Completing Your RED Application

Tips and Considerations

Before you Submit

Only applications with full and complete information will be assessed. A full and complete submission includes the following: A completed RED program application All applicants, except for a Municipality (a Municipality is a

geographic area whose inhabitants are incorporated as defined/described in the Municipal Act, 2001), are required to provide financial information that demonstrates capacity to implement the project. Information which may be acceptable to demonstrate capacity includes: Three years of financial records that indicate each

applicant has the financial ability to cash flow the project without difficulty or have a secure source of funding; or

A letter from the applicant's financial institution confirming financial capacity to cash flow the project in its entirety.

All applicants, except for a Municipality, are required to provide constituting documents (e.g., articles of incorporation) or other similar evidence of legal status.

Letters from stakeholders indicating their support for the project, including any contributions to the project if applicable, dated no earlier than six months prior to the close of intake

Quotes obtained to support the project budget, such as an estimate provided by a vendor for the cost of services

Any other documentation that supports the project (e.g., plans, feasibility studies)

• To determine if you are eligible to apply, please refer to the “Who can Apply” in RED program Guidelines.

• The lead applicant will be responsible for working with OMAFRA and will receive all payments (including eligible costs incurred on behalf of any co-applicants).

• To view the RED program – Definition of Rural and Urban Areas map, please refer to the “Before You Start – Important Information” in the RED program Guidelines.

• The project must take place in rural Ontario OR demonstrate benefits to rural Ontario.

• The start date for eligible project costs (3.1 of the program application) cannot be prior to the date the project has been approved by the Minister. – As stated in the program guidelines,

applicants will be notified as funding decisions are reached, usually within four months from the posted intake closure date; however, timing may vary.

• The project description may be easier to write after all other areas of the application are complete.

• If the project includes co-applicants or other sources of funding, which may build strength of a project, outline their participation and the benefits of that collaboration to the project in this section.

• Use this area to provide a concise overview of the entire project, and how the project aligns with as many as possible RED program assessment criteria. Expand on that summary in the following sections of the application

• Provide a breakdown of the major activities proposed as part the project, which should align with the Project Budget in Section 3.1

• Use this area to summarize information from supporting documents or other sources that demonstrate project need

• Make sure to submit supporting documents (e.g. plans, strategies, letters of support) that substantiate and demonstrate this need

• Use this area to summarize information from supporting documents that demonstrate how benefits accrue to rural Ontario

• For the purposes of the RED program, rural Ontario means all Statistics Canada's census subdivisions (including lower-tier and single-tier municipalities) that meet at least one of the following criteria:

• have a population of less than 100,000 people • have a population density of 100 people/km2 or less

• View the Rural and Urban Areas map on the RED program website at: http://www.ontario.ca/redprogram

• Use this area to demonstrate relevant experience and skills to successfully complete the project (e.g., two or more projects of at least a similar scope or scale completed within your organization , or how the skills can be obtained through hiring a Project Manager)

• Implementation projects only - applicant(s) should have a detailed plan for the implementation of their project (e.g., consultant quotes including activities, timelines and costs) – documents submitted to support this will improve the quality of the application.

• Plans and Strategies or Applied Research and Analysis to Support Planning and Priority Setting are Planning Projects.

• Sector Development; Marketing, Promotional and Branding Activities; and Workforce Attraction, Retention and Development projects are Implementation Projects.

• If you’re unsure of the eligibility of your project, budget items, or which project type best suits your project contact your Regional Advisor.

• Only check the boxes that align with the proposed project.

• For each outcome that is checked in Section 2.5 provide tangible evidence (e.g. supporting documentation) that demonstrates project alignment with RED program outcome It is important to submit sufficient evidence with the application.

• For more information on the RED program outcome, support for provincial government priorities, as established in the Speech from the Throne and/or mandate letters to individual Ministers’, please visit the RED program website where they can be viewed through live links in the “Before You Start – Important Information” section of the program guidelines.

• Letters of support can be in the form of: – Support of the applicant; – Support of the project; – In-kind support; or – Financial support .

• Any financial support identified within this section

should be included in the Applicant(s) Contribution and Additional Funding Sources (section 3.3) of the application).

• Use this area to describe how the project will assist with undertaking evidence-based planning to identify priorities and measure economic performance

• The description should highlight applicable information from supporting documents or other sources

• Use this area to describe how entities that span more than one municipality or sector (value chain) OR multiple community or sector-based entities are committed to support the project financially or in-kind

• Include documents that demonstrate collaboration in your submission

• When checking the creation and/or retention of

jobs outcome, ensure that you describe specifically how jobs will be created or retained in other parts of the application (e.g. project description).

• Use this area to describe benefits expected for the regional economy or sector from the project, by pursuing one or more of the following strategies:

• Addressing barriers within the sector (value chain) or regional economy

• Providing a competitive advantage to the sector or regional economy • Anchoring additional activities within the region • Supporting economic priorities for the region

• Use this area to clearly describe the considerations that have been made to encourage long-term contributions to economic development from resulting from the project.

• For projects that align with OMAFRA's Economic Development programs (e.g. downtown revitalization), use this area to describe how proposed project aligns with OMAFRA processes (e.g. four stages)

• For implementation projects (required) or planning projects (optional), use this area to describe how the project is new to the province or sector (value chain); and whether or not it is generally available or widely adopted.

• Provide a short description of each project activity (e.g. hire a coordinator, social media advertising, Stage 1: Preparation – Project Vision).

• Note that activities that start prior to the project approval by the ministry will not be eligible for funding.

• See “Project Activity Costs” in the RED program guidelines for information on eligible, ineligible and in-kind costs.

• If you’re unsure of the eligibility of your project or budget items, contact your Regional Advisor.

• Applicant(s) who are seeking a higher cost share or amount of funding must clearly demonstrate significant economic development benefits of the project (e.g., exceptional circumstances).

• For more information, see Cost-Share Funding in the RED program guidelines.

• Financial need is not included as a criteria for exceptional circumstances consideration • Use this area to clearly describe the economic development benefit of the project that qualifies

it for consideration of exceptional circumstances. Exceptional circumstances consideration is based on all of the following:

• strong alignment to program outcomes (i.e., alignment with more than three program outcomes)

• long-term sustainability of the project (i.e., outcomes will continue beyond the life of project)

• collaboration • multi-year timelines • reach of projects (i.e., regional in nature, span more than one community) • demonstrated linkages to other provincial priorities • project demonstrates innovation (i.e., not widely adopted or new to the province)

• Forecast eligible costs over the duration of the project by fiscal quarter.

• Ensure forecasts align with project start and end dates.

• List all sources of funding for the project.

• The non-provincial share of eligible costs must be secured by applicant(s). This can include funding through co-applicants.

• Disclose all sources of project funding • Funding from federal government programs can be used

toward project costs, assuming it is permitted under applicable federal programs. Combined federal and provincial funding cannot exceed 90 per cent of the project's eligible cost.

• Projects receiving other provincial funding are not eligible to apply for or receive funding under the RED program. Provincial funding includes but is not limited to funds administered by:

• Provincial ministries • Friends of the Greenbelt Foundation • The Greenbelt Fund • Ontario Trillium Foundation • Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation

If you are unsure about the requirements, check with your Regional Advisor before submitting.