Capital Grant Application Questions

This page provides an overview of the Capital grant application and requirements. 
 

• Upcoming grant application deadline is March 6, 2024, at 5 PM ET.
• We encourage you to use the assessment criteria to help you complete the application.
   

On this page

• Organization Information 
  • Contacts
  • Organization Details
  • Mission and Activities
  • Financial Health and Stability
  • Governance
  • Acknowledgements
• Project Information 
  • Data collection
  • Application Requirements
  • Lease or Proof of Ownership
  • Photos and Diagrams
  • Anticipated Project Results
  • Project Plan
  • Project Budget
  • Quotes or estimates
  • Project Description
  • Acknowledgments

Organization Information

Contacts

Question: Is your organization's Signatory Contact an existing contact for your organization? Yes/No

If no: Provide the following details about your Signatory Contact:

• Name
• Position
• Email
• Phone

• Name
• Position
• Email
• Phone

Organization Details

Checkbox: I have read and agree that this organization will comply with OTF's Anti-Discrimination Policy.

Checkbox: I have read and agree that this organization will comply with OTF’s Open Data Policy and that data provided throughout the application may be shared with other funders and/or may become public.

Question: Select your organization type:

• A charitable organization or public foundation registered as a charity by the Canada Revenue Agency
• An organization incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation without share capital in a Canadian jurisdiction
• A First Nation, Métis or Inuit community
• A municipality with a population 20,000 or less, or their cultural and recreational agencies, including public libraries and museums

Question: Provide the following details about your organization:

• Legal name
• Operating name
• Preferred language of correspondence
• Incorporation number (for not-for-profits)
• Year of incorporation (for not-for-profits)
• Charitable registration number (for charities)
• Year of registration (for charities)
• 9-digit Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Business Number. Learn more about submitting your business number.
• Address
• Street Address/RR or PO Box #
• City
• Province
• Postal code * format (X1X 1X1)
• Phone
• Website
• If your organization is active on social media, provide the social media platforms (e.g. Facebook, Instagram etc.) and handles you operate under.

Mission and Activities

Question: Provide your mission statement. Max 200 words.

Question: What sector does your organization operate in? Select the option that best fits.

• Arts/Culture
• Environment
• Human and Social Services
• Sports/Recreation

Question: How many people does your organization serve annually?

Question: Does your organization offer programs and/or services in both official languages? Yes/No.

• If yes: How is your organization mandated to offer bilingual programs and/or services? Choose one of the following: 
  • Agency designated under the French Language Services Act
  • Area designated under the French Language Services Act
  • Mandated by Board of Directors and/or Funder
  • Non-mandated but serving Francophone population

Question: Is a percentage of the selected population your organization serves Francophone? Yes/No.

• If yes:
  • What % of people served by your organization are offered programs and/or services in French? (100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%)
  • What % of your organization's programs and/or services are offered in French? (100%, 90%, 80%, 70%, 60%, 50%, 40%, 30%, 20%, 10%)

Question: On average, how many paid staff did your organization have over the last 12 months, regardless of full-time or part-time status?

Question: On average, how many volunteers did your organization have over the last 12 months, regardless of the number of hours volunteered?

Question: For each category below, select the population that your organization serves

• Language of population served:
  • Bilingual (French/English) 
  • Francophone (and offered services in French)
  • Other Language excluding English or French
  • General Population
• Gender of population served:
  • Non-binary
  • Trans-Men/Trans-Women
  • Men/Boys
  • Women/Girls
  • General Population
• Lived-experience of population served:
  • People living in low income 
  • People who are newcomers/refugees 
  • People living with disabilities
  • People living with mental health challenges/addiction
  • General population
• Identity of population served:  
  • Black
  • Indigenous
  • 2SLGBTQIA+
  • Other racialized groups
  • General Population

Question: Does your organization’s leadership and/or decision-making entities (Board, executive team, senior leadership etc.) reflect the language, gender, lived-experience or cultural identities of the communities served by your organization?  

• Yes  
• Somewhat  
• No  
• Unsure  

Financial Health and Stability

File upload: Upload your organization's most recent completed financial statements.

• If yes: Upload your surplus or deficit information.

Governance

All applicants, except for Municipalities, First Nations, Métis or Inuit communities, need to provide governance information.

Question: Does your organization have a minimum of three active board members (active terms as of grant application deadline date), with at least 50% of board members at an arm's length relationship to each other? Yes/No 

• If yes: We need your most current board list including: 
  • First name  
  • Last name 
  • Term start date 
  • Term end date  
  • Position 
  • Arm’s length (yes/no) 

Question: Do you have staff who are directors or at a higher level? 

• If yes: Provide details about your organization's senior staff (Director level and above): 
  • First name  
  • Last name  
  • Position 
  • Arm’s Length (yes/no) – in relation to other senior staff and board members 

File Upload: Upload your organization’s By-Laws. 

Acknowledgements 

Checkbox: I confirm that the organization has financial management and conflict of interest policies in place.

Checkbox: I confirm that all the organization information provided is correct, up-to-date and complete.

Checkbox: I confirm that the correct type and year of financial statements have been uploaded based on our organization's total revenues and fiscal year-end, and the Board of Directors table has been updated.

Project Information

Data collection

The following questions are for data collection and will not be used to assess your grant application.

Question: What OTF supports did you use to prepare your application. Select all that apply. 

• Support Centre  
• Website 
• Webinar 
• Coaching call 
• None of the above 

Question: Select the populations who will primarily benefit from your project. If more than one selection fits your project in each category, choose General Population.

• Age group of population served  
  • Children up to 12 years 
  • Youth (13-24)  
  • Adults (25-64) 
  • Seniors (65 and over) 
  • General population (all age groups)
• Primary language of population served 
  • Bilingual (English and French)  
  • Francophone (and offered services in French)  
  • Other language excluding English or French  
  • General population   
• Gender of population served:
  • Non-binary   
  • Trans-Men/Trans-Women   
  • Men/Boys   
  • Women/Girls   
  • General population   
• Lived experience of population served:    
  • People living in low income   
  • People who are newcomers/refugees   
  • People living with disabilities   
  • People living with mental health challenges/addiction   
  • General population    
• Identity of population served:   
  • Black   
  • Indigenous 
  • 2SLGBTQIA+  
  • Other racialized groups   
  • General population 

Question: Select the community size where this project will take place.       

• Rural or Small Communities (20,000 or less)
• Mid-sized Communities (20,001 - 100,000)
• Urban Centres and Metropolitan Suburbs (100,000+)

Application Requirements

The following questions will be used to assess your grant application.

Question: Describe your project. Max. 200 words. 

Question: Select the OTF catchment area where the main impact of project activities takes place.

Question: Select the census division.

Question: Provide your project start date. 

Question: Select your requested term.

• 6 months  
• 12 months 

Question: Select the Funding Priority that best meets your project goals. 

• Foster physically active lifestyles
• Support participation in the conservation and restoration of the environment. 
• Enrich lives through arts, culture, and heritage 
• Help people build stronger connections and a deeper sense of belonging in their community
• Support youth to develop stronger social, emotional, leadership skills
• Enable economically vulnerable people to meet their basic needs and/or strengthen their financial stability

• Maintain or increase access to a program or service
• Extend the life of a facility or space
• Improve a facility or space to make it more accessible

Question: Select the activities you will do to achieve your project objective. Select all that apply.

• Purchase equipment  
• Repair, renovate and/or retrofit a facility or indoor space
• Enhance or improve an outdoor structure or space 

Question: Does your project include capital improvements at one or more specific locations?

• One
• More than one
• N/A

[If one is selected]: Provide the following information about the location: 

• Complete civic address (unit/civic number, street name and type, municipality) 
• Postal Code (e.g. A1A 1A1) 
• Commonly used name of the space

[If more than one is selected, provide the above information for all locations.] 

Lease or Proof of Ownership

Upload field: Upload the proof of ownership or lease agreement for your facilities or spaces.

Confirmation: I understand the requirements for proof of ownership or a lease agreement with at least 5 years remaining at the time of grant application.

Photos and Diagrams

Upload field: Upload photos and diagrams demonstrating your funding needs. Include a maximum of 5 files and a short description for each.

Question: Explain why you are doing this project and who will primarily benefit from your project. Max. 200 words.

Question: If your project will help populations who are experiencing barriers (e.g. socio-economic, geographic, cultural, gender, abilities and/or racial) to participate in your program, explain how. Max. 200 words.

Anticipated Project Results

To understand the impact of your Capital project, answer the following questions. For all fields that are not applicable, enter “0”.

Question: On average, how many people will directly benefit from your project each year? Include new and existing participants.

Question: How much space will be made available (created, maintained or improved) for community use because of your project? 

• Square feet
• Square km
• Linear km

Question: On average, how many programs and services will be impacted by your project each year? Include new and existing programs and services.  

Question: On average, how many program/operating hours will be added because of your project each year?

Project Plan

Question: Complete the project plan.

Project Deliverables: 

• List 1 to 3 project deliverables.
• Use one row per deliverable.
• When outlining the project deliverables, keep in mind the high-level tasks that are needed to take place for you to complete each deliverable. 
• Focus on the key steps or milestones for your project.

Key Tasks: For each deliverable, list the key tasks that need to be completed. Provide a maximum of 3 tasks for each deliverable.

Timing: Provide the timeframe needed to complete each key task.

Sample project plan

Project Budget

Question: Complete the project budget.

You can apply for funding to cover project costs across 3 budget categories. 

Budget categories

For each category, you can have up to five budget items. Include a short description for each item and a detailed cost breakdown. 

• Construction and renovation costs: This includes materials and/or contractor costs
• Equipment costs: This includes fixed and non-fixed equipment
• Developmental costs: Up to 20% of the total project budget can be for developmental costs associated with construction, such as the development of engineering plans, legal fees, or survey costs

Eligible amounts

Your project budget needs to be a minimum of $10,000 and cannot exceed $200,000.  

• The costs listed in the budget should clearly align with your project activities and be reasonable to carry out.
• Only include eligible project costs to be covered by OTF. 
• Ask only for what you need, because OTF funds full request amounts and we want to fund as many applications as possible. 
• Only project activities that take place in Ontario are eligible for OTF funding.

Sample project budget

Quotes or estimates

Upload field: Upload your quotes and/or estimates.

Checkbox: This application:

• Requires quotes and estimates and they have been uploaded
• Does not require quotes or estimates 

Question: Is this project part of a larger project? Yes/No 

• If yes:
  • What is the total project cost? 
  • How much funding have you secured from sources excluding OTF?
  • List the sources of secured funding for this project and indicate how the funds will be used.
  • If applicable, what is your plan to obtain any unsecured funds required for this project?

Project Description

Question: To complete your project description, describe your project in 20 words.

[Grantee Operating Name] will use a $XX Capital grant grant over XX months to [describe your project up to 20 words].

Acknowledgements

Review OTF’s Policies and confirm that your organization and this project comply with OTF's requirements.

Checkbox: I have reviewed OTF’s policies and I confirm that my organization and this project comply with OTF’s requirements.
 

Checkbox: The information contained in this application and the accompanying documents is true, accurate and complete.

Checkbox: I understand the importance of avoiding any conflicts of interest (or the appearance thereof) when obtaining goods and/or services.

Checkbox: I understand that should this application be approved, our organization will be required to enter into a formal, legally binding agreement with the Ontario Trillium Foundation that is based on the information in this application and includes the terms and conditions of the grant.

Checkbox: A representative with designated signing/decision-making authority for our organization has authorized this application.

Checkbox: I understand that if this application is approved, my organization may be required to submit updated organization information at any time throughout the life of the grant.