Search and Rescue New Initiatives Funds
Call for Proposals
The intent of the Search and Rescue New Initiatives Funds (SAR NIF) is to enhance the effectiveness, efficiency, economy, and innovation of search and rescue activities as it relates to the response and prevention objectives of the national search and rescue program.
The annual SAR NIF budget is $7.6M. With multi-year projects ongoing the availability of funds for new projects will vary from year to year.
In order to be considered for funding, each proposal must meet at least one of the annual priorities identified by the SAR community as listed below.
Priority 1
Strengthen the National Coordination of Search and Rescue
In Canada, search and rescue (SAR) is a shared responsibility amongst a wide-ranging list of partners throughout several jurisdictions across Canada. Innovative measures that promote or advance coordination and response capabilities across multiple jurisdictions are crucial to ensuring integrated coordination as well as the long-term sustainability of a world-class SAR system.
The 2022-2023 SAR NIF call for proposals considered projects that met one or more of the following:
- Initiatives that help develop and improve the delivery and efficiency of sustainable SAR capabilities and professionalism;
- Initiatives that seek to enhance national interoperability between SAR organizations (e.g. Incident Command System, multijurisdictional exercise, etc.);
- Initiatives that support or promote information, data, and or knowledge sharing within or between SAR jurisdictions, including research and studies;
- Initiatives that build disaster response capabilities and support a whole-of-society approach to emergency management within the volunteer SAR community; and,
- Initiatives that foster mutual aid and inter-jurisdictional cooperation.
Priority 2
Emphasize and Effectively Coordinate SAR Prevention Efforts
In order to save lives, reduce pain and suffering, and minimize the economic and social burden associated with responding to SAR incidents, a renewed focus on prevention is necessary. The sought-after outcomes should aim to reduce the frequency, and mitigate the duration and severity of SAR incidents by altering behaviour, promoting timely alerting, and increasing the potential of survivability.
As part of this priority, the 2022-2023 SAR NIF call for proposals considered projects that met one or more of the following:
- Research initiatives that seek to enhance SAR prevention programs or public education and outreach campaigns;
- Design, development, and/or delivery of mitigation measures and/or technology that will reduce the impact of a SAR event and/or optimize SAR response to an event;
- Development, production, distribution and/or delivery of national or regional SAR incident prevention messaging; and,
- Enrichment of established SAR prevention programs to increase reach and accessibility to underrepresented and/or remote communities.
Priority 3
SAR in Indigenous Communities
An inclusive national governance construct for the SAR community is critical to the long-term sustainability of Canada's SAR system. Recent efforts by Public Safety Canada to strengthen the national governance construct for Canada's SAR community involve the establishment of the whole-of-community National Search and Rescue Advisory Council, inclusive of several Indigenous organizations.
In order to build on recent advancements, it's important to maintain a focus on the unique challenge of SAR in remote locations, as well as to ensure that groups responsible for SAR activities in Indigenous communities across the country continue to have a voice.
The 2022-2023 SAR NIF call for proposals considered projects that met one or more of the following:
- The development and implementation of SAR initiatives in partnership with Indigenous communities that focus on communication, engagement and outreach within Indigenous communities; and,
- Development and implementation of initiatives in partnership with Indigenous communities to establish or bolster sustainable SAR capacity and capability.
Eligible recipients
Provincial and territorial governments, for profit and not-for-profit Canadian organizations and volunteer associations, and academia are eligible to apply to SAR NIF.
Submission
The Application Form is online and its use is required. Applicants' can use it to upload work plans, budgets, and, if applicable, equipment lists.
Details of the application process and eligibility criteria are available in the SAR NIF Application Guide.
Contact Information
If you have any questions or have accessibility concerns with the online application form, please contact the SAR NIF team for assistance or to obtain an alternate format.
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