Application Guidelines

Application process:

  Application forms will be provided to municipalities, local service districts, development associations, community groups and organizations.

  Applications are to be submitted to the Department of Municipal & Provincial Affairs, P.O. Box 8700, St. John’s, NL A1B 4J6 up to August 31st, 2005. Fax number 729-0477. Applications will be processed as they are received until all funding has been allocated. Early submissions are encouraged.

  An inter-departmental committee of officials will review all applications and approve funding.

  An appeal mechanism exists to hear appeals from individuals who were not successful in obtaining funding.

Projects:

The projects to be funded under this program will in the main be:

(1) Relatively short term;
(2) Small-scale;
(3) Labour intensive;
(4) Sponsor administered (not Contractors).

Who qualifies for Employment:

The overriding goal is to target interventions to support families and not necessarily individuals in meeting their Employment Insurance needs. This will require proponents to carefully screen participants during the selection process.

Participants should have an attachment to the labour force, and be currently unemployed and not retired or in receipt of Old Age Security Benefits, Canada Pension Plan or other public or private pension plan. Proponents can consider the hiring of individuals who meet the following criteria:

  Individuals who are in receipt of "Survivor Benefits" as defined under the Canada Pension Plan and that this is the individual's only source of income.

  Individuals who are currently in receipt of Employment Insurance Benefits and are within the last nine weeks of their current claim and who are in the process of securing efficient employment hours for their next claim under the Employment Insurance Program.

The maximum number of employment hours eligible for participants will be 420 hours. However, priority will be given to participants who require the least number of hours.

To be employed on a project funded under this program a person must not be a member of the immediate family of any of the members of the sponsoring group or organization. For the purpose of this program immediate family members means father/mother (or alternatively step parent or foster parent), sister/brother, spouse (including common-law spouse), child/step child, ward of mother/father-in-law, sister/brother-in-law, or other relative permanently residing with a member of the sponsoring group or organization. Sponsoring groups or organizations who encounter difficulty with this guideline should discuss their concern with Ron Murphy, Program Co-ordinator by calling 729-5400.

Project funding:

All projects must have a labour component of at least 65%. A maximum of 10% of the total project may be levied for administration costs, with the remaining 25% for overhead/materials. Under extenuating circumstances these ratios can be altered; however, prior approval by the Department of Municipal Affairs is required.

It is intended that funding from this program be leveraged and combined with other funding programs and fundraising initiatives to supply material and other non-labour related project components.

The labour rate to be paid under this program will be limited to the province's minimum wage which is currently $6.25 per hour. The minimum wage will increase to $6.50 effective January 1st, 2006.

Proponents involved in brush cutting initiatives are permitted to pay participants an additional $2.00 per hour for use of their own chain saws.

Proponents who require labourers with specialized skills; such as a carpenter, plumber, etc, are permitted to pay the specialized skills labourer(s) higher than the minimum wage rate however, the rate must be approved by the Program Co-ordinator at the Department of Municipal Affairs prior to the start of the project.

Funding for approved projects will occur in two (2) instalments, 75% will be paid to the sponsor of the project upon approval, and the remaining 25% will be paid upon receipt of a Final Report.


The completed Final Report form must include the following:

(1) Mandatory employment costs details;
(2) Copies of invoices noted on final report;
(3) Copies of completed Records of Employment (ROE's).

NOTE:

No payment will occur AFTER March 31st, 2006, under this program. Failure to complete the project prior to this date, will result in the balance of funding being cancelled, unless circumstances warrant an extension of the time limit, in which case prior written approval is required.

The project sponsor is responsible to ensure that all payments required by law to be made by an employer on behalf of or paid directly to the employee, including workers' compensation, income tax, employment insurance, Canada Pension, payroll tax, holiday pay and any other payments as required. Any liability arising from this employment shall be the sole and absolute responsibility of the project sponsor.