Crime Prevention Action Fund (CPAF) - How to Apply for Funding
Applying for funding through the National Crime Prevention Centre (NCPC) is a multi-step process.
Step 1: Check the Website for information on calls for LOIs and contact your local NCPC representative
The Letter of Interest (LOI) process is designed to better direct potential applicants to the specific issues and types of funding programs. By providing this opportunity to outline a project idea, NCPC aims to ensure that only those project ideas that fit the directions of the National Crime Prevention Strategy will lead to the full proposal development process. This in turn will help speed the process of proposal development and review, and be more responsive to the needs of local communities.
Requests for LOIs in any given province or territory are posted on this website. If you wish to be notified about these postings, please register to the NCPC mailing list and be sure to select the LOI notification choice.
In all cases, it is extremely important that you contact a member of the NCPC staff in the NCPC office nearest you to discuss your ideas and gather more information about the funding programs. If you are not sure which office to call, please contact the NCPC National Office at 1-800-830-3118 or send an email to prevention@sp-ps.gc.ca.
NCPC staff can provide information on whether funds are available at that time and can discuss project ideas with you.
If it turns out NCPC funding is not a viable option for your project ideas, NCPC staff can provide resources and information that may be valuable to help you move forward in other ways to address your crime concerns.
If there are no requests for Letters of Interest posted for your province or territory, please contact a member of the NCPC staff in the NCPC office nearest you to discuss your ideas and gather more information about the funding programs before doing anything else. If you are not sure which office to call, please contact the NCPC National Office at 1-800-830-3118 or send an email to prevention@sp-ps.gc.ca.
Step 2: Complete the Application Form and Project Description Template
When requests for Letters of Interest (LOI) are issued, the Application Form and Project Description will assist you to provide basic information about your project idea to allow its full assessment. If your project idea is retained, you will be asked to work toward a full proposal with NCPC staff assistance.
Process
To be reviewed, your LOI must answer ALL questions contained in the Call for LOIs and must be within 5-10 pages. Letters of Interest selected for further development and funding consideration will be those that best demonstrate the following principles:
- Integrated efforts: Crime prevention efforts that engage the support of, or directly involve, one or more community partners that could include law enforcement, justice system services, social services, health services, governments, schools or other local groups.
- Evidence-led efforts: Evidence of crime issues affecting the targeted community, link to the known criminogenic risk factors, and evidence that the suggested interventions rest on the best available knowledge of Promising and Model Crime Prevention Programs.
- Organizational capacity: Applicants will have to demonstrate that they have appropriate organizational capacity. The capacity to implement a project is assessed especially on the following three criteria: demonstrably sound financial and human resource management; capacity to deliver the proposed service or intervention; and ability to do formal reporting.
- Measurable results: Projects supported by NCPC must show a capacity to impact positively on the risk or protective factors identified among the target populations. All projects will have to include a plan to collect relevant data that will demonstrate the extent to which the activities are implemented as planned (monitoring and process evaluations). In specific cases, NCPC will also select projects for external, third-party evaluations of their effectiveness and impacts on the risk and protective factors.
Implementing Model Programs:
Priority will be given to projects that propose the implementation of model or promising programs
A model program is a prevention program that meets the highest standards for effectiveness as evidenced in published evaluations including in peer-reviewed journals. These programs have been demonstrated to produce significant, sustained prevention or reduction in problem behaviour (anti-social/criminal), or the reduction of risk factors, or the enhancement of protective factors related to this behaviour. Furthermore, model programs have been shown to maintain their effectiveness over time and have been replicated in different community settings. They have been designated as model programs by organizations that gather and assess the scientific evidence on crime prevention programs, including Blueprints, OJJDP, and SAMHSA.
Examples of model programs are: SNAP [1] (Stop Now and Plan) for children (6-11) with seriously disruptive behaviour, LRP (Leadership and Resiliency Program) for youth (14-19) to develop skills to prevent involvement in substance use and violence, and MST (Multisystemic Therapy) for delinquent youth (12-17) and their families. All three programs have been carefully developed, implemented and tested in multiple sites, with different populations, and have shown strong and consistent results.
A promising program is one that is designed to address known risk and protective factors in a specific at-risk population with interventions (e.g., skills training, mentoring, engagement in pro-social activities) and attributes (e.g., intensity, trained staff, strong partnerships) that are rooted in the evidence base of what works to prevent crime. With evaluations in multiple sites and further development of the knowledge of its core components, a promising program could become a model program.
Examples of promising practices are: Gwich'in Outdoor Classroom Project, Youth Inclusion Programme, and Boys & Girls Club of Canada/America – Programs and Services for At-Risk Youth and Families.
Please consult Promising and Model Crime Prevention Programs. publication or contact the NCPC program officer nearest you for examples and information.
Innovative or new programs:
Innovative programs are intended to explore new interventions with at-risk populations. Unlike model or promising programs, they are not rooted in the existing evidence base in crime prevention. The innovative program may, for example, come from another field such as health, mental health or education, and the purpose of the project is to adapt and test the approach as a crime prevention measure. The project proposal for the implementation of an innovative program should provide a plausible rationale that links the proposed intervention to the desired outcomes (reductions in offending and positive changes in risk and protective factors).
Current or Forthcoming Requests for Letters of Interest (with deadlines for submission)
Invitation to Submit
Currently all invitations to Submit are closed. If you would like to be kept up to date on new invitations to submit please join our mailing list.
If there are no requests for Letters of Interest in your province or territory, please contact a member of the NCPC staff in the NCPC office nearest you to discuss your ideas and gather more information about the funding programs before doing anything else. If you are not sure which office to call, please contact the NCPC National Office at 1-800-830-3118 or send an email to prevention@sp-ps.gc.ca.
Step 3: Complete a full proposal
Only sponsors of LOIs reviewed positively will be asked to move forward to proposal development stage
A full proposal for funding contains all the details of your project including a logic model (causal chain), a workplan, budget, monitoring and process evaluation plans and letters of support. An NCPC Program Officer will provide hands on guidance and resources to assist with proposal development.
The development of a full proposal is tailored by the information provided in the LOI and subsequent discussions between you and your NCPC Program Officer.
Information on Review Processes
All applications for funding received are reviewed against program objectives to determine their eligibility, completeness and conformity according to specified, mandatory requirements.
Formal funding review committees and processes are established to review proposals under all funding programs.
In reviewing and recommending proposals, the NCPC will take in to consideration, as applicable and appropriate the following elements:
- The extent to which the project would be directly supporting and advancing the objectives of the funding program;
- The extent to which it is demonstrated that the proposed project is evidence-based;
- The extent to which it is demonstrated that the proposed project could advance the sharing of practical crime prevention knowledge;
- The amount of funding requested relative to the amount of resources available from the Department in any given year and whether expenses outlined in the proposal are eligible and reasonable;
- The ability of the applicant to develop, implement, manage, monitor, document and evaluate activities within the specified timeframe and budget;
- The Department's previous experience working with the applicant including the degree of collaboration and quality and success of any previous projects;
- The degree of involvement of the applicant, the level of support of provincial/territorial governments, federal departments and agencies, other stakeholders and partners relevant to the project;
- The project's potential for being implemented in other locations and for building on the existing crime prevention knowledge base;
- The type, extent and distribution plans for report(s) or other material produced; and
- The project's overall viability.
More resources
For more information
To discuss whether funds are available and details related to accessing them, please contact the NCPC office nearest you, call 1-800-830-3118 or send an email to prevention@sp-ps.gc.ca.
To be kept informed of news regarding the NCPC and other crime prevention information, please register with the NCPC distribution list.