Regional Communication Grant Guidelines

The Regional Communication Grant will support Regional Communication Coordinators (part-time service contractors hired by the Regional Board) in OSCIA’s eleven regions to strengthen inter-association networking opportunities, key regional events, and the assistance of RCCs in the production of the OSCIA e-newsletters The Innovator.

The available funding between April 1, 2021 and February 1, 2023, through CAP funding. It is essential that the intended purpose of the Ministry funding is closely adhered to. The Ministry funding is provided through a separate program from previous years, and it comes with a shortened list of eligible activities that may be supported.

The available funding totals $6,500 per year per region. Access and conditions to receiving the Regional Communication Grant will be coordinated through the provincial OSCIA office, through the Service Contract agreement. Funds allocated but not used within each fiscal year of the stated timeframe (April 1, 2021 – February 1, 2023) will be forfeited by that regional association.

The overarching purpose of the funding is to evaluate, demonstrate, and communicate new crop production technology to Ontario stakeholders. This is to be achieved from the perspectives of production, innovation, economic and environment, with the overall objective to improve the sustainability of crop production in Ontario and to extend the information and experiences to Ontario stakeholders.

These activities are expected to support successful and sustainable agri-food and agri-product businesses as well as goals to increase competitiveness of the sector through innovation. An objective of the funding is also to increase membership engagement in local associations.

It is recognized that additional funds are often generated at the regional level to combine with the Regional Communication Grant to support communication activities. The decision on how the additional communication dollars are invested is solely up to the Region.

All claims MUST be received in the Provincial office annually.

Please note: To enable OSCIA to meet stringent reporting deadlines set by the Ministry, project claim submission dates must be adhered to.
All claims for projects approved between April 1, 2021 and February 28, 2022 must be submitted to the provincial office by March 1, 2022.
All claims for projects approved between April 1, 2022 and February 1, 2023, must be submitted to the provincial office by February 8, 2023.

Guidelines

• Questions about the Regional Communication Grant should be directed to Amber Van De Peer at avandepeer@ontariosoilcrop.org
• Regional associations are also encouraged to leverage funds through sponsorships and advertising from outside sources.
• The application form and a detailed communication plan must be submitted to the provincial OSCIA office for full approval.
• The Recipient will indicate, in all Project-related publications – whether written, oral or visual – that “The views expressed in the publication are the views of the Recipient and do not necessarily reflect those of the Province or Canada.”
• All publications and meeting agendas prepared as part of the project must provide public recognition of the contribution of OMAFRA and OSCIA by including the following statement. “This project was funded in part by the Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs through the Canadian Agricultural Partnership, a five-year federal-provincial-territorial initiative.”
• All public-facing communication materials must be approved by OSCIA (and satisfy the interests of the Province and Canada) before release. If appropriate, the logo of Canada, the Province and OSCIA will be prominently placed and equally prominent in size on all public-facing communication materials. Allow a minimum of two weeks for the approval process. Please contact Amber Van De Peer (avandepeer@ontariosoilcrop.org) at OSCIA for further information, including electronic files for the logos and details on placement.
• The applicable forms must be completed and signed to trigger a claim through the Guelph office.
• A listing of grant expenditures and acceptable proof of payment must be included with the claim. Proof of payment may be any one of the following:
  • Copy of front and back of cancelled cheque.
  • Electronic image of processed cheque.
  • Statement from banking institution indicating to whom the processed cheque was written, or electronic payment made, and for what amount.
  • Credit card or debit card receipt clearly identifying amount and to whom the payment was made.
    Credit card or debit card numbers and other information, including costs that are unrelated to the project,
    should be blacked out.
• An electronic report on RCC activities is required annually and must be sent to the provincial OSCIA office before January 15 of the following year. Please refer to previous Annual Conference reports for any needed guidance on format.
• Records must be kept for seven years from the conclusion of the funding program so that the actual costs and expenses are available for audit purposes if requested.

Eligible items include:

• Labour, services and supplies;
• Cost of printing Province-wide E-Newsletter The Innovator for members without internet access (this cost will be billed at a cost-recovery back to the region and is therefore eligible under this grant);
• Funding can be used as startup funds for coordination of, or planning of a new regional communication event.

Eligible projects are activities which:

• Strengthen local associations and increase membership through high profile events;
• Strengthen inter-association networking opportunities;
• Organize key regionally significant events;
• Attend knowledge transfer events to write articles and provide opportunities for increased membership benefits through knowledge transfer;
• Develop and maintain a Regional landing page (on the OSCIA main website) or a Regional website, that features leading technology transfer produced for their local membership. As well as providing updates on upcoming events, local contact information and sponsorship ad placements;
• Write and develop up to 4 newsworthy articles per year to be submitted with pre-approval to OSCIAs newsteam for use in the E-Newsletter The Innovator (up to a maximum of $500 at $125 each per year). This portion of the grant is paid directly to the RCC as long as the article has been pre-approved by the newsteam.

Items NOT Eligible:

• Postage;
• Refreshments, nutrition breaks or food items;
• Donations to other organizations;
• Printing or mailing of local landing page material or Regional updates mailed out to members;
• These funds are not intended to support ongoing or existing annual events;
• The Communication grant cannot be used in combination with another OSCIA grant (i.e. cannot be used towards the same project expenses)