Text DONATE to 41010 to give $20 for Morocco earthquake relief

Innovation Grants

Solutions to many of the most pressing social and environmental challenges we face today require new ways of thinking. Innovation Grants offer funding for “moonshot” ideas that can help Canadian registered charities and qualified donees create breakthrough changes for youth in their communities.

Two young women standing at a classroom table interacting with a piece of computer hardware

We support initiatives that advance some of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); specifically, good health and well-being, quality education and climate action.

Programs must serve youth experiencing obstacles to reaching their full potential and incorporate the innovative use of technology.

Funding areas of interest

Youth mental health support
The percentage of children and youth experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety ‌increased exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Charities offering innovative solutions to promote youth mental health and build community will help to meet the needs facing young people today and strengthen their capacity to thrive in the future.

Environmental education or climate action programs for youth
Today’s youth have come of age during a time of rapid climate change, and they have the most at stake in how society responds to it. Charities offering creative approaches to climate education and action will help youth to build skills and knowledge, and be inspired to address the urgency of the climate crisis.

We are very pleased to announce that in 2023, Desjardins Foundation will be partnering with us to co-fund projects focused on environmental education.

Desjardins Foundation is particularly interested in national projects and projects serving youth in Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta or Atlantic Canada where the acquisition of skills and knowledge is clearly defined.

Continue

Who can apply

Program eligibility

Your program must address one of the funding areas of interest and meet the following criteria:

Must serve youth up to age 29 who face obstacles to reaching their full potential. This may include youth from marginalized or under-served communities and members of equity-deserving groups.
Will offer a new approach or a significant change to an existing model intended to improve outcomes. Funds can be used to explore, test or launch innovative ideas or initiatives or to scale a program to serve a new region or audience.
Must demonstrate impact and have clearly defined and measurable outcomes.
Expected to share your lessons learned, successes, failures and things that changed through your project.
Priority will be given to programs that use technology in innovative ways to meet the needs of participants and your community.
Charities can also apply for a TELUS Canadian Community Board grant as long as the application is for a different program than what is being submitted to the Innovation Grants stream for consideration.

Continue

Ineligible Funding Requests

Requests considered ineligible for Innovation Grant funding include:

Fiduciary intermediary relationships, where a non-profit organization leverages the charitable status of another registered charity that isn’t involved in the delivery of the project
Community-based programs of religious organizations that are unable to show a history of non-denominational participation by the broader community
Charitable organization‌ operating costs, including salaries, overhead and utilities
Requests for:

TELUS services or products, including devices such as tablets and mobile phones
Capital campaigns, capital expenditures, endowments or debt reduction campaigns
Sponsorships, advertising and retroactive funding
Scholarships and bursaries
International programs

Continue

Application process and deadlines

We have a two-step application process, as follows:

Submit a Letter of Intent that includes a short outline of your project and how it meets the criteria outlined above.
For projects that most closely align to our criteria, charities will be invited to submit a detailed funding application.

Please make note of the following key dates.

Letters of Intent may be submitted beginning April 12, 2023 when our application portal goes live on this page. If your project meets our criteria, you can expect to hear from us within 20 days of submitting your Letter of Intent and you will receive a unique link to complete a detailed application.

Letter of Intent deadline: June 23, 2023 by midnight in your local time zone

If you are invited to complete a detailed application, it must be submitted by midnight in your local time zone on or before: August 15, 2023

You will receive a response on the status of your application by October 15, 2023

Following a successful application:
Charities that receive an Innovation Grant will be expected to provide periodic progress reports and a final report on their outcomes, what they learned through the project, next steps, and whether our grant helped them to obtain funding from other sources.