volunteers as per the conditions specified in Schedule A for the Supplementary Cohort and is eligible to receive an award;
2. Cohort 1 program design, implementation and delivery: The following amounts, to be paid as per section 4.3(a), shall be allocated for the design, implementation and delivery of the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 1:
   1. $18,350,000 (eighteen million three hundred and fifty thousand dollars), which funds are intended to be allocated as follows, though the Recipient may reallocate amounts between any of subsections (A) to (C) below as the Recipient sees fit:
      1. $5,000,000 (five million dollars) in funding to Not-For-Profit partners (as defined in Schedule A) for Eligible Expenditures;
      2. $300,000 (three hundred thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures to program participants to help support accessibility to the program with focus on vulnerable populations;
      3. $13,050,000 (thirteen million and fifty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures which are required to set up and deliver activities in respect of Cohort 1 as specified in Schedule A, and for related Program Costs;
   2. $1,150,000 (one million one hundred fifty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures to pay for the management and administration of the award for eligible youth for Cohort 1, including to verify the eligibility of Project Participants and volunteer hours, and to disburse awards to eligible Project Participants (including the issuance of tax slips or other documents).
3. Cohort 2 program design, implementation and delivery: The following amounts shall be allocated for the design, implementation and delivery of the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 2:
   1. $12,380,000 (twelve million three hundred and eighty thousand dollars), paid as per section 4.3(b) or (c) as applicable, which funds are intended to be allocated as follows, though the Recipient may reallocate amounts between any of subsections (A) to (C) below as the Recipient sees fit:
      1. $3,750,000 (three million seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars) in funding to Not-For-Profits partners (as defined in Schedule A) for Eligible Expenditures;
      2. $300,000 (three hundred thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures to program participants to help support accessibility to the program;
      3. $8,330,000 (eight million three hundred and thirty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures which are required to set up and deliver activities in respect of Cohort 2 as specified in Schedule A, and for related Program Costs;
   2. Up to $1,150,000 (one million one hundred fifty thousand dollars) for Eligible Expenditures, which shall be included in the payment under section 4.3(b), if applicable, to pay for the management and administration of the award for eligible Project Participants for Cohort 2, including to verify the eligibility of Project Participants and volunteer hours, and to disburse awards to eligible Project Participants (including the issuance of tax slips or other documents).
4. Program costs for project participants in supplementary cohort: $10,500,000 (ten million five hundred thousand dollars), paid as per section 4.3(e), shall be allocated for the activities described in Schedule A in respect of the design, implementation and delivery of the Supplementary Cohort and the disbursement of cash awards to eligible Project Participants outside of Cohort 1 and Cohort 2. For greater certainty, payments by the Recipient of this amount to one or more affiliates referred to in section 18.4 to subcontract delivery of the activities in Schedule A associated with the Supplementary Cohort shall constitute Eligible Expenditures.

4.2 The Recipient may reallocate surplus funds without prior approval by Canada from activities specified in Schedule A between 4.1(b), (c) and (d) or to activities under 4.1(a). The Recipient will report reallocations under section 4.2 in the final report provided for in section 12.0.

4.3 Canada will pay the funding to the Recipient in the following series of payments:

1. one payment of $ 19,500,000 (nineteen million five hundred thousand dollars) upon the signature of this Agreement for expenditures under section 4.1(b);
2. unless either Party has given written notice before July 1, 2020 that it will not proceed with the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 2, one payment of $13,530,000 (thirteen million five hundred and thirty thousand dollars) on July 2, 2020, for expenditures under section 4.1(c);
3. if either Party has given notice prior to July 1, 2020 that it will not proceed with the activities described in Schedule A in respect of Cohort 2, one payment shall be made to reimburse the Recipient for all Eligible Expenditures related to Cohort 2 incurred up to the date of such notice, and all Eligible Expenditures related to Cohort 2 in respect of which the Recipient has, up to the date of notice, entered into binding commitments to pay to third parties, which amount shall be paid within ten (10) days of a delivery by the Recipient of a report setting out all Eligible Expenditures incurred in respect of Cohort 2 up to the date of notice;
4. one or more payments, with the last payment request to be submitted by the Recipient no later than September 23rd, 2020, to support awards to eligible Project Participants, up to an aggregate maximum of $500,000,000 (five hundred million dollars), with each payment to be paid to the Recipient in the amount requested by the Recipient within five (5) business days of the submission by the Recipient and acceptance by Canada of a request for payment, which shall include the requested payment amount as well as the anticipated number of awards to be covered by the payment along with the values of such awards. Total payments under this section 4.3(d) shall not exceed the maximum combined total amount identified in sections 4.1(a)(i), 4.1(a)(iii), and, if neither Party has given notice that it will not proceed with Cohort 2, section 4.1(a)(ii); and
5. For the administration of the Supplementary Cohort one payment of $10,500,000 (ten million five hundred thousand dollars) upon the signature of this Agreement for expenditures under section 4.1(d).

5.0 Conditions governing the eligibility of expenditures

5.1 To qualify as Eligible Expenditures, expenditures are subject to the following conditions:

1. subject to section 14.2, expenditures must be incurred during the Project Period;
2. expenditures must be reasonable;
3. the portion of the cost of any travel, meals and accommodation costs that exceeds the rates for public servants set out in the National Joint Council of Canada’s Travel Directive is not eligible;
4. the portion of hospitality costs that exceed the rates set out in Appendix B of Canada’s Treasury Board Directive on Travel, Hospitality, Conferences and Event Expenditures, is not eligible;
5. the portion of the cost of any goods and services purchased by the Recipient for which the Recipient may claim a tax credit (other than an input tax credit as defined by the Excise Tax Act) or reimbursement is not eligible;
6. depreciation of capital assets is not eligible;
7. fines and penalties are not eligible; and
8. the cost of alcoholic beverages is not eligible.

For greater certainty, to the extent that staff of the Recipient, WE Charity, WEllbeing Foundation, or ME to WE Foundation of Canada perform duties or activities related to the Project, the Recipient may allocate a reasonable portion of their salary as an Eligible Expenditure and shall not be required to maintain timesheets in respect of such allocation.

6.0 Interest earned from advances

6.1 If the total interest earned by the Recipient on the advance payment provided by Canada, as set out in Section 4.0, is in excess of one hundred dollars ($100), the Recipient may use the earned interest for Eligible Expenditures to advance the projects set out in this Agreement. All interest earned in excess of one hundred ($100) remaining at the end of the Project Period will be subject to Section 19, and as such, shall be a debt due and owing to the Crown.

7.0 Recipient declarations

7.1 The Recipient declares that any person who has been lobbying on its behalf to obtain the contribution that is the subject of this Agreement was in compliance with the provisions of the Lobbying Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. 44 (4th Supp.)), as amended from time to time, at the time the lobbying occurred and that any such person to whom the aforementioned act applies has received, or will receive, no payment, directly or indirectly, from the Recipient that is in whole or in part contingent on obtaining this Agreement.

8.0 Project records

8.1 The Recipient shall keep proper books and records, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, of all expenditures, costs and revenues relating to this Agreement, including:

1. Agreement-related contracts and agreements;
2. All invoices, receipts, vouchers, electronic payment requisitions and records relating to Eligible Expenditures;
3. Bank records including bank statements and cancelled cheques; and,
4. Agreement-related activity, progress and evaluation reports and reports of agreement reviews or audits carried out for, by, or on behalf of the Recipient.

8.2 The Recipient shall retain the books and records referred to in section 8.1 for a period of six (6) years following the Project Period.

9.0 Obligations of the recipient regarding collection and protection of information

9.1 Personal information may be collected and used by the Recipient in carrying out the Project and to provide aggregate data to Canada as per section 10.0.

9.2 The Recipient is solely responsible for personal information collected as part of this Agreement and will take all security measures reasonably necessary for the protection of same against unauthorized release or disclosure, as required by law in the jurisdiction of operation.

9.3 The Recipient must notify ESDC as soon as possible in the event of a privacy breach. This notification is for information purposes and may be considered in relation to the overall management of this Agreement. The Recipient remains solely responsible for the management of the privacy breach.

9.4 For greater certainty, any personal information about identifiable individuals that is contained in the Recipient’s books and records may be excluded from disclosure or redacted as necessary to enable the Recipient to comply with its obligations under applicable law when providing Canada with copies of or access to the Recipient’s books and records under this Agreement.

10.0 Reporting

10.1 The Recipient will provide to Canada bi-weekly report on project data as outlined in Schedule A.

10.2 The Recipient will only share aggregated statistics with representatives of Canada. No personally identifiable information will be included in regular reports.

10.3 The Recipient shall ensure that Project Participants are still allowed to participate in the Project if they do not agree to share with the Recipient any of the information on which the Recipient is required to include in the aggregated project data reported to Canada under Schedule A.

11.0 Financial and activity monitoring

11.1 The Recipient shall also, upon request, provide representatives of Canada with copies and extracts of all Project-related books and records referred to in section 8.0 at all reasonable times on reasonable notice for the purpose of conducting financial and activity monitoring reviews of the Project.

12.0 Canada’s right to audit

12.1 During the Project Period and for a period of six (6) years thereafter, the Recipient shall, upon request, grant representatives of Canada access to the books and records referred to in section 8.0 for the purpose of conducting an audit to verify compliance with the terms and conditions of this Agreement and verify expenses claimed by the Recipient as Eligible Expenditures. The Recipient shall permit Canada’s representative(s) to take copies and extracts from such accounts and records. The Recipient shall also provide Canada with such additional information as Canada may require with reference to such books and records.

13.0 Inquiry by the Auditor General of Canada

13.1 If, during the Project Period or within a period of six years thereafter, the Auditor General of Canada, in relation to an inquiry conducted under subsection 7.1(1) of the Auditor General Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-17), requests that the Recipient provide him or her with any records, documents or other information pertaining to the utilization of the funding provided under this Agreement, the Recipient shall provide the records, documents or other information within such period of time as may be reasonably requested in writing by the Auditor General of Canada.

14.0 Final report

14.1 The Recipient shall provide Canada with a final report as specified in Schedule A that summarizes the project scope and includes Eligible Expenditures, description of the results achieved, an explanation of any discrepancies between the results and the planned or expected results and also contains such other information as Canada may specify in writing to the Recipient as well as a summary of the reports provided under section 10. The Recipient shall provide Canada with the final report no later than ninety (90) days following the Project Period in a form and fashion acceptable by Canada.

14.2 The Recipient will provide to Canada their audited annual financial statement covering the Project Period. Where the Recipient’s annual audited financial statement does not provide sufficient project detail to satisfy Canada’s auditing requirements, Canada may request that an additional, more detailed audit be undertaken, and, the cost of preparing such report shall remain an Eligible Expenditure notwithstanding that it is incurred outside the Project Period.

15.0 Sub-agreements

15.1 The Recipient will establish its own service delivery structure to accomplish the Project’s objective by delegating its responsibilities for the delivery of some of its activities under this Agreement to Sub-Agreement Holders. The Recipient may authorize Sub-Agreement Holders to further sub-delegate responsibilities that have been delegated under a Sub-Agreement. Any persons to which such responsibilities are sub-delegated shall be made subject to the same obligations, mutatis mutandis, as apply to Sub-Agreement Holders.

15.2 Any Sub-Agreement with a Sub-Agreement Holder will include the necessary obligations, as specified in section 15.4, to allow the Recipient to fully report to and to provide Canada with information under the terms of this Agreement.

15.3 When the Recipient provides a portion of the funding provided by Canada to a Sub-Agreement Holder to carry out the Project, the Recipient must enter into a Sub-Agreement. The Sub-Agreement must respect the terms and conditions under which the Recipient is receiving the funding from Canada such that the Recipient is able to fulfill its obligations as set out in this Agreement, including reporting and evaluation obligations. The Sub-Agreement can only be entered into on or after the date of signature of this Agreement, but may be effective as of May 5, 2020.

15.4 The written Sub-Agreement referred to in section 15.3 shall include at a minimum:

1. the effective date, the date of signing and the duration of the Sub-Agreement;
2. a requirement for the Sub-Agreement Holder to repay to the Recipient the amount of any financial assistance provided under the Sub-Agreement to which it is not entitled. The Sub-Agreement should specify that amounts to which it is not entitled include the amount of any payments:
   1. made in error;
   2. made for costs in excess of the amount actually incurred for those costs; and
   3. that were used for costs that were not eligible under the Sub-Agreement;
3. to the extent that a Sub-Agreement Holder provides funding to a Not-for-Profit, a requirement that the Sub-Agreement Holder publicly disclose the name of the funded Not-for-profits and the amount of the funding provided to those Not-For-Profit;
4. a requirement for the Sub-Agreement Holder to notify the Recipient as soon as possible in the event of a privacy breach; and,
5. The disclaimer set out in section 16.

15.5 The Recipient must provide Canada with a copy of any Sub-Agreement that Canada requests within ten (10) business days. By submitting copies of a Sub-Agreement, the Recipient certifies and warrants that the Sub-Agreement complies with the requirements of this Agreement.

16.0 Canada’s disclaimer respecting sub-agreement holders

16.1 Nothing in this Agreement creates nor is to be interpreted, construed or held out as creating any role, responsibility, obligation or interest for or in Canada as it pertains to Sub-Agreements. Canada disclaims any and all responsibility, accountability and liability with respect to Sub-Agreements and the relationships between the Recipient and Sub-Agreement Holders.

17.0 Evaluation

17.1 The Recipient agrees to cooperate with Canada in the conduct of any evaluation of the Project and/or the Program that Canada may carry out during the Project Period or within a period of three years thereafter. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, if requested by Canada to do so for the purpose of conducting an evaluation, the Recipient agrees to:

1. participate in any survey, interview, case study or other data collection exercise initiated by Canada, and
2. subject to section 17.2, provide Canada with contact information of the Not-for-Profit Project partner organizations, if any, who participated in the Project.

17.2 The Recipient shall provide Canada with the contact information of a person (name, address, phone number and e-mail address) referred to in section 17.1(b) only if the person has given their written consent to the release of the information to Canada. The Recipient agrees to make all reasonable efforts to secure such consent during the Project Period. When providing a person’s contact information to Canada, the Recipient shall provide Canada with an accompanying written statement certifying that the person has given their consent to the sharing of their contact information with Canada.

18.0 Contracting procedures

Contracting

18.1 The Recipient shall use a fair and accountable process when procuring goods and services from contractors in relation to the Project. The Recipient shall select the bid or proposal offering a reasonable value.

Restrictions regarding non arms-length contracts

18.2 (1) Subject to section 18.4, and unless otherwise authorized in writing by Canada, all goods or services contracts, regardless of their value, entered into in relation to the Project between the Recipient and

1. an officer, director or employee of the Recipient,
2. a member of the immediate family of an officer, director or employee of the Recipient,
3. a business in which an officer, director or employee of the Recipient , or a member of their immediate family, has a financial interest, or
4. a business which is related to, or associated or affiliated (as these terms are defined in the Canada Business Corporations Act) with, the Recipient

require the prior written approval of Canada. In any such contract, the Recipient shall ensure that Canada has a right of access to the relevant records of the supplying entity for the purpose of verifying, if necessary, the amount of the expenditure claimed by the Recipient in relation to a contract referred to in this subsection.

(2) In this section, “immediate family” means the father, mother, step-father, step-mother, brother, sister, spouse (including common law partner), child (including child of common law partner), step-child, ward, father in law, mother in law or relative permanently residing in the household of the officer, director or employee.

Restrictions regarding sub-contracting of Recipient duties or responsibilities

18.3 Subject to section 18.4, the Recipient shall not subcontract the performance of any of its duties or responsibilities in managing the Project to another party without the prior written consent of Canada unless the Recipient has already indicated in the approved Project Description attached as Schedule A to this Agreement that it intends to use a subcontractor or subcontractors to perform those duties or responsibilities.

Exception

18.4 Notwithstanding section 18.3 the above, the Recipient may enter into contracts to procure goods and services from, and may subcontract the performance of its duties and responsibilities in managing the Project to, WE Charity, WEllbeing Foundation or ME to WE Foundation of Canada without prior written approval by Canada. The Recipient anticipates that it will subcontract with WE Charity for the performance of some or all of its duties under this Agreement.

19.0 Repayment requirements

19.1 In the event payments made to the Recipient exceed the amount to which the Recipient is entitled under this Agreement, the amount of the excess is a debt due and owing to Canada and shall be promptly repaid to Canada upon receipt of notice to do so and within the period specified in the notice. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, amounts to which the Recipient is not entitled include

1. the amount of any expenditures paid for with the contribution which are disallowed or determined to be ineligible; and
2. any amount paid in error or any amount paid in excess of the amount of the expenditure actually incurred.

19.2 Interest shall be charged on overdue repayments owing under section 19.1 in accordance with the Interest and Administrative Charges Regulations (SOR/96-188) (the “Regulations”) made pursuant to the Financial Administration Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. F-11). Interest is calculated and compounded monthly at the “average bank rate”, within the meaning of such expression as contained in the Regulations, plus three per cent (3%) during the period beginning on the due date specified in the notice to repay and ending on the day before the day on which payment is received by Canada.

19.3 The Recipient acknowledges that where an instrument tendered in payment or settlement of an amount due to Canada under section 19.1 is, for any reason, dishonoured, an administrative charge of $15 is payable by the Recipient to Canada in accordance with the Regulations.

20.0 Termination of the funding or agreement

Termination for default

20.1 (1) The following constitute Events of Default:

1. the Recipient becomes bankrupt, has a receiving order made against it, makes an assignment for the benefit of creditors, takes the benefit of a statute relating to bankrupt or insolvent debtors or an order is made or resolution passed for the winding up of the Recipient;
2. the Recipient ceases to operate;
3. the Recipient is in material breach of the performance of, or compliance with, any provision of this Agreement;
4. the Recipient, in support of its application for Canada’s contribution or in connection with this Agreement, has made materially false or misleading representations, statements or declarations, or provided materially false or misleading information to Canada; or
5. in the opinion of Canada, acting reasonably, there is a material adverse change in risk in the Recipient’s ability to complete the Project or to achieve the expected results of the Project set out in Schedule A.

(2) If

1. an Event of Default specified in section (1)(a) or (b) occurs, or
2. an Event of Default specified in sections (1)(c), (d) or (e) occurs and has not been remedied within thirty (30) days of receipt by the Recipient of written notice of default, or a plan satisfactory to Canada to remedy such Event of Default has not been put into place within such time period,

Canada may, in addition to any remedies otherwise available, immediately terminate the Agreement by written notice. Upon providing such notice of termination, Canada shall have no obligation to make any further contribution to the Recipient.

(3) In the event Canada gives the Recipient written notice of default pursuant to section (2)(b), Canada may suspend any further payment under this Agreement until the end of the period given to the Recipient to remedy the Event of Default.

(4) The fact that Canada refrains from exercising a remedy it is entitled to exercise under this Agreement shall not be considered to be a waiver of such right and, furthermore, partial or limited exercise of a right conferred upon Canada shall not prevent Canada in any way from later exercising any other right or remedy under this Agreement or other applicable law.

Termination for convenience

20.2 Canada may also terminate this Agreement at any time without cause upon not less than ninety (90) days written notice of intention to terminate.

Obligations relating to termination under section 20.2 and minimizing cancellation costs

20.3 In the event of a termination notice being given by Canada under section 20.2.

1. the Recipient shall make no further commitments in relation to the Project and shall cancel or otherwise reduce, to the extent possible, the amount of any outstanding commitments in relation thereto, and
2. all Eligible Expenditures incurred by the Recipient up to the date of termination, and all Eligible Expenditures in respect of which the Recipient has, up to the date of termination, entered into binding commitments to pay to third parties, will be paid by Canada, including the Recipient’s costs of, and incidental to, the cancellation of obligations incurred by it as a consequence of the termination of the Agreement; provided always that payment and reimbursement under this section shall only be made to the extent that the costs mentioned herein were actually incurred by the Recipient and the same are reasonable and properly attributable to the termination of the Agreement.

20.4 The Recipient shall negotiate all contracts related to the Project, including employment contracts with staff, on terms that will enable the Recipient to cancel same upon conditions and terms that will minimize to the extent possible their cancellation costs in the event of a termination of this Agreement. The Recipient shall cooperate with Canada and do everything reasonably within its power at all times to minimize and reduce the amount of Canada’s obligations under section 20.3 in the event of a termination of this Agreement.

21.0 Indemnification

21.1 The Recipient shall, both during and following the Project Period, indemnify and save Canada harmless from and against all claims, losses, damages, costs, expenses and other actions made, sustained, brought, threatened to be brought or prosecuted, in any manner based upon, occasioned by or attributable to any injury or death of a person, or loss or damage to property caused or alleged to be caused by any wilful or negligent act, omission or delay on the part of the Recipient or its employees or agents, Not-For-Profit partners (as defined in Schedule A) or Project Participants that are participating as part of Cohort 1 or Cohort 2, in connection with anything purported to be or required to be provided by or done by the Recipient pursuant to this Agreement or done otherwise in connection with the implementation of the Project.

21.2 The Recipient will include a provision in each Sub-Agreement requiring the Sub-Agreement Holder to indemnify and save harmless both the Recipient and Canada from each of the matters set out above, and to specifically permit Canada to directly claim indemnification from, and to assert a legal claim to enforce the indemnification against, the Sub-Agreement Holder.

22.0 Insurance

22.1 The Recipient shall arrange and maintain, during the Project Period, appropriate comprehensive general liability insurance coverage to cover claims for bodily injury or property damage resulting from anything done or omitted by the Recipient or its employees, agents or Project Participants, in carrying out the Project.

23.0 Relationship between the parties and non-liability of Canada

23.1 The management and supervision of the Project are the sole and absolute responsibility of the Recipient. The Recipient is not in any way authorized to make a promise, agreement or contract on behalf of Canada. This Agreement is a funding agreement only, not a contract for services or a contract of service or employment. Canada’s responsibility is limited to providing payments to the Recipient towards the Eligible Expenditures and otherwise in accordance with this Agreement. The parties hereto declare that nothing in this Agreement shall be construed as creating a partnership, an employer-employee, or agency relationship between them. The Recipient shall not represent itself as an agent, employee or partner of Canada.

23.2 Nothing in this Agreement creates any undertaking, commitment or obligation by Canada respecting additional or future funding of the Project beyond the Project Period, or that exceeds the maximum contribution specified in section 4.1. Canada shall not be liable for any loan, capital lease or other long-term obligation which the Recipient may enter into in relation to carrying out its responsibilities under this Agreement or for any obligation incurred by the Recipient toward another party in relation to the Project.

24.0 Conflict of interest

24.1 No current or former public servant or public office holder to whom the Conflict of Interest Act (S.C. 2006, c. 9, s. 2), the Policy on Conflict of Interest and Post-Employment or the Values and Ethics Code for the Public Sector applies shall derive a direct benefit from the Agreement unless the provision or receipt of such benefit is in compliance with the said legislation or codes.

24.2 No member of the Senate or the House of Commons shall be admitted to any share or part of the Agreement or to any benefit arising from it that is not otherwise available to the general public.

25.0 Informing canadians of the government of Canada’s contribution

25.1 The Recipient and Canada shall cooperate and consult in the communication and promotion of the CSSG and its components across all channels, which may include, but is not limited to social media, Internet, advertising, virtual events, and media relations.  

25.2 The Recipient agrees that Canada may, for the purposes of advertising and promoting the CSSG and its components, reproduce, redistribute and otherwise make available to the public or any part of the public materials that they make available via social media or otherwise on the Internet. 

25.3 To support Canada's ongoing communications efforts to demonstrate the success of CSSG, the Recipient agrees to identify and provide contact information for CSSG student recipients and/or Not-for-profits willing to share their service story in writing, including photographs and/or in video format, provided that such student recipients and Not-for-profits have provided their written consent to the release of such information. in the manner described in section 17.2.

25.4 If the Recipient documents the project or any activity funded under the Project using photographs, videos, audio recordings or written accounts, Canada may request to reproduce, distribute and further use any photograph, video, audio recording or written account or part thereof to promote, advertise and communicate the CSSG.

25.5 The Recipient will endeavour to provide Canada with all permissions, consents, releases and rights considered necessary by Canada for Canada to use the photograph, video, audio recording or written account or part thereof for the purposes set out in this section by signing the document provided by Canada for this purpose.

25.6 The Recipient must contact Canada fifteen (15) business days in advance to provide an opportunity for the Minister to participate in events, virtual or in person.

25.7 In addition to the text, the Recipient must include an approved quote from Canada in all releases that refer to funding sources for Project. The Recipient must contact Canada for the quote at least fifteen (15) business days in advance of issuing the release.

25.8 The Recipient may also provide a quote for any media release that Canada issues.

25.9 The Recipient must acknowledge, orally and/or in writing, Canada's funding contribution for any work which is produced under this Agreement. For written recognition the Recipient must use:

1. « [Recipient to insert name of Project] is funded by the Government of Canada under the Canada Student Service Grant», or,
2. any other statement provided to the Recipient by Canada.

26.0 Access to information

26.1 The Recipient acknowledges that Canada is subject to the Access to Information Act (R.S.C., 1985, c. A-1), and information obtained by Canada pertaining to this Agreement may be disclosed by Canada to the public upon request under the aforementioned act.

27.0 Proactive disclosure

27.1 The Recipient acknowledges that the name of the Recipient, the amount of the contributions and the general nature of the Project may be made publicly available by Canada in accordance with the Government of Canada’s commitment to proactively disclose the awarding of grants and contributions.

28.0 Disposition of capital assets

28.1 During the Project Period, the Recipient shall preserve any capital asset purchased by the Recipient with the funding provided by Canada and shall not dispose of it unless Canada authorizes its disposition.

28.2 At the end of the Project Period, to the extent that the total value of all Capital Assets purchased by the Recipient exceeds $200,000, Canada reserves the right to direct the Recipient to dispose of any capital asset purchased by the Recipient with the funding provided by Canada by:

1. selling it at fair market value or otherwise for an amount reasonably obtainable or realizable in the circumstances and applying the funds realized from such sale to offset Canada’s funding of the Eligible Expenditures;
2. turning it over to another organization or to an individual designated or approved by Canada; or
3. disposing of it in such other manner as may be determined by Canada.

28.3 Where Canada elects to exercise its right under section 28.2, the Recipient agrees to comply with the related direction provided by Canada.

28.4 For the purposes of section 28.0, “capital asset” means any single item, or a collection of items which form one identifiable functional unit, that is not physically incorporated into another product or not fully consumed by the end of the Project, and has a purchase or lease value of more than $1,000 (before taxes).

29.0 Intellectual property

29.1 Where in the course of carrying out the Project, the Recipient produces any work using funds provided by Canada, the copyright in the work shall vest in the Recipient. However, the Recipient hereby grants to Canada a non-exclusive, irrevocable and royalty free license to use, translate, adapt, record by any means or reproduce, except for commercial sale in competition with the Recipient, any such work which is produced by the Recipient.

29.2 The license granted under section 29.1 shall be for the duration of the copyright and shall include:

1. the right to sub-license the use of the work to any contractor engaged by Canada solely for the purpose of performing contracts with Canada, and
2. the right to distribute the work outside the Department of Employment and Social Development as long as the distribution does not undermine any commercial use of the work intended by the Recipient.

29.3 The Recipient agrees to execute any acknowledgements, agreements, assurances or other documents reasonably deemed necessary by Canada to establish or confirm the license granted under section 29.1.

29.4 Additionally, with respect to any work licensed under section 29.1, the Recipient

1. warrants that the work shall not infringe on the copyrights of others,
2. agrees to indemnify and save harmless Canada from all costs, expenses and damages arising from any breach of any such warranty, and
3. shall include an acknowledgment, in a manner satisfactory to Canada, on any work which is produced by it with funds contributed by Canada under this Agreement, acknowledging that the work was produced with funds contributed by Canada and identifying the Recipient as being solely responsible for the content of such work.

29.5 The Recipient shall include in the final report for the Project, that the Recipient is required to submit to Canada under the terms of this Agreement, a copy of any work licensed under section 29.1.

30.0 Notices

30.1 Any notices to be given and all reports, information, correspondence and other documents to be provided by either party under this Agreement shall be given or provided by personal delivery, courier service, or email at the postal address, fax number or email address, as the case may be, of the receiving party as shown in Schedule A. If there is any change to the email address or contact person of a party, the party concerned shall notify the other in writing of the change as soon as possible.

30.2 Notices, reports, information, correspondence and other documents that are delivered personally or by courier service shall be deemed to have been received upon delivery, or in the case of notices and documents sent by email, one (1) working day after they are sent.

31.0 Assignment of the agreement

31.1 The Recipient shall not assign this Agreement or any part thereof without the prior written consent of Canada.

32.0 Successors and assigns

32.1 This Agreement is binding upon and enure to the benefit of the parties and their respective successors and assigns.

33.0 Compliance with laws

33.1 The Recipient shall carry out the Project in compliance with all applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws, by-laws and regulations, including any environmental legislation and legislation related to protection of information and privacy. The Recipient shall obtain, prior to the commencement of the Project, all permits, licenses, consents and other authorizations that are necessary to the carrying out of the Project.

34.0 Applicable law

34.1 This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the applicable laws of the province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein.

35.0 Amendment

35.1 This Agreement may be amended by mutual consent of the parties, as required. To be valid, any amendment to this Agreement shall be in writing and signed by the parties.

36.0 Force majeure

36.1 During the occurrence of an event of Force Majeure, the obligations of the Party affected by such event of Force Majeure, to the extent that such obligations cannot be performed as a result of such event of Force Majeure, shall be suspended, and such Party shall not be considered to be in breach or default hereunder, for the period of such occurrence. The suspension of performance of the activities or deliverables contemplated by this Agreement or a part thereof shall be of no greater scope and of no longer duration than is reasonably required by the Force Majeure condition.

36.2 The non-performing Party shall give the other Party prompt written Notice of the particulars of the event of Force Majeure and its expected duration, shall continue to furnish reasonable reports with respect thereto on a timely basis during the continuance of the event of Force Majeure and shall use its reasonable commercial efforts to remedy its inability to perform.

36.3 Notwithstanding sections 36.1 and 36.2 and the definition of the term “Force Majeure” at section 1.0, the Parties agree that COVID-19’s impacts within Canada as of the date of signing of this Agreement do not constitute an event of Force Majeure for the purposes of this Agreement. However, the Parties also agree that COVID-19’s impacts may possibly become an event of Force Majeure for the purposes of this Agreement if circumstances were to change significantly. In the event that either Canada or the Recipient decide that COVID-19’s impacts may constitute an event of Force Majeure because of a significant change in circumstances, they shall so notify the other Party immediately and the Parties will negotiate in good faith to determine whether the change in circumstances resulted in an event of Force Majeure and what options are available to ensure the performance of the obligations of the Parties.

37.0 Official languages

37.1 Where the Project is to be delivered to members of either language community, the Recipient shall:

1. make Project-related documentation and announcements (for the public and prospective Project Participants, if any) in both official languages where applicable;
2. actively offer and provide in both official languages any Project-related services to be provided or made available to members of the public, where applicable; and,
3. organize activities and provide its services, where appropriate, in such a manner as to address the needs of both official language communities.

38.0 Counterparts

38.1 This Agreement may be executed in counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original but both of which taken together shall constitute one and the same agreement. The exchange of copies of this Agreement and of signature pages by facsimile or electronic transmission shall constitute effective execution and delivery of this Agreement as to the parties and may be used in lieu of the original Agreement for all purposes. Signatures of the parties transmitted by facsimile or electronic transmission shall be deemed to be their original signatures for all purposes.

39.0 Project participant eligibility

39.1 In determining Project Participant eligibility, the Recipient shall be entitled to rely upon information submitted by Project Participants or ESDC. The Recipient shall include a requirement that applicants declare their eligibility and may require the submission of supporting documentation that they determine necessary but will not be required to verify or validate such information and is not liable for any statements or information provided by a Project Participant that are untrue.

Signatures

Signed this 23rd day of June, 2020

For the Recipient, by the following authorized officer(s):

And signed this 23rd day of June, 2020

For Canada, by the following authorized officer:

Schedule A - Project description

Name of recipient
WE Charity
Project title
Project title

Objectives

WE Charity Foundation of Canada (WE) will administer cash awards and develop volunteer opportunities, in collaboration with other not-for-profit (NFP) organizations, for the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG), a new national initiative that recognizes the voluntary contributions of students to the community response to COVID-19. Through this project, students will gain valuable skills and experience and be recognized for their volunteer efforts with financial awards to help pay for their post-secondary education.

Definitions: In this Schedule A, in addition to the defined terms in the Agreement, the following definitions will apply:

1. “Core Program” has the meaning set out below and applies to Cohort 1 and Cohort 2;
2. “IWTH Platform” means the “I Want To Help” online platform managed by the Government of Canada;
3. “non-WE volunteer service opportunity” means a volunteer service opportunity generated by a Not-for-Profit and posted to the IWTH Platform as part of the Supplementary CSSG Program;
4. “Not-for-Profit partner” means a Not-for-Profit that has entered into an agreement with WE to offer volunteer service opportunities as part of the Core Program;
5. “student” means an individual that meets the “Eligibility of Students” or the “Eligibility of Students Receiving Other Income Benefits” criteria under the “CSSG Eligible Criteria” set out below;
6. “Supplementary CSSG Program” has the meaning set out below and applies to the Supplementary Cohort;
7. “volunteer service opportunity” means an individual volunteer position under the Core Program or the Supplementary CSSG Program that meets the “Eligibility Criteria for Volunteer Service Opportunities” set out below;
8. “WE Platform” means a white label online platform to be managed by WE to administer volunteer service opportunities as part of the Core Program;
9. “WE service opportunities” means volunteer service opportunities offered as part of the Core Program.

The project will consist of:

• 1) Core Program (0-40,000 volunteer service opportunities):
  • Up to 40,000 volunteer service opportunities (including Cohort 1 and, if not aborted, Cohort 2) made available for students by WE directly and by Not-for-Profit partners, of which a minimum of 10,000 volunteer service opportunities will be provided by WE to the extent that sufficient volunteer service opportunities cannot be offered through Not-for-Profit partners;
  • On-boarding, training, coaching of up to 40,000 student volunteers across Canada;
  • Posting eligible volunteer opportunities in bilingual format to the IWTH platform;
  • The disbursement of the CSSG cash award to up to 40,000 eligible students who have submitted validated volunteer service hours.
• 2) Supplementary CSSG Program (up to 60,000 student participants):
  • Facilitating the posting of additional non-WE volunteer service opportunities for students generated by Not-for-Profits who proactively reach out and would like to be part of the program on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform or through Canada. WE will not be responsible for recruiting such volunteer service opportunities, but will be responsible for ensuring such proposed volunteer service opportunities meet the eligibility criteria and are in bilingual format before they are posted;
  • Providing registration and enrollment support for non-core student participants to access the CSSG;
  • Collecting information from students to confirm eligibility for the CSSG cash award (via student card and additional verification if required), and collecting and storing payment information for eligible students;
  • The disbursement of the CSSG cash award to students who have submitted validated volunteer service hours.
• The specific objectives of the project are to:
  • Place up to 40,000 students in WE volunteer service opportunities across Canada, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups and official language minority communities (OLMC), through the ‘I Want to Help’ platform;
  • Facilitate the posting of additional non-WE volunteer service opportunities for students on the IWTH Platform, including registration and enrollment support for the non-core students to access the cash award generated by Not-for-Profits who proactively reach out and would like to be part of the program beyond Cohort 1 and, if applicable, Cohort 2;
  • Disburse the CSSG cash award to up to 100,000 Project Participants (including from Cohort 1, Cohort 2 and the Supplementary Cohort) who have submitted validated volunteer service hours;
  • Increase skills development for students; and
  • Increase the civic engagement and contributions of students in their communities in response to COVID-19.

Activities

Ongoing from May to September 2020

• Validate and post volunteer service opportunities in bilingual format from Not-for-Profits partners and other Not-for-Profits through web-based input module and electronic feed to ESDC’s ‘I Want to Help’ platform;
• Promote the program and the CSSG, including through digital and social channels;
• Register and match students from Cohort 1 and, if applicable, Cohort 2 to WE volunteer service opportunities;
• Register all students interested in applying for the CSSG cash award; 
• Provide bilingual supports to Not-for-Profit partners to ensure they have the capacity to train and safely onboard volunteers to WE service opportunities;
• Provide bilingual supports, youth skills training, and COVID-19 training to volunteers in WE service opportunities;
• Monitor program roll-out between WE and Not-for-Profit partners;
• Monitor WE service opportunities to ensure they continue to meet criteria;
• Provide bi-weekly reports to ESDC on all students registered in service opportunities and all students who register for the CSSG, with the following indicators as available:
  • estimated volunteer service hours completed;
  • first three digits of the student’s postal code;
  • number of students per birth year;
  • number of students who identify as first language English or French;
  • number of students who identify as male, female, or other;
  • number of students who identify as LGBTQ2+;
  • number of students who identify as a visible minority or racialized;
  • number of students who identify as having a disability;
  • number of students who identify as Indigenous, and whether they identify as: registered, on-reserve, off-reserve, non-status, Métis, and/or Inuit;
  • number of students who are newcomers to Canada (person who has left another country to settle in Canada within the last 5 years); and
  • number of students by their highest level of education completed, i.e. elementary, secondary, or post-secondary (college or CEGEP or university).
• NB: WE is only accountable to seek broad and diverse participation (as measured by the above indicators of success) in respect of Cohort 1 and Cohort 2 and is not accountable for the composition of the Supplementary Cohort for which WE will not engage in active recruitment;
• Collect information on all students to confirm eligibility (via student card and additional verification if required); and
• Collect and store payment information for students and disburse one-time CSSG cash awards, as per the directives below, to all Project Participants based on their validated service hours.

May 2020

• Map out administrative needs, capturing of financial data and payment processes for the management and disbursement of the CSSG; 
• Develop overall expenses tracking process; and
• Develop website, online registration and backend learning system for Project Participants.

June 2020

• Engage and sign agreements with a minimum of 50 Not-for-Profits, ensuring a diversity of partners across Canada that include those serving youth from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• Collaborate with Not-for-Profit partners to develop the basis for WE volunteer service opportunities for students, ensuring up to 10,000 service opportunities through WE charitable entities and up to another 10,000 service opportunities through Not-for-Profit partners;
• Develop a bilingual training program and resources for youth skills development;
• Develop processes and tools to implement and distribute the CSSG cash award to all Project Participants, including processes to validate service hours;
• Establish a bilingual support centre to provide information on program and CSSG eligibility to all Project Participants;
• Develop and provide bilingual supports to volunteers in WE opportunities to ensure inclusivity for a diversity of students, including alternative participation methods for those without technology;
• Launch a bilingual online WE Platform to register and intake volunteers for WE opportunities;
• Promote the launch of the program and the CSSG through an integrated bilingual marketing campaign across WE’s owned channels and paid media;
• Engage up to 15,000 total volunteers by July 7 (up to 10,000 with WE directly and a minimum of 5,000 with Not-for-Profit partners);
• Post sufficient volunteer service opportunities on the IWTH Platform to facilitate minimum participation within two weeks of the signature of this Agreement; and
• Organize official public announcement and launch of the Project.

July to August 2020

• Host a virtual national launch event for all Project Participants and Not-for-profit partners to promote and amplify the program and its anticipated social impact through the profiling of select volunteer service opportunities and special guests and speakers;
• Launch and test a bilingual CSSG registration portal for Project Participants to apply for the cash award;
• Enhance promotional efforts and storytelling of impacts achieved by Cohort 1;
• Continue outreach and engagement of students, particularly those from vulnerable populations;
• Launch Cohort 2, if not aborted, and develop up to an additional 20,000 WE volunteer service opportunities; and
• Engage up to 25,000 total volunteers by August 8 (up to 10,000 with WE directly and a minimum of 15,000 with Not-for-profit partners);

September to November 2020

• Support the wind down of WE volunteer service opportunities;
• Support the wind down of volunteer service placements and final activities by Project Participants;
• Host optional regional virtual summer-end celebrations (Western Canada, the Prairies, Ontario, and Quebec and Atlantic Canada) for Not-for-Profit partners and volunteers in WE service opportunities to celebrate their collective social impact, which will profile selected volunteers and include special guests and speakers;
• Follow up with Not-for-Profit partners for feedback, results, outcomes and lessons learned;
• Ensure any relevant accreditation is provided to all Project Participants for their validated volunteer service hours;
• Obtain, prepare and provide letters of reference for Project Participants as requested;
• Complete the disbursement of CSSG cash awards to Project Participants based on their validated completed volunteer service hours within the service standard of 60 days after payment is received from Canada for awards, subject to delays necessary to process or validate incomplete and problematic applications; 
• Process remaining payments for Not-for-Profit partners;
• Budget management, tracking and reconciliation.

December 2020 to April 2021

• Complete project wrap-up activities, including but not limited to follow-ups with Not-for-profit partners, any dissemination of project results, final data collection, and final financial information, etc.;
• Provide additional reporting and support to Not-for-profit partners to ensure their most up-to-date information is on the IWTH Opportunities Uploader;
• Final engagement with Not-for-profit partners and debrief of project activities and deliverables;
• Follow up with volunteers in WE service opportunities, with optional ongoing basic mentorship focused on areas of skill development and training;
• Optional low-touch ongoing support to volunteers in WE service opportunities on volunteer engagement and training;
• Storytelling and amplification of the impact of completed volunteer service opportunities;
• Issue tax receipts to all Project Participants who received the CSSG cash award;
• Direct in-bound Not-for-profit partner leads to the IWTH Platform;
• Conduct simple end of year survey with Not-for-Profit partners and a select sample of Project Participants;
• Reconcile expenses, close books and prepare for end of Project financial reporting;
• Ongoing website maintenance and handling of in-bound questions from Project Participants and Not-for-Profit partners;
• Prepare report on lessons learned and suggestions and deliver to ESDC;
• Compile social media and PR assets compendium and deliver to ESDC; and
• Deliver final report to ESDC.

Disbursement of the CSSG Cash Award

• Applicants from the Core Program and the Supplementary CSSG Program must register on the WE created platform by the deadline of August 8, 2020 in order to be eligible to receive the cash award.
• Cash awards will be paid in a lump sum amount based on the number of validated volunteer service hours that an applicant has completed between the launch of the program and September 15, 2020.
• Applicants may only apply for and receive the cash award once.
• The amounts for five levels of awards are as follows:
  • 100 hours for $1,000.
  • 200 hours for $2,000.
  • 300 hours for $3,000.
  • 400 hours for $4,000.
  • 500 hours for $5,000.
• Applicants must reach the minimum number of hours for each threshold, e.g. an applicant who submits 270 hours is only eligible to receive the $2,000 level award.
• Cash awards will be disbursed within 60 days of receipt of payment from Canada, unless demand is reported to exceed 100,000 applicants, and subject to delays necessary to process or validate incomplete and problematic applications.

Expected results

Outputs

• Up to 40,000 students engaged across Canada, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• Up to 40,000 eligible WE volunteer service opportunities across Canada are posted on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform for students, including those from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• A broad range of Not-for-Profit across Canada have provided eligible volunteer service opportunities on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform, including those serving youth from vulnerable or underrepresented groups, OLMCs, and in rural and remote areas;
• CSSG cash awards are disbursed to up to 100,000 Project Participants within 60 days of receipt of payment from Canada, subject to delays necessary to process or validate incomplete and problematic applications, to recognize their validated volunteer hours towards the COVID-19 response and provide financial support towards post-secondary studies;
• A bilingual online platform to register and intake Project Participants;
• A bilingual online platform to register and intake CSSG applicants;
• Bilingual resources, including onboarding and training materials, for Not-for-Profit partners and volunteers in WE service opportunities;
• A bilingual support centre to provide information on program and CSSG eligibility to all Project Participants;
• Bi-weekly reports with the agreed-upon indicators; and
• A final report, including audited financial statement as required by section 14.2 of the Agreement.

Outcomes

Students from diverse backgrounds and regions across Canada:

• successfully contribute to the community response to COVID-19;
• are recognized for their voluntary service to the COVID-19 response;
• receive financial support towards their post-secondary studies;
• gain valuable experience and skills development that will benefit their transition into the labour market; and
• increase their civic engagement and contributions in their communities.

CSSG eligibility criteria

Eligibility of students

1. To be considered an eligible student, a person must:

• be enrolled and attending post-secondary education (PSE) during the spring/summer 2020 and/or September 2020; or
• have graduated from PSE no earlier than December 2019; and
• be a Canadian citizen, permanent resident, registered Indian, or have refugee status.

2. Domicile:

• International students are not eligible.
• Canadian students who study abroad but are currently residing in Canada, and do their volunteer hours in Canada, are eligible.

3. No age restriction:

• All students who meet the eligibility criteria will receive the cash award.

4. Post-secondary education includes:

• part-time or full-time study over a period of at least twelve weeks which must be in pursuit of a degree, diploma or certificate at an accredited institution. Accredited institutions are universities, colleges and Indigenous learning institutions accredited by the province or territory in which they are located.

Eligibility of students receiving other income benefits

1. The following students are eligible:

• those receiving the Canada Emergency Student Benefit;
• those who are employed; and
• those receiving a stipend under the Canada Service Corps (CSC) micro-grant stream.

2. The following students are ineligible:

• Students who are receiving, or who have received at any time, the Canada Emergency Response Benefit (CERB), are not eligible to receive the CSSG. Students will be required to attest that they are have at no time been in receipt of the CERB. 

Eligibility vriteria for volunteer service opportunities

1. Eligible organizations:

• An eligible volunteer service opportunity must be with a Not-For-Profit, which includes non-profits and registered charities.

2. Eligible opportunities must:

• take place in Canada;
• be in support of Canada’s response to COVID-19;
• be a minimum of two hours a week for four weeks and run within the period from the official date of program launch until September 15th, 2020;
• adhere to public health regulations; and
• provide a meaningful experience for student volunteers.

3. Canada Service Corps participants :

• Those in a CSC placement or using a CSC micro-grant to lead a service project can count their volunteer hours towards the CSSG cash award.

4. Ineligible opportunities:

• Those used for lobbying, advocacy or that provide financial benefits to an organization or its members; and
• Those used as a way to replace a position where a person was previously paid, or, where a person would reasonably expect to be paid.

5. Ineligible organizations:

• For-profit organizations are not eligible to post opportunities on the ‘I Want to Help’ platform. 

Signatures:

Conflict of Interest Act

• Conflict of Interest Act

Key dates April-June 2020

Questions and answer – Conflict of interest

Who is responsible for advising the Prime Minister on conflict of interest issues?

The tenets of the conflict of interest regime are set out in the Conflict of Interest Act. In addition, the Prime Minister outlines his expectations for his Ministry in the guidance document Open and Accountable Government.

As Clerk of the Privy Council, I provide advice to the PM on all matters of policy and operations, and this would include issues related to conflict of interest. As has been mentioned in recent testimony before the Standing Committee on Finance, formal responsibility around how to apply the regime, including recusal, resides with the Supervisor of a conflict of interest screen if one is in place, or more generally, with the Chief of Staff.

It should be noted, that the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner also has a statutory mandate to advise the PM. The Act stipulates that the Commissioner provides confidential advice to the Prime Minister with respect to the application of the regime to public office holders.

Should the Prime Minister have recused himself from WE-related discussions?

The PM has said that he felt that he should have.

Did the Prime Minister’s own activities with WE contravene the Conflict of Interest Act?  

I would note it is the Ethics Commissioner who conducts examinations under the Act and assesses whether there is a contravention, not the Clerk of the Privy Council.

Any interaction between the Prime Minister and WE prior to his assuming office would have been governed by the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons and the Parliament of Canada Act and I cannot speak to that.

Ethical screens

Do all Ministers have ethical screens in place? If not, why not?

Formal ethical screens are only put in place if it is deemed necessary following consultation between a Minister and the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner. The absence of a formal screen does not in any way preclude a minister from recusing themselves from decision-making should a potential conflict arise.

How actively does PCO monitor the application of a screen?

PCO analysts are made aware of the screens that are in place. If they have reason to believe, when reviewing documents such as Memoranda to Cabinet, that a screen may apply they raise that internally and it is flagged to the appropriate department and Minister’s Office so that the Supervisor of the screen is made aware. 

Supplemental questions: Application of the Conflict of Interest Regime

What is the Conflict of Interest Act?

The Conflict of Interest Act is a statutory regime, enacted in 2006, which establishes rules for certain public office holders.

To whom does the Conflict of Interest Act apply?

The Act applies to “public office holders” (POH), as defined by the legislation. This includes ministers, ministers of state, parliamentary secretaries, the Chief Electoral Officer; ministerial staff; ministerial advisers; and appointments by the Governor in Council.

The Act also imposes additional requirements on “reporting public office holders” (RPOH), who are also POHs. RPOHs include ministers, ministers of state, parliamentary secretaries, the Chief Electoral Officer, ministerial staff who work more than 15 hours a week, and all full-time, and some part-time, appointees by the Governor in Council.

What requirements does the Conflict of Interest Act impose?

The requirements imposed by the Act on “public office holders” (POH), which also apply to “reporting public office holders” (RPOH), are general in nature, and include that a POH must arrange their private affairs in a manner that will prevent them from being in a conflict of interest, and not make decisions that place them in a conflict of interest. 

A POH is in a conflict of interest when they exercise an official power, duty or function that provides an opportunity to further their private interests or those of their relatives or friends or to improperly further another person’s private interests (COIA, s 9).

The COIA includes a general duty to avoid conflicts of interest, to not make a decision or participate in a decision that they know or reasonably should know that, would place them in a conflict of interest. Other requirements include that a POH cannot give preferential treatment or use insider information; cannot accept gifts that may be reasonably given to influence them in the exercise of their official powers, duties or functions except from friends and relatives or as a normal expression of courtesy and protocol. Permitted gifts over $1,000 must, however, be forfeited to the Crown.

RPOHs are subject to more onerous requirements. In addition to those duties and obligations placed on all POHs, RPOHs are subject to restrictions, including a bar – except as required in the exercise of his or her official powers, duties and functions – on engaging in employment or the practice of a profession; managing or operating a business or commercial activity; continuing as, or becoming, a director or officer in a corporation or an organization; holding office in a union or professional association; serving as a paid consultant; being active partner in a partnership and divestment of controlled assets.

The Act also prohibits a POH from entering into a contract or employment relationship with his or her spouse, common-law partner, child, sibling or parent, and prohibits ministers or anyone acting on their behalf to enter into a contract or employment relationship with a spouse, common-law partner, child, sibling or parent of another minister of the Crown or party colleague in Parliament, except in accordance with an impartial administrative process in which the minister, minister of state or parliamentary secretary plays no part, unless as an exempt political staff. The Act also prohibits a minister from being a party to a contract with a public sector entity from which they may benefit or in which they have an interest in a corporation where such occurs.

Many of these rules have been emphasized in the document Open and Accountable Government published in 2015 which I invite everyone to consult.

I also note that there are a variety of useful resources on the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner’s website which contain information which you may find relevant for your purposes.

Establishing and applying an ethical screen

Nature and subject matter of the screen

Open and Accountable Government outlines the Prime Minister’s expectations that members of the Ministry will act in a highly ethical manner, including taking all appropriate measures to avoid being in a potential conflict of interest. In consultation with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Ministers are expected, as necessary, to establish ethical screens to ensure compliance with their obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act and Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.

In consultation with the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, Ministers are expected, as necessary, to establish ethical screens to ensure compliance with their obligations under the Conflict of Interest Act and Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. 

The purpose of the screen is to assist a Minister in avoiding participation in discussions and decision-making, and the receipt of information, that may put them in a potential conflict of interest. When a screen applies, a Minister will abstain from participation in any discussion or decision-making process in relation to any matter falling within the subject matter of the screens. In particular, with respect to such matters, the Minister will not:

• access documents;
• attend Cabinet or Cabinet committees;
• be briefed by departmental officials, exempt staff or ministers, whether orally or in writing, on Cabinet or committee business or on policy, program or process matters; or
• attend meetings or participate in discussions.

Under the Acting Ministers Minute, (Schedule B of the OIC), a designated Minister may act in the Minister’s place if a matter falling within the screen requires a ministerial decision. Likewise, should the Minister be a Cabinet Committee Chair, the Vice-Chair of the Cabinet Committee may act in the Minister’s stead in the event that he/she is required to leave the chair of that committee.

Administration of the screen

Supervisor

Typically, the Minister’s Chief of Staff, is designated by the Minister to serve as the Supervisor of the screen. The Supervisor is responsible for ensuring that the screen has been established (in consultation with Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner) and is updated as needed based on future direction from the Commissioner. The Supervisor is further responsible for ensuring that any files in the Minister’s office, including electronic documents, that fall within the screen are segregated, labelled and kept in such a manner so that the Minister will not have access to them. The Supervisor informs all exempt staff in the Minister’s office of the practices and procedures required for this purpose.

It is expected that once an ethical screen is put in place, the Minister will communicate this fact to the Prime Minister’s Office and to the Privy Council Office for their awareness and to facilitate implementation.

Procedures for identifying matters subject to the screen

1. Drafters of Cabinet documents should carefully consider their content to determine whether they may be subject to an ethical screen for either their Minister or other ministers.
2. If a department believes that a Cabinet item should be subject to an ethical screen, they should clearly indicate this fact to their Privy Council Office (PCO) analyst as early as possible.
3. PCO analysts should familiarize themselves with the ethical screens that are in place and take these into consideration when reviewing Cabinet documents. If they identify issues that may be subject to an ethical screen, they should alert their Director of Operations, who in turn would inform the appropriate Assistant Secretary. 
4. Once it has been determined that an ethical screen may need to be applied, the appropriate Assistant Secretary from PCO, or their delegate, would reach out to the individual in the implicated Minister’s Office identified as the “Supervisor” of the screen (generally the Chief of Staff) to advise him/her that an item or items may be subject to the screen. Depending on the nature of the item, the Supervisor may request copies of relevant materials for his/her review. PCO will provide advice, though the ultimate determination of whether or not to apply the screen rests with the Supervisor who has been entrusted to make these decisions by the implicated Minister.
5. If an ethical screen is to be applied, PCO will ensure that the appropriate documents are subsequently clearly marked as “Not to be shown to Minister XXX – subject to conflict of interest screen”. This notation should appear in the document’s header section, and should be applied to both paper and electronic documents.
6. Documents that include both material that is subject to the screen as well as material that is not (e.g., Cabinet committee agenda), must be clearly identified as outlined above. In any version intended to be provided to a Minister who is subject to a screen, the portions subject to the screen should be redacted, and preceded by the notation “Not to be shown to Minister XXX – subject to conflict of interest screen”.
7. With respect to emails and other electronic communications addressing matters subject to the screen, the subject line should begin “Subject to conflict of interest screen – Minister XXX”.
8. For documents sent by interoffice mail, the address area of the outer envelope should include the notation “Not to be shown to Minister XXX – subject to conflict of interest screen”.
9. If, during a meeting at which a Minister is present, matters subject to a screen are to be raised, the Minister should be informed so that he/she might absent him/herself from that portion of the meeting. Care should also be taken during informal conversations that turn to a matter that may be subject to the screen.
10. If an item to be discussed at Cabinet or a Cabinet committee on which a Minister participates falls within the screen, the Chair of the meeting should be informed so that the Minister may be provided an opportunity to absent him/herself from that portion of the meeting. All documents distributed as part of the meeting should be identified as described above. 

Current conflict of interest screens for ministers

Minister	Ethical screen
François-Philippe Champagne	Any file touching on Bionest Technologies and the environmentally-friendly waste management industry.
Dominic LeBlanc	“…abstain from any participation in any matters or decisions, other than those of general application, relating to my friend, Mr. James D. Irving, President and Chief Executive Officer of J.D. Irving Limited, including J.D. Irving Limited its subsidiaries, affiliates, associates, divisions and or any legal form of business in which he or his companies may have a private interest.”
Bill Morneau	“Abstain from any participation in any matters or decisions, other than those of general application, relating to Morneau Shepell Inc. or its subsidiaries, affiliates and associates.”
Justin Trudeau	Issues specifically pertaining to the deportation case of Mohamed Harkat. Issues pertaining to the interests of the Aga Khan and his institutions. “… the PM has undertaken not to provide any advice, instruction or direction, nor participate in any discussion or decision making processes in respect of the management, disposition or investment of any controlled assets, as defined in section 20 of the Conflict of Interest Act, held in 7664699 Canada Inc.”
[ * ]	[ * ]

Expenditure transparency

Key messages

Successive governments have taken steps to encourage ethical behaviour and to increase accountability and transparency around government operations, including for procurement and grants and contributions.

Public office holders are subject to the provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act, enacted in 2006, when undertaking activities with respect to their positions.

The Federal Accountability Act was passed in 2006, enshrining standards of conduct in legislation, and strengthening mandates and powers for a number of independent Officers and Agents of Parliament, including the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, the Commissioner of Lobbying, and the Public Sector Integrity Commissioner.

Additional independent, non-partisan Agents of Parliament, whose mandates involve providing Parliament with an objective source of information about certain aspects of government operations, include:

• the Auditor General,
• the Commissioner of Official Languages,
• the Information Commissioner, and
• the Privacy Commissioner.

In 2016, the Government also passed legislation to make the Parliamentary Budget Officer an officer of Parliament.

The National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians (NSICOP), established in 2017, and the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA), established in 2019, provide oversight over all national security and intelligence activities of the Government of Canada.

In his mandate letters to his Ministers, the PM made a clear commitment that the government needs to operate in a more open and transparent manner. He stated: “I also expect us to continue to raise the bar on openness, effectiveness and transparency in government. This means a government that is open by default.”

Anticipated questions and answers

What reporting requirements exist to ensure transparency and accountability on government expenditures?

Leadership on open government is a shared responsibility across government, with many Cabinet ministers having responsibility for leading specific transparency-related initiatives. Key examples include:

• Ongoing work by the Minister of Finance and the President of the Treasury Board to make government accounting and financial reporting more consistent, transparent, and understandable to Canadians; and
• Over the past several years new reporting requirements for government departments and agencies have been added to make government reporting more consistent, transparent and understandable to Canadians, this includes:
  • Proactive disclosure of travel done by senior government officials and of government contracts, grants and contributions.
  • Increased disclosure of departmental program and performance information in the Departmental Plans and Departmental Result Reports.
  • The publication of quarterly financial reports highlighting departmental quarterly spending and reasons for change.
  • Increased publication of departmental and agencies data holdings consistent with the requirements Directive on Open Government.
• Amending the Access to Information Act to strengthen transparency in the regime by mandating the proactive publication of certain information by ministers and government institutions, such as briefing materials, expenses and contracts.

Speaking points - Government of Canada contracting safeguards

August 7, 2020

Note: the arrangement with WE Charity was not a procurement contract, but as the focus or inquiries are expanded to include procurement enclosed are details that may be useful.

General

• The Government of Canada is committed to open, fair and transparent procurement processes that obtain value for Canadians, and to taking action against improper, unethical, and illegal business practices.
• In addition, there are a number of Acts, regulations, policies, trade agreements and land claim agreements that require fair, open and transparent procurement.
• For this reason there are restrictions placed on when contracts can be sole sourced (these restrictions have been relaxed for COVID related contracts), so that we operate in a completion by default environment.
• Canada has a number of measures in place to ensure fairness, safeguard conflict of interest, and address unethical practices when it comes to federal contracting.
• The Contracting Policy requires that all contracts contain appropriate clauses to reflect the requirements of the Conflict of Interest Act, and further describes situations, expectations, and consequences such as “any real or perceived conflict of interest, which has not been satisfactorily resolved, could result in their contract with a contracting authority being terminated.”

Code of Conduct for Procurement

• Expectations for public servants and vendors are summarized in the Government of Canada’s Code of Conduct for Procurement.
• The Code provides all those involved in the procurement process with a consolidated set of mutual expectations to ensure a common basic understanding among all participants in procurement, including those regarding the federal government’s measures on conflict of interest and anti-corruption.
• By providing a single point of reference to key responsibilities and obligations, the government is making the measures easier to find and understand in light of an overall commitment to the highest standards of ethical conduct.
• The Code will be reviewed as necessary to ensure it continues to meet this objective.

Integrity Regime

• The Integrity Regime is a PSPC policy-based debarment system designed to ensure the integrity of the Government of Canada’s contracts and real property transactions. Most departments have agreed to use the PSPC system.
• Under the Regime’s Ineligibility and Suspension Policy, the government may suspend a supplier, or declare them ineligible, from being awarded a contract or real property agreement with Canada.
• A determination of ineligibility or suspension is made on the basis of charges and convictions of offences listed in the Policy, which relate to economic crimes such as corruption, fraud against Her Majesty, bribery, and collusion.

Fairness Monitoring

• The Fairness Monitoring Program is part of the Government of Canada’s strong framework to support accountability and integrity in procurement and real property transactions, by engaging independent third-party fairness monitors to observe all or part of a departmental activity.
• The program provides management, client departments, government suppliers, Parliament and Canadians with independent assurance that monitored activities are conducted with integrity and in a fair, open and transparent manner.

Fraud detection and intelligence

• Public Services and Procurement Canada also enhancing its fraud detection and intelligence capacity by improving mechanisms to detect bid-rigging, amendment abuses and contract splitting frauds.
• In collaboration with the Competition Bureau and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, a fraud tip-line was created.
• Moreover, using a procurement intelligence database, Public Services and Procurement Canada now uses statistical and quantitative data analysis to detect fraud in the procurement system.

Contract security

• Public Services and Procurement Canada also manages the Contract Security Program, which ensures the application of security safeguards through all phases of the contracting process.
• This includes security screening of private sector organizations and individuals requiring access to sensitive government information or assets.
• The program is responsible for releasing legally binding security clauses to be included in contracts based on the security requirements, and ensuring that contractors comply with the security requirements for safeguarding, transmitting, disclosing, destroying, removing and modifying sensitive government information/assets.

Office of the Procurement Ombudsman

• The Office of the Procurement Ombudsman is a neutral and independent organization of the Government of Canada that helps resolve contracting disputes between businesses and the federal government.
• The Office investigates complaints and provides dispute resolution services to help parties get back to business when issues arise.
• It also reviews widespread federal contracting issues and provides recommendations on how to improve them.

Clerk letter to Daniel Therrien

Ottawa, Canada
K1A 0A3

August 7, 2020

Mr. Daniel Therrien
Privacy Commissioner of Canada
30 Victoria Street, 1st Floor
Gatineau, QC K1A 1H3

Dear Mr. Therrien,

Pursuant to subsection 8(5) of the Privacy Act , the Privy Council Office duly notifies the Privacy Commissioner that, on August 8, 2020, we will be disclosing personal information to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (the Committee), in the public interest under paragraph 8(2)(m) of the Privacy Act. The personal information relates to the following individuals:

• Dalal Al-Waheidi
• Scott Baker
• Darina Jupa Wilson
• Craig Keilburger
• Marc Kielburger
• Sabrina Kim
• Jamie Kippen
• Laura Lebel
• Sofia Marquez
• Marilla McCargar
• Lauren Martin
• Jennifer Swan
• Katie Telford
• Rick Theis

On July 21, 2020, I testified at the Committee regarding Government spending, WE Charity and the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG). Previously, on July 7, 2020, the committee adopted a motion for the production of papers regarding the funding agreement with WE for the delivery of the Canada Student Grant, as follows:

That, pursuant to Standing Order 108(1)a), the Committee order that any contracts concluded with WE Charity and Me to We, all briefing notes, memos and emails, including the contribution agreement between the government and the organization, from senior officials prepared for or sent to any Minister regarding the design and creation of the Canada Student Service Grant, as well as any written correspondence and records of other correspondence with WE Charity and Me to We from March 2020 be provided to the Committee no later than August 8, 2020; that matters of Cabinet confidence and national security be excluded from the request; and that any redactions necessary, including to protect the privacy of Canadian citizens and permanent residents whose names and personal information may be included in the documents, as well as public servants who have been providing assistance on theis matter, be made by the Office of the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel of the House of Commons.

At my appearance, the Committee requested that I provide all communications between PMO staff and PCO staff; the Finance Minister’s Office and PCO; and the Finance Minister’s Office and the Finance Department relating to the WE charity contribution agreement and the CSSG. In the context of testimony by other senior Government of Canada officials (Michelle Kovacevic of Finance Canada and Rachel Wernick of Employment and Social Development Canada), the Finance Minister, and the Prime Minister and his Chief of Staff, Katie Telford, the Committee also sought the identity of all exempt staff involved in the CSSG. To date, two names were identified by witnesses in the course of their appearance: Amitpal Singh in the Minister of Finance Office (identified by Michelle Kovacevic); and Rick Theis in the Prime Minister’s Office (identified by Katie Telford).

In addition to Government of Canada witnesses, Craig Kielburger and Marc Kielburger of WE Charity also appeared before the Committee to answer questions on their role in the design and creation of the CSSG. During their testimony, Craig and Marc Kielburger spoke to at least two proposals provided to various Government of Canada officials and Cabinet Ministers, as well as the Contribution Agreement with the Government of Canada, which was provided to the Committee on July 24, 2020.

I took into account several factors in making the decision to release this limited personal information. I examined factors such as whether the information was publicly available (e.g. through disclosures made at Committee), the type of information being proposed to be released, and the public interest in the release of the information against the invasion of privacy of the individuals involved. Ultimately, I have carefully decided to release the personal information relating to the individuals, as most of it was personal information that was either publicly available or the expression of professional views related to the subject matter of the Committee’s study. I have decided to release this information in order to provide the Committee the ability to complete its mandate, which is to review Government spending, WE Charity, and the Canada Student Service Grant.

I have decided not to disclose all of the personal information found in the Privy Council Office records. I have decided to protect the phone number and email addresses of WE employees other than Craig and Mark Kielburger. In addition, there are a few references to the family members of a public servant where I have chosen to protect the information. In my opinion, the public interest in disclosing this type of personal information does not clearly outweigh the invasion of privacy.

I hope this answers all of your questions. Please do not hesitate to contact me should you require more information. 

Sincerely,


Ian Shugart
Clerk of the Privy Council Office

Note from Catherine

Note:

Guiding principle underpinning ethical conduct is individual Responsibility Evolution of ensuring integrity in public administration has resulted in the current Conflict of Interest Act. The Act sets out clear conflict of interest rules for individual public office holders, and minimizes the possibility of such conflicts through the following mechanisms:

• Within 60 days of appointment, provide a confidential report to the Commissioner. Discloses assets, income, other commercial activities or philanthropic interests
• Is to include reasonable efforts to include in the report comparable information for each member of his/her family
• Report all benefits that office holder or family member would receive from public sector contracts
• Notify Commissioner of material change to initial Confidential report – and thereafter there is the requirement to do an Annual Report
• Disclosure of gifts, travel
• Disclosure of offers of employment

The Ethics Commissioner and his Office is the entity with the legislative responsibility to ensure compliance by public office holders.

At present the provisions which exist between PMO and PCO in support of individuals includes:

• access to legal interpretation and advice through the Office of the Legal Counsel to the Clerk of the Privy Council
• as a department supporting a Minister, support / facilitator of mechanisms including ethical screens. Typically, Screens are developed in consultation with the Ethics Commissioner and administered by Chiefs of Staff to ensure material kept away from public office holder
• While ethical screens are the ultimate responsibility of the individual and administrator, PCO Cabinet Affairs coordinates public service efforts at Cabinet to prevent cabinet materials being inadvertently distributed to a Minister with a screen, and support is also provided to Ministers who indicate that a meeting recusal is necessary.

Other types of interaction between PMO/PCO include Four Corners meetings:

• policy development meetings. Public service advice provided directly to political staff
• public servants give unfettered advice, including discrepancies
• notes are kept for transparency

Response to FINA re: Request of financial due diligence

Contribution Agreement between Canada and WE Charity foundation

• The Contribution Agreement between Employment and Social Development Canada and WE Charity Foundation was provided to FINA on July 24, 2020. 
• The following document outlines the controls embedded in the Agreement to ensure stewardship and appropriate use of funds, a brief overview of the typical process used to evaluate projects and recipients, as well as an overview of the standard clauses generally included in contributions.  
• In this case, due to the accelerated pace of development of the program and selection of the recipient, the organizations’ past history in delivering projects funded by ESDC was considered and controls were embedded into the agreement to mitigate risks. The Department did not conduct an assessment of financial statements or an assessment of the Board stability.
• The assessment included an evaluation of the recipient’s standing, including:
  • completion of projects or progress of ongoing projects;
  • results achieved;
  • good financial standing on previous projects. 

In the case of the Agreement between ESDC and WE Charity Foundation, the advance and any subsequent payments were tied to the actual expenditures and results achieved.

• The Contribution Agreement included the following controls and clauses to ensure appropriate use of funds that required the organization to:
  1. only claim expenses against costs and expenses deemed eligilble (Clause 5)
     1. Eligible expenses are those directly related to the carrying out of the project, that ensure value for money, and are reasonable.
  2. receive payments only as results are achieved (Clause 4)
     1. Payments were tied to cohorts of youth and results. If participant numbers were not sufficient or meeting targets, subsequent payments would not be made. Of the Agreement value of $543.5M, $500M was to be provided to up to 100,000 participants in three cohorts. Payments were to be provided to the organization towards the end of the project to minimize overpayment.
  3. abide by the break down of payments included in the agreement (Clause 4)
     1. Payment 1 for Cohort 1 (19.5M) included funds for:
        1. Not-For-Profits other than We Charity Foundation ($5M)
        2. Program Participants with accessibility needs ($300,000)
        3. Funds for eligible expenditures including program set-up and delivery ($14.2M)
     2. A potential Payment 2 for a potential cohort 2 (12.38M) included funds for:
        1. $3.75M for Not-For-Profits other than WE Charity Foundation
        2. Program Participants with accessibility needs ($300,000)
        3. Funds for eligible expenditures including program set-up and delivery ($9.48M)
     3. A payment for supplementary cohorts included $10.5M for program set-up and delivery.
  4. submit a detailed project plan outlining objectives, activities, and expected results (Annex A to the Agreement)
  5. provide biweekly reports to Canada on project data (Clause 10)
  6. retain all project related financial and bank records (all agreement related contracts, agreements, invoices, receipts and other records) related to eligible expenditures (Clause 8)
  7. provide any documentation required by Canada to conduct monitoring of the project (Clause 11) or for Canada to conduct an audit (Clause 12)
  8. abide by conditions set out in the agreement to govern sub-agreement and contracting practices and to ensure fair and accountable processes (Clauses 15 and 18)
  9. abide by conditions set out by Canada with respect to the acquisition of capital assets and their disposition for any asset above $200,000 (Clause 28)
  10. Provide Canada with a final report that summarizes all results achieved, activities, and eligible expenditures as well as their audited annual financial statements covering the project (Clause 14)
  11. abide by repayment processes included in the agreement (clause 19)

General practices in grants and contributions management

• The Department assesses a proposal or an application from an organization to confirm eligibility of the organization, eligibility of the project an organization’s capacity to deliver a project, as well as the impact and feasibility of a project. The Terms and Conditions of a program set out the criteria that determine objectives and eligibility. Such Terms and Conditions are reviewed and approved by the Treasury Board Secretariat.  
• A risk assessment is then conducted to inform elements of a contribution agreement which includes payment frequency, monitoring and reporting. Organizations are validated with their Business number through the CRA website.
• A Contribution Agreement is a tool the Government of Canada uses to outline terms, conditions and the responsibilities and accountabilities of funding recipients. It is also used to mitigate risk and to ensure program objectives and outcomes for Canadians.
• Agreements include financial controls, monitoring, reporting requirements and outline the eligible expenditures and requirements for reimbursing funds.
• Throughout the lifecycle of a project, organizations are required to report on progress and are subject to monitoring and requirements to report on expenditures and results upon project completion.
• Organizations must submit final reports that indicate the results achieved and an accounting of eligible expenses.

Risk mitigation clauses and controls in contribution agreements

Contribution agreements are structured to mitigate the risks faced by the Government of Canada in delivering the project. Several clauses are contained in agreements to ensure stewardship of funds:

• Payment Clauses govern the frequency and amount of payments for organizations and any conditions that must be met in order to disburse payments. For high-value agreements, they are generally based on the completion of activities or milestones. Payment clauses are tailored to the project or recipient to minimize the risk of overpayment and the provision of funds if results are not being achieved.
• Definition of Eligible Expenditures ensures clarity and agreement between Canada and the recipient. If an organization uses funds for activities not deemed eligible, repayment clauses outline the process and timelines for repayment.
• Record-keeping and Financial statement clauses outline recipients’ responsibilities to maintain records or produce an audited financial statement at project close-out so that Canada can monitor the progress of a project or conduct an audit (as outlined in Audit clauses).
• Contracting and Sub-Agreement clauses are included in agreements to ensure that organizations use fair and accountable processes when contacting or providing funds to a sub-agreement holder to carry out elements of the project.

Other clauses are included in agreements to ensure that Canada has minimal risk exposure including:

• clauses that outline the process for Termination,
• clauses that indemnify and saves Canada harmless from and against claims, losses, and damages : and, 
• clauses that require recipients to comply with applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws, by-laws and regulations.

Examples of third party delivery through COVID-19

• Emergency Community Support Fund ($350 million fund for the Not-for-Profit Sector)
  • Administered by United Way, Canadian Red Cross, and Communities foundation Canada
• Emergency Support Fund for Cultural, Heritage and Support Organizations ($500 million fund)
  • Compnoents distributed by portfolio organizations, including Canada Council for the Arts ($55 million), Canada Media Fund ($88.8 million) and Telefilm Canada ($27 million)
• Women and Gender Equality, Emergency Funding to support Women’s Shelters and Organizations ($50 million)
  • Funding provided to Women’s Shelters Canada and the Canadian Women’s foundation for distribution amongst shelters
• Emergency support to Food Banks ($100 million)
  • $70 million of this funding is to be delivered through Food Banks Canada ($50 million), Salvation Army, Second Harvest, Community Food Centres Canada, and Breakfast Club of Canada ($20 million)
• Public Health Supports, e.g. Initial Quarantine at Trenton, Long Term Care Homes
  • The Canadian Red Cross was the delivery partner for the Trenton quarantine centre at the beginning of COVID-19
  • Canada has also established a $100 million fund for the Canadian Red Cross to deliver various emergency supports, including recent work in long-term care homes in Quebec and Ontario. In Quebec, the Red Cross has taken over for the Canadian Armed Forces
• Canadian Emergency Commercial Rent Assistance
  • Delivered by MCAP

[ * ]

[ * ]

Letter to David Gagnon

August 7, 2020

David Gagnon
Clerk of the Committee
Standing Committee on Finance
House of Commons
131 Queen Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0A6

Dear Mr. Gagnon,

I am pleased to provide records from the Privy Council Office (PCO) that were requested under the motion adopted by the Standing Committee on Finance (“the committee”) on July 7, 2020 in relation to the committee’s study on the WE Charity and the Canada Student Services Grant (CSSG) (Annex 1). 

I am also pleased to provide information related to the undertakings that I agreed to at my appearance before the committee on July 21, 2020 which were as follows: 

1. A detailed timeline of events.
   • Attached at Annex 2 is a timeline describing PCO’s knowledge of and involvement with the file.
2. A full list of organizations that were consulted on program development.
   • On Friday, July 24, 2020, the Department of Employment and Social Development (ESDC) provided the committee with a list of the national coalition member organizations of the Canada Services Corps (CSC) who ESDC spoke with in March and April of 2020.
   • I am told that on April 9, 2020, Department of Finance officials were provided with a report on stakeholder outreach regarding support for students during the COVID-19 context (See Annex 3 for a list of those organizations).
3. PCO media monitoring from the dates when Margaret and Alexandre Trudeau had speaking engagements for WE Charity.
   • I can confirm that PCO Media Monitoring does not have any media content of the public appearances for either Margaret Trudeau or Alexandre Trudeau.
   • The PCO media centre monitors coverage of the Government of Canada priorities, programs and services and does not monitor media coverage related to the relatives of the Prime Minister or their public appearances.
4. All communications between PMO staff and PCO staff; the Finance Minister’s Office and PCO; and the Finance Minister’s Office and the Finance Department relating to WE charity contribution agreement and the CSSG.
   • These communications are included in Annex 1 and in the package from the Department of Finance.  
5. Names of participants, notes, and recording of mid-April meeting between Rachel Wernick, Michelle Kovacevic (and whether PCO personnel were aware of the meeting taking place and participated).
   • I am told that a teleconference between officials with the Department of Finance and Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) was held on the evening of April 18, 2020.  
   • Participants:
     • Michelle Kovacevic, Assistant Deputy Minister, Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch, Department of Finance
     • Suzy McDonald, Associate Assistant Deputy Minister, Federal-Provincial Relations and Social Policy Branch, Department of Finance
     • Benoît Robidoux, Associate Deputy Minister, Employment and Social Development Canada
     • Rachel Wernick, Senior Assistant Deputy Minister, Skills and Employment Branch, Employment and Social Development Canada
     • Annik Beaudry, director General, Learning Policy, Partnerships and Service, Employment and Social Development Canada
     • No officials from PCO participated in the call or were aware of the meeting.
   • There is no recording of the meeting.
   • Meeting notes that were taken by Rachel Wernick and an e-mail thread about setting up the call are attached at Annex 4.
6. Due diligence analysis of any financial scrutiny undertaken with regard to the WE charity during this process.
   • Attached at Annex 5, you will find the detailed explanation prepared by ESDC of the controls embedded in the contribution agreement to ensure stewardship and appropriate use of funds, as well as a brief overview of the typical process used to evaluate projects and recipients.
   • Further information relating to due diligence that was done by officials in relation to the Canada Student Service Grant is provided in Annex 1 and in the packages that other relevant departments are providing to this committee.
7. The full text of contribution agreement.
   • This document was provided to the Committee by ESDC on Friday, July 24, 2020.

As I noted when I appeared at committee on July 21, 2020, my intent has been to be as expansive as possible in relation to the information that I provide.

The committee’s motion stipulates that Cabinet confidences and national security information are to be excluded from the package. No information is being withheld on the grounds of national security, since the information does not so pertain. With respect to Cabinet confidences, you will note that considerable information on the Canada Student Service Grant that were Cabinet confidences, is being provided to the Committee. This is in keeping with the public disclosures of information on this matter made by members of the Queen’s Privy Council for Canada. A principled approach was adopted to this information to ensure a non-selective application of the protection afforded by Cabinet confidentiality. As a result, considerable information on the Canada Student Service Grant that would otherwise constitute Cabinet confidences is being released. Information not related to the Canada Student Service Grant that constitute Cabinet confidences is withheld and identified as not relevant to the request.  

In this package, I have also chosen to disclose certain personal information contained in the Privy Council records relating to individuals working in minister’ offices as well as personal information of individuals who work for WE. I have decided to disclose this information because in my view the public interest in disclosure clearly outweighs any invasion of privacy. I have notified the Privacy Commissioner of my intention to disclose this personal information, as I am required to do under the Privacy Act.  

I have decided to protect the phone number and email addresses of WE employees other than Craig and Mark Kielburger. In addition, there are a few references to the family members of a public servant and I have chosen to protect that information. In my opinion, the public interest in disclosing this type of personal information does not clearly outweigh the invasion of privacy.

Similarly, because I believe that it is in the public interest to do so, I am prepared to issue a limited waiver of solicitor client privilege as it relates to the information that is being provided by departments in response to this motion and my undertakings.  

Lastly, I wish to draw the committee’s attention to a Note to File, prepared by Christiane Fox, the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs at the Privy Council Office. In that Note to File, Ms. Fox provides a clarification regarding references in two email exchanges (Annex 6).

I trust that the Committee will find the above explanations helpful in its consideration of the enclosed materials.

Sincerely,
Ian Shugart
Clerk of the Privy Council Office

Annex I

Records from the Privy Council Office requested under the motion adopted by the Standing Committee on Finance on July 7, in relation to the committee’s study on the WE Charity and the Canada Student Services Grant.

List of organizations included in report provided to Department of Finance officials on April 9, 2020:

• Canadian Alliance of Student Associations
• Higher Education Strategy Associates
• Assembly of First Nations
• Colleges and universities
• WE
• Royal Bank of Canada
• Polytechnics
• Business/Higher Education Roundtable
• Actua
• U15 Group of Canada Universities
• PALETTE
• Universities of Canada

PCO is informed that although PMO did outreach to some organizations, PMO did not do any outreach with WE. 

Call with Finance - April 18

$890M

• Doubling grants & loans
• Disagree with waiving parental contribution

4 ESS [Illegible]
SWP

Framing statistics (vis à vis those looking for work
   who on CERB
   who in school)

CSC

• Service placements – portal link to federal programs
• Service bursary: if you [student] volunteer x hrs

[Illegible]
   1000
   3000
   $5000

I want to help

• Explain: Application based scholarship - uncap amount

Checks and balance
3rd party – Shopify?   WE   CICAN Unicode

Who is eligible? students

    grads - loans

Emails from Benoit Robidou

All right at my end. Including Annik.

From: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Sent: April 18, 2020 4:43 PM
To: Robidoux, Benoit B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>; Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>; McDonald, Suzy (FIN) <suzy.mcdonald@canada.ca>
Subject: Re: call now if you can – moving the call to 6pm

sorry
my life is miserable
I am now proposing 6!

Sent by MK ’s sassy smartphone
[ * ]

---

From: benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 18, 2020 3:20 PM
To: Wernick, Rachel (Ext.) <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>; Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Subject: RE: news? like decisions? 

Michelle are you setting the call? This is beyond my limited capacity

From: Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 18, 2020 3:16 PM
To: Robidoux, Benoit B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>; Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Subject: RE: news? like decisions?

I’m good for the next hour or so. Aiming for a call with mino on [ * ] around 4h

From: Robidoux, Benoit B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 18, 2020 3:14 PM
To: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Cc: Wernick, Rachel R [NC] <rachel.wernick@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: RE: news? like decisions?

Sure Rachel, when would be a good time?  

From: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Sent: April 18, 2020 2:28 PM
To: Robidoux, Benoit B [NC] <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Subject: RE: news? like decisions? 

Yes on most things — some work on others
Much better is I brief you verbally.
Want to arrange a call? Do you want to invite Rachel — I think much might be in her wheelhouse.
I would invite Suzy from my end, too.

Sent by MK’s laptop, which is home alone doing its part to flatten the COVID-19 curve
Assistant Deputy Minister
Finance Canada
[ * ]
613-369-9572 (office)

From: benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca <benoit.robidoux@hrsdc-rhdcc.gc.ca>
Sent: April 18, 2020 2:23 PM
To: Kovacevic, Michelle (FIN) <michelle.kovacevic@canada.ca>
Subject : news? like decisions? 

Response to FINA re: Request of financial due diligence

Contribution Agreement between Canada and WE Charity foundation

• The Contribution Agreement between Employment and Social Development Canada and WE Charity Foundation was provided to FINA on July 24, 2020.
• The following document outlines the controls embedded in the Agreement to ensure stewardship and appropriate use of funds, a brief overview of the typical process used to evaluate projects and recipients, as well as an overview of the standard clauses generally included in contributions.
• In this case, due to the accelerated pace of development of the program and selection of the recipient, the organizations’ past history in delivering projects funded by ESDC was considered and controls were embedded into the agreement to mitigate risks. The Department did not conduct an assessment of financial statements or an assessment of the Board stability.
• The assessment included an evaluation of the recipient’s standing, including:
  • completion of projects or progress of ongoing projects;
  • results achieved;
  • good financial standing on previous projects. 

In the case of the Agreement between ESDC and WE Charity Foundation, the advance and any subsequent payments were tied to the actual expenditures and results achieved.

• The Contribution Agreement included the following controls and clauses to ensure appropriate use of funds that required the organization to:
  1. only claim expenses against costs and expenses deemed eligilble (Clause 5)
     1. Eligible expenses are those directly related to the carrying out of the project, that ensure value for money, and are reasonable.
  2. receive payments only as results are achieved (Clause 4) :
     1. Payments were tied to cohorts of youth and results. If participant numbers were not sufficient or meeting targets, subsequent payments would not be made. Of the Agreement value of $543.5M, $500M was to be provided to up to 100,000 participants in three cohorts. Payments were to be provided to the organization towards the end of the project to minimize overpayment.
  3. abide by the break down of payments included in the agreement (Clause 4)
     1. Payment 1 for Cohort 1 (19.5M) included funds for:
        1. Not-For-Profits other than We Charity Foundation ($5M)
        2. Program Participants with accessibility needs ($300,000)
        3. Funds for eligible expenditures including program set-up and delivery ($14.2M)
     2. A potential Payment 2 for a potential cohort 2 ($12.38M) included funds for:
        1. $3.75M for Not-For-Profits other than WE Charity Foundation
        2. Program Participants with accessibility needs ($300,000)
        3. Funds for eligible expenditures including program set-up and delivery ($9.48M)
     3. A payment for supplementary cohorts included $10.5M for program set-up and delivery.
  4. submit a detailed project plan outlining objectives, activities, and expected results (Annex A to the Agreement)
  5. provide biweekly reports to Canada on project data (Clause 10)
  6. retain all project related financial and bank records (all agreement related contracts, agreements, invoices, receipts and other records) related to eligible expenditures (Clause 8)
  7. provide any documentation required by Canada to conduct monitoring of the project (Clause 11) or for Canada to conduct an audit (Clause 12)
  8. abide by conditions set out in the agreement to govern sub-agreement and contracting practices and to ensure fair and accountable processes (Clauses 15 and 18)
  9. abide by conditions set out by Canada with respect to the acquisition of capital assets and their disposition for any asset above $200,000. (Clause 28)
  10. Provide Canada with a final report that summarizes all results achieved, activities, and eligible expenditures as well as their audited annual financial statements covering the project (Clause 14)
  11. abide by repayment processes included in the agreement (clause 19)

General practices in grants and contributions management

• The Department assesses a proposal or an application from an organization to confirm eligibility of the organization, eligibility of the project an organization’s capacity to deliver a project, as well as the impact and feasibility of a project. The Terms and Conditions of a program set out the criteria that determine objectives and eligibility. Such Terms and Conditions are reviewed and approved by the Treasury Board Secretariat.  
• A risk assessment is then conducted to inform elements of a contribution agreement which includes payment frequency, monitoring and reporting. Organizations are validated with their Business number through the CRA website.
• A Contribution Agreement is a tool the Government of Canada uses to outline terms, conditions and the responsibilities and accountabilities of funding recipients. It is also used to mitigate risk and to ensure program objectives and outcomes for Canadians.
• Agreements include financial controls, monitoring, reporting requirements and outline the eligible expenditures and requirements for reimbursing funds.
• Throughout the lifecycle of a project, organizations are required to report on progress and are subject to monitoring and requirements to report on expenditures and results upon project completion.
• Organizations must submit final reports that indicate the results achieved and an accounting of eligible expenses.

Risk mitigation clauses and controls in contribution agreements

Contribution agreements are structured to mitigate the risks faced by the Government of Canada in delivering the project. Several clauses are contained in agreements to ensure stewardship of funds:

• Payment clauses govern the frequency and amount of payments for organizations and any conditions that must be met in order to disburse payments. For high-value agreements, they are generally based on the completion of activities or milestones. Payment clauses are tailored to the project or recipient to minimize the risk of overpayment and the provision of funds if results are not being achieved.
• Definition of eligible expenditures ensures clarity and agreement between Canada and the recipient. If an organization uses funds for activities not deemed eligible, repayment clauses outline the process and timelines for repayment.
• Record-keeping and Financial statement clauses outline recipients’ responsibilities to maintain records or produce an audited financial statement at project close-out so that Canada can monitor the progress of a project or conduct an audit (as outlined in Audit clauses).
• Contracting and Sub-Agreement clauses are included in agreements to ensure that organizations use fair and accountable processes when contacting or providing funds to a sub-agreement holder to carry out elements of the project.

Other clauses are included in agreements to ensure that Canada has minimal risk exposure including:

• clauses that outline the process for Termination,
• clauses that indemnify and saves Canada harmless from and against claims, losses, and damages : and, 
• clauses that require recipients to comply with applicable federal, provincial and municipal laws, by-laws and regulations.

Note from Chris Fox

August 5, 2020

House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance

Study: Government Spending, WE Charity and the Canada Student Service Grant

Note to file to the Clerk of the Finance Committee

In the package of Documents prepared for the Committee’s study on the WE Charity and the Canada Student Services Grant, there are two references to a briefing to the Deputy Prime Minister (one email indicates that the briefing would have been on April 23rd) by the Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs. I wanted to clarify that the briefing in question on the students’ package and the provincial and territorial considerations did not occur.

Christiane Fox, Deputy Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs

Privy Council Office

Table of contents

Tab 1: FINA prep materials

• Timeline
• Q&As

Tab 2: Conflict of Ethics

• Draft Q&As
• Ethical screen overview
• List of current ethical screens with example from Finance
• Open and Accountable Government the Overview of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (relevant excerpts and Annex).

Tab 3: Procurement

• Government Transparency and Reporting Requirements 
• Government Procurement Safeguards

Tab 4: A Special Calling: Values, Ethics and Professional Public Service 

Tab 5 : Ethics Committee

• August 10 meeting notice and participants
• Recent activity

Memorandums

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This memorandum is for your information

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Please find attached memorandum regarding the establishment of a conflict of interest screen for the Minister of Finance, the Honourable William Morneau.

2016 MAR – 3PM 1:58

ADM: Sandra Hassan 613-369-3305

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This memorandum is for your information and action. Also included are memoranda for your signature notifying the Minister, and his office, as well as the Clerk of the Privy Council of the establishment of a conflict of interest screen for Minister Morneau.

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The Honourable William Morneau, Minister of Finance, has made a public declaration of his assets and outside interests as a means of complying with the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons. On February 2, 2016, the Office of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner wrote to Minister Morneau requesting that a conflict of interest screen be established to prevent any appearance of giving preferential treatment or a conflict of interest situation from arising in regards to his indirect interests in Morneau Shepell Inc. The Commissioner’s letter was forwarded to the Department by the Minister’s Chief of Staff who will be responsible for administrating the screen.  

The Department will be responsible for ensuring that the Minister is not put in a situation where his private interests conflict with his duties as a Minister of the Crown. The Commissioner requested a screen be established to ensure that he:

« abstain from any participation in any discussion and/or decision processes and any communication with government officials that would involve the interests of Morneau Shepell Inc. or its subsidiaries, affiliates and associations whether it be in [his] capacity as Minister of Finance or as a Member of any Cabinet Committee ».  

ADM: Sandra Hassan 613-369-3305

[ * ] Any written communication that would involve the above interests should contain the following warning on the first page:

If the Department of Finance is informed that any such matter were to be included for consideration at a Cabinet Committee meeting, the Minister’s Chief of Staff would need to be informed ahead of the meeting. Documents relevant to that item would be provided to the Minister’s Chief of Staff with the above-mentioned warning. Where required, the Chief of Staff would provide the Department with instructions on how the item would be addressed. 

The attached annex includes the list of entities that are Morneau Shepell Inc.’s « subsidiaries, affiliates and associations ». This list has been provided to us by the Minister’s office who will inform us of any future changes.

Annex - Morneau Shepell Inc.’s « subsidiaries, affiliates and associations »

• Morneau Shepell Ltd. (Ontario)
• Morneau Sobeco GP Inc. (Ontario)
• Morneau Shepell Limited (Delaware)
• Morneau Shepell Asset & Risk Management Ltd. (Ontario)
• Shepell.fgi Ltd. (Ontario)
• Morneau Shepell (Bahamas) Ltd.
• 6295231 Canada Inc. (Canada)
• Groupe AST (1993) Inc. (Quebec)
• Morneau Shepell BDA Limited (Illinois)
• Morneau Shepell SBC (USA/UK) LLC (Georgia)
• MS ARM GP #1 Ltd. (Ontario)
• SBC Systems (UK) Limited (England)
• Morneau Shepell Workers’ Compensation Services Professional Corporation
  

Excerpts from key guidance documents on conflict of interest

Open and Accountable Government (2015)

IV.1. Ministerial Conduct

Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries must act with honesty and must uphold the highest ethical standards so that public confidence and trust in the integrity and impartiality of government are maintained and enhanced. […] Moreover, they have an obligation to perform their official duties and arrange their private affairs in a manner that will bear the closest public scrutiny. This obligation is not fully discharged merely by acting with the law.

V.2. Conflict of Interest Act

Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries and their staff are subject to the requirements of the Conflict of Interest Act. In their capacity as members of the House of Commons they are also subject to the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons.

The Conflict of Interest Act establishes a rigourous statutory regime for all public office holders, including Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and exempt staff, administered by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.

The Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner is responsible for administering both the Conflict of Interest Act and the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons, investigating allegations involving conflicts of interest, applying compliance measures, and briefing Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries on their responsibilities under the Act and Code. The obligations of the Conflict of Interest Act apply to Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and exempt staff as well as Governor-in-Council appointees, and some provisions apply to their families. The Act does not apply to Senators or Members of Parliament.

Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries are held accountable by the Prime Minister for their adherence to the provisions of the Conflict of Interest Act. In general, the Act establishes mechanisms to identify and avoid possible conflicts of interest, and, among other measures:

• requires the provision of a confidential report to the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner on assets and liabilities, former and current activities and those of their spouse and dependent children;
• outlines rules regarding which assets may or may not continue to be directly managed, and gives direction on how to divest of assets;
• sets limitations on outside activities, acceptance of gifts, invitations to special events and hospitality, and post-employment activities; and
• sets out a recusal mechanism to assist Ministers in avoiding conflicts of interest in the performance of their official duties and functions.

Ministers and Parliamentary Secretaries are also held accountable by the House of Commons for their adherence to the provisions of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons in their capacity as Members of Parliament.

Overview of the Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons

The Conflict of Interest Code for Members of the House of Commons (Members’ Code), administered by the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner, seeks to prevent conflicts between private interests and the public duties of all 338 Members of the House of Commons. It is appended to the Standing Orders of the House of Commons, the rules under which the House regulates its proceedings.

Members of the House of Commons who are ministers or parliamentary secretaries are also subject to the Conflict of Interest Act.

Rules of conduct

This general rule set out in the Members’ Code is complemented by rules that prohibit Members from using their public office to influence a decision and taking advantage of insider information, in order to further their private interests or those of a family member, or to improperly further another person’s or entity’s private interests. Members and their families cannot accept any gift or other benefit that might reasonably be seen to have been given to influence the Member in the exercise of a duty or function of his or her office. Gifts and benefits include meal and event invitations, gifts and benefits related to attendance at charitable or political events, and those received from an all-party caucus established in relation to a particular subject or interest. There is an exception to this rule for gifts and benefits received as a normal expression of courtesy or protocol, or that are within the customary standards of hospitality that normally accompany a Member’s position.

When performing parliamentary duties and functions, a Member shall not act in any way to further his or her private interests or those of a member of the Member’s family, or to improperly further another person’s or entity’s private interests (section 8).

Private interests

The concept of “private interest” is the heart of the Member’ Code. The Member’ Code does not define “private interest”. Instead, it sets out the circumstances where a private interest is considered to be furthered, and those where it is not. For example, furthering a private interest would include cases where a Member’s actions result, directly or indirectly, in outcomes such as an increase in a person’s assets or obtaining a business position. A private interest would not be considered to be furthered when the matter in question is of general application or affects the Member or the other person as one of a broad class of the public.

Standing Order of the House of Commons - Consolidated version as of April 20, 2020

• Standing Order of the House of Commons - Consolidated version as of April 20, 2020

A Special Calling: Values, Ethics and Professional Public Service

• A Special Calling: Values, Ethics and Professional Public Service

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

The following motion was adopted by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics:

Extract from the Minutes of Proceedings
Meeting No. 07
Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Ordered, - That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(3)(h), the Committee review the safeguards which are in place to avoid and prevent conflicts of interest in federal government procurement, contracting, granting, contribution and other expenditure policies; and that, to provide a case study for this review, an Order of the Committee do issue to Speakers’ Spotlight for a copy of all records pertaining to speaking appearances arranged, since October 14, 2008, for Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau—including, in respect of each speaking appearance, an indication of the fee provided, any expenses that were reimbursed and the name of the company, organization, person or entity booking it—provided that these records shall be provided to the Clerk of Committee within one week of the adoption of this Order; and that the Clerk provide these records to the members of the committee and the Ethics Commissioner for study; and that, any examination by this committee of the documents referred to be done in camera; and that this committee call upon Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appear to give testimony relating to these matters.

Attest

Miriam Burke
Clerk of the Committee

ETHI Committee meeting

• ETHI Committee meeting

Email to Saba Khwaja

From: "Khanna, Mala" <Mala.Khanna@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Date: August 7, 2020 at 8:11:01 AM EDT
To: "Khwaja, Saba" <Saba.Khwaja@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Cc: "Cintrat, Jean" <Jean.Cintrat@pco-bcp.gc.ca>, "Gautron, Martin" <Martin.Gautron@lghc-lgcc.gc.ca>
Subject: FW: Notes on ETHI

Hi Saba

FYI – some info on what ETHI has been doing lately.

Mala

From: Cintrat, Jean <Jean.Cintrat@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Sent: Thursday, August 6, 2020 6:23 PM
To: Khanna, Mala <Mala.Khanna@pco-bcp.gc.ca>
Subject: Notes on ETHI

Notes on ETHI as discussed:

• The House Access to Information, Privacy, and Ethics (ETHI) committee has held 4 meetings over the past three weeks to launch their study which is now entitled “Study to Review the Safeguards in Place to Prevent Conflicts of Interest in Federal Government Expenditure Policies”.
• The committee has yet to hear testimony from any witnesses (aside from the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel).
• The following motion was adopted on July 22, 2020. The first part (bold added) sets out the mandate for the study, while the latter part requests documents from Speakers Spotlight, a private firm.
  • “That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(3)(h), the Committee review the safeguards which are in place to avoid and prevent conflicts of interest in federal government procurement, contracting, granting, contribution and other expenditure policies; and that, to provide a case study for this review, an Order of the Committee do issue to Speakers’ Spotlight for a copy of all records pertaining to speaking appearances arranged, since October 14, 2008, for Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau—including, in respect of each speaking appearance, an indication of the fee provided, any expenses that were reimbursed and the name of the company, organization, person or entity booking it—provided that these records shall be provided to the Clerk of Committee within one week of the adoption of this Order; and that the Clerk provide these records to the members of the committee and the Ethics Commissioner for study; and that, any examination by this committee of the documents referred to be done in camera; and that this committee call upon Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appear to give testimony relating to these matters.”
• The committee also adopted a motion on July 22, 2020, governing the handling of the documents to be collected from Speakers Spotlight per the above motion, to ensure the privacy and security of this personal information of Canadians. It sets out that the committee is to review the material during an in-camera meeting, that it not be e-mailed, and other security protocols.
• On July 23, 2020, the committee adopted the following motion (final, official text still subject to confirmation). It provides for a study to be undertaken specifically with respect to ethics and conflict of interest avoidance measures in the Prime Minister’s Office (bold added). This mandate for a study effectively overlaps with that of the motion adopted on July 22 noted above.
  • Whereas there is a culture of ethical permissiveness around the Prime Minister, and whereas the Prime Minister has twice been found to be in contravention of the Conflict of Interest Act and is under investigation for a third potential breach, and whereas the Prime Minister’s Office thus appears to lack the capability or inclination to adequately advise the Prime Minister with respect to the avoidance of conflicts of interest or the appearance of conflicts of interest, in compliance with Canadian law, the Committee move, that pursuant to Standing Order 108(3)(h), the Committee undertake a study of the policies, procedures, practices surrounding ethical conduct and avoidance of conflict of interest within the Prime Minister’s Office, that the witnesses must include but are not limited to the Clerk of the Privy Council, Ian Shugart, and Katie Telford, Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister’s Office, and that the Committee, upon completion of its study, issue a report with recommendations to better permit the Prime Minister’s Office to conduct the business of government with public confidence in its integrity.
  • The vote on this motion was tied (Liberal members opposed), requiring the Chair to cast a vote which resulted in it being adopted.
• Two other motions were defeated:
  • asking the Minister of Finance to resign (NDP and Liberal members opposed);
  • asking the Chair to write to all Cabinet members to confirm whether they were aware of relationships between WE and its associated entities and “Justin Trudeau and his family, Bill Morneau and his family, Katie Telford, or Seamus O’Regan” prior to the Cabinet decision on the Canada Student Service Grant, as well as, whether they or their families have connections to WE (NDP and Liberal members opposed).
• The first three meetings during which the above-noted motions, and various amendments, were debated were relatively long, and at times contentious. Debate focused on whether the proposed studies are properly within the mandate of the committee, and the possible overlap with the studies of other standing committees related to WE charity, and the ongoing investigations of the Conflict of Interest and Ethics Commissioner.
• The fourth meeting was a three hour in-camera session with the Law Clerk and Parliamentary Counsel held on July 30.
• The Treasury Board Secretariat advises that the committee plans to meet on Monday, August 10th with yet-to-be-determined witnesses.

Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics

43rd Parliament, 1st Session

The following motion was adopted by the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics:

Extract from the Minutes of Proceedings
Meeting No. 07
Wednesday, July 22, 2020

Ordered, - That, pursuant to Standing Orders 108(3)(h), the Committee review the safeguards which are in place to avoid and prevent conflicts of interest in federal government procurement, contracting, granting, contribution and other expenditure policies; and that, to provide a case study for this review, an Order of the Committee do issue to Speakers’ Spotlight for a copy of all records pertaining to speaking appearances arranged, since October 14, 2008, for Justin Trudeau, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, Margaret Trudeau and Alexandre Trudeau—including, in respect of each speaking appearance, an indication of the fee provided, any expenses that were reimbursed and the name of the company, organization, person or entity booking it—provided that these records shall be provided to the Clerk of Committee within one week of the adoption of this Order; and that the Clerk provide these records to the members of the committee and the Ethics Commissioner for study; and that, any examination by this committee of the documents referred to be done in camera; and that this committee call upon Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to appear to give testimony relating to these matters.

Attest

Miriam Burke
Clerk of the Committee