Backgrounder: New Projects Funded Under the Immunization Partnership Fund

The Government of Canada launched the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF) in 2016 to support projects that improve access to vaccines and encourage vaccine uptake. In 2020, this fund received $64 million to support projects aimed at improving vaccination coverage in Canada in three priority areas.

July 2021

The Government of Canada launched the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF) in 2016 to support projects that improve access to vaccines and encourage vaccine uptake. In 2020, this fund received $64 million to support projects aimed at improving vaccination coverage in Canada in three priority areas:

• Build capacity of health care providers as vaccinators and vaccination promoters
• Support community-based COVID-19 education, outreach, and vaccine promotion
• Build capacity for evidence-based vaccine communication

The funding includes:

• $30.25 million for community-led projects to develop tailored, targeted tools and educational resources to raise awareness of, and confidence in, COVID-19 vaccines. These funds will also support the efforts of community members and leaders to increase vaccine confidence and address barriers to access and acceptance within their communities.
• $32.5 million to be dispersed over 2.5 years to support provincial and territorial governments in enhancing their electronic vaccination registries to help monitor vaccine uptake.
• $1.3 million to amend existing funded projects to incorporate measures and activities to address COVID-19.

Three new projects funded by the IPF are:

Lead organization: Indigenous Primary Health Care Council
Project Name: Bami'aagan – Supporting Indigenous Peoples on their Vaccine Decision-Making Journeys
Description: This project is a multi-faceted intervention that will strengthen the knowledge and confidence of non-Indigenous Health Care Providers (HCPs) to promote vaccine uptake among Indigenous clients and their families in a culturally safe and trauma-informed way, through educational outreach sessions and resources. It will also enable Indigenous-led primary health care agencies to develop and implement community-based vaccine communication and outreach strategies designed by and for Indigenous people, such as digital and in-person stories and social media toolkits.
Funding: Up to $500,000

Lead organization: University Health Network
Project Name: Personal Support Worker (PSW) led vaccine education for PSWs: A coalition to rebuild trust and support informed choice
Description: Building on an existing, free online curriculum designed for personal support workers (PSWs) (www.cacehome.ca), this project will build capacity within the PSW workforce so that they can effectively support informed choices about COVID-19 vaccination among their colleagues, their communities, and their clients/patients. The project will involve the co-development of a COVID-19 online resource and a train-the-trainer educational module for PSWs in Ontario.
Funding: Up to $325,000

Lead organization: Women's College Hospital
Project Name: Long Term Care, Homecare, Essential Workers National Vaccination Engagement Campaign
Description: This project will implement a national capacity building and education initiative reaching non-physician health care practitioners and other essential workers in long-term care facilities and homecare settings. This project will provide these health care professionals with tools, training and evidence-based information to build vaccine awareness, increase their willingness to get vaccinated, and support them to become advocates and educators in their daily interactions at work and home.  This project will also implement customized national vaccine messaging and communication that will reach long-term care, homecare and essential workers in the communities they work and live in.
Funding: Up to $500,000