Catapult Canada is a national, community-building initiative that aims to increase equity of learning access for youth. Established by the Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF), Catapult Canada channels new resources to community programs, helping them build know-how, capacity, funding, evaluation frameworks, partnerships, and infrastructure.
Catapult supports youth-serving organizations in Canada to design, build, scale up and evaluate the impact of initiatives to better support Canadian youth in their learning goals, especially those underserved by the education system and disengaged from education and/or career pathways.
The objectives of the fund are to:
- Support community organizations to scale-up current practices related to improving youth learning outcomes and increase their reach and effectiveness.
- Support community organizations committed to improving the educational and career pathways of young learners, particularly those youth disconnected from career and learning opportunities.
- Advance learning opportunities for youth not in education, employment, or training (NEET); and youth from vulnerable groups including newcomers to Canada, refugees and those fleeing trauma.
- Address systemic gaps in secondary completion and access to post-secondary education.
- Support community groups and organizations interested in learning more about what works (and what doesn’t work) in supporting opportunity for youth.
- Build organizational capacity, particularly with respect to leadership.
- Support creative and effective practices for building organizational long-term sustainability.
- Support initiatives that foster greater community engagement and partnership across the sector through peer-to-peer learning and other promising practices.
- Distribute and disseminate promising practices related to improving youth learning outcomes across Canadian communities.
The Rideau Hall Foundation’s Catapult Canada initiative invites applicants to submit proposals to our Fall 2023 Open Call. We are inviting applications from registered non-profits, charities and registered unincorporated groups.
Applications should focus on project description, alignment with the Catapult Canada mandate, project activities and impact. We recognize the importance of national learning and local context, as well as promoting strong coordination and partnership across government, funders, delivery organizations and educational systems.
Priority Areas:
For the Fall 2023 Open Call, in addition to alignment with Catapult Canada’s objectives, we will prioritize initiatives that:
- Involve beneficiary youth in their design, delivery, or evaluation.
- Seek to learn and share what works or does not work.
- Build on and strengthen relationships with their communities of focus.
- Are rural and/or northern led.
- Support youth living with disabilities.
- Support newcomers to Canada, including refugees and youth facing barriers as a result of fleeing trauma, and young people who are not in employment, education or training (NEET).
Grants
Open Access Fund:
- All projects must align with the Catapult Canada mission.
- 12 months max in duration; projects must close before February 28th, 2025.
- $25,000 to $150,000 per project.
- Applicants must be registered charities or incorporated non-profits.
- Download a PDF version of the Application Form, and the Budget Template.
Newcomer, Refugee and NEET Youth Fund:
- Projects working specifically to address the experience of newcomers including refugees and youth facing barriers as a result of fleeing trauma, and NEET youth
- 24 months max. in duration; projects must close before February 28, 2026.
- $25,000 to $200,000 per project.
- Applicants must be registered charities or incorporated non-profits.
- Priority will be given to small and medium sized organizations with annual budgets of <$5M.
- Download a PDF version of the Application Form, and the Budget Template.
The RHF expects to fund multiple Catapult projects from coast to coast to coast. Recipient organizations will become part of an ongoing Catapult community dedicated to sharing project progress, learnings and promising practices with a view to a wider knowledge dissemination strategy to inform the broader sector. All applications should be made via the following granting portal by December 10, 2023:
Review Process:
Applications will be reviewed by a combination of an internal review team of RHF staff and an external team of volunteers from the RHF’s networks across Canada. The RHF team may request additional clarifying information from applicants during the review phase.
Upon completion of the review phase, all applicants will be notified of their application status via email. All eligible applicants that we are unable to fund, will be invited to connect with the RHF staff team for a 30-minute feedback call on their application.
The Rideau Hall Foundation expects to fund multiple Catapult projects across the country. Funded groups will become part of an ongoing community dedicated to sharing project progress, learning failures and promising practices with a view to a wider knowledge dissemination strategy to inform the broader sector.
Deadlines and Key Dates
The following are key dates for this Fall 2023 open call:
About the Rideau Hall Foundation
The Rideau Hall Foundation (RHF) is an independent and non-political charitable organization established to amplify the impact of the office of the Governor General as a central institution of Canadian democracy, and to better serve Canadians through a range of initiatives linked to learning, leadership, giving and innovation.
Today the RHF has become a nation-building charity: a catalytic platform to connect people, causes and organizations which – while they will exist for differing purposes – share a common belief in and commitment to the potential of Canada. Learn more about how we work to shine a light on Canadian excellence here: www.rhf-frh.ca.
Connect with us via @RideauHallFdn on twitter or subscribe to the RHF newsletter for updates and announcements of key dates for subsequent open calls.
Joining the Catapult Community
Catapult is committed to building a sustainable and dynamic ecosystem of youth-serving organizations in Canada that facilitates peer-to-peer learning and problem solving; the sharing of resources, promising practices and innovative ideas; and providing community support and partnership. To that end, all grantees will be part of a community of practice, facilitated by Catapult and co-developed by grantees to meet their evolving needs.
