Applying for funding under the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund (CAF)

On this page

• Funding objectives
• Expected outcomes of STBBI community investments
• Key populations
• Funding duration and amounts
• Eligibility
• How to apply

Funding objectives

The HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund seeks to ensure that:

• community-based efforts reach key populations, including people unaware of their HIV/hepatitis C status, and link them to testing, prevention, treatment and care
• communities design and implement evidence-based front-line projects to prevent new and reoccurring infections
• high impact interventions are brought to scale so that more people benefit from them
• community-based efforts reduce stigma toward populations disproportionately affected by STBBI, including people living with HIV or hepatitis C

Expected outcomes of STBBI community investments

By 2025, projects supported through the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund will:

• increase the knowledge of effective evidence-based HIV, hepatitis C or other sexually transmitted infections (STI) prevention measures among key populations and target audiences
• strengthen the capacity (skills and abilities) of key populations and target audiences to prevent infections and to improve health outcomes related to STBBI
• strengthen the capacity (skills and abilities) of target audiences to provide culturally safe and stigma-free STBBI prevention, testing, treatment and care services

By 2027, projects supported through the HIV and Hepatitis C Community Action Fund will:

• increase uptake of effective evidence-based HIV, hepatitis C or other STI prevention measures among key populations
• improve access to effective STBBI prevention, testing, treatment and ongoing care, and support for key populations
• improve the cultural safety and stigma-free nature of STBBI prevention, testing, treatment and ongoing care, and support services provided by target audiences

Key populations

Applicants should identify the key population(s) that will be the focus of their project and tailor their proposed activities, taking into consideration the culture, values and practices of the specific population(s). PHAC is particularly interested in funding initiatives that focus on the following key populations:

• Gay, bisexual men and other men who have sex with men
• People who use drugs
• First Nations, Inuit and Métis Peoples
• Racialized people and migrants, particularly from regions with high HIV or hepatitis C prevalence
• Sex workers and their clients
• People living in or recently released from correctional facilities
• Transgender and non-binary people
• People living with HIV or hepatitis C
• Women among these populations, as appropriate
• Youth among these populations, as appropriate

An individual’s identity consists of multiple, intersecting factors such as race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic status, immigration status, and sexual orientation. Therefore, applicants are also encouraged to consider intersecting identities for the identified key population(s), allowing for more tailored approaches and greater impact.

Funding duration and amounts

Organizations can apply for funding for a minimum of three (3) to a maximum of five (5) years. There is no minimum or maximum funding amount for organizations applying to the CAF.

LOIs should demonstrate that the applicant has the capacity to spend the requested funding and that the amount requested reflects the scope of the proposed project activities.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants

The following Canadian groups and institutions are eligible to receive project funding:

• not-for-profit, registered as incorporated, voluntary organizations or corporations
• not-for-profit, unincorporated organizations, societies or coalitions
• post-secondary institutions seeking to undertake community-based programming, but not research
• Indigenous organizations
  • Indigenous organizations are those governed by and primarily serving First Nations, Inuit or Métis People

Applicants can submit both; an LOI as a single organization, and an LOI as part of a community alliance. However, it must be clear how the activities presented in each LOI are separate from each other.

When applying as a single organization applicants must demonstrate the following in the LOI:

• A minimum two (2) years of experience in the prevention and control of HIV, hepatitis C, and other STI or sexual health promotion; and,
• A minimum two (2) years of experience working with (actively and meaningfully engaging) the proposed project's key population(s) as applicable.
  • not applicable if the organization is not working with a key population

Organizations with less than two (2) years of experience in either of the above-mentioned two criteria, who would like to apply for funding, are required to apply as part of a community alliance.

Organizations funded under CAF cannot serve as third-party funders for other organizations, unless these organizations are identified as contractors and are responsible for delivering specific activities or outputs. They may instead consider applying as a community alliance.

Community alliance

A community alliance is created when two or more organizations choose to work together to achieve the objectives of a single project. These projects can be front-line (local), regional or national in scope. To establish a community alliance, at least one member organization must have a minimum of two (2) years of experience.
There is no maximum number of organizations that can make up an alliance; however, each organization within the alliance must play a strategic role for which they are seeking funding.

Community alliances are encouraged to seek additional partnerships with other organizations in order to help the project achieve its objectives. Unlike alliance members, project partners will not receive funding.

Eligible project scope

The scope of a project can be local, regional or national. Local front-line projects are generally limited to a small area such as a neighbourhood, city or town, but could be broader (for example, Northern Manitoba). Regional and national projects cover a larger geographic area that may or may not have fixed boundaries. For example, regional projects can include an entire province or territory, or the northern regions of several provinces. A national project is defined as crossing at least three (3) provinces or territories, and having potential applicability across Canada.

Eligible activities

Funding can be used to support the following eligible activities:

• Interventions that promote prevention, testing and linkage to care for key populations. This includes:
  • Implementing peer-based and culturally safe interventions to prevent STBBI, including those that promote comprehensive approaches to prevention, such as vaccination (hepatitis B, human papilloma virus), condoms and lubricants, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), harm reduction services, etc.
  • Promoting STBBI testing as a springboard to support engagement in the prevention, treatment, care and support cascade
  • Promoting linkages and enhancing client referrals to STBBI testing, prevention, treatment, care and support services through peer navigation
  • Promoting linkages and enhancing client referrals to programs and services that address syndemic conditions (for example, mental health) and social determinants of health (for example, housing) that contribute to STBBI vulnerability or build resiliency
  • Strengthening the capacity (knowledge, skills, abilities) of key populations to improve uptake of effective evidence-based STBBI prevention measures
• Interventions that produce systems-level change to support key populations. This includes:
  • Implementing solutions to address systemic policy barriers, by convening partners (for example, public health, community-based organizations, policy-makers, researchers, or healthcare providers) to develop collaborative approaches to addressing local or regional STBBI programming priorities (for example, access to testing, pre-exposure prophylaxis or harm reduction services) and supporting them in their implementation
• Interventions that enhance the capacity of target audiences, such as front-line providers and health professionals. This includes:
  • Enhancing their capacity to improve equitable access to effective evidence-based STBBI prevention measures
  • Supporting population-specific knowledge brokering activities
  • Enhancing their capacity to deliver stigma-free and culturally safe STBBI prevention, testing, treatment, care and support services, including harm reduction
  • Supporting initiatives to eliminate intersecting forms of stigma and discrimination associated with STBBI, including initiatives that reduce stigma within the healthcare system
  • Supporting the implementation of evidence-informed, rights-based solutions to address barriers to STBBI prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services, including legal and policy barriers
• Campaigns that work to measurably change a specific behaviour within a clearly identified audience or population

How to Apply

The solicitation for the CAF is currently closed.

For more information regarding CAF please contact: phac.cgc.solicitations2-csc-aspc@canada.ca