Seed / Bridge Fund

Seed/Bridge Fund Grant Details and Guidelines (PDF)

Seed/Bridge Fund Application Form (WORD)

Purpose

The purpose of the Seed/Bridge Fund is to financially support the startup of research/evaluation projects (often in the pilot state), or the transition of research/evaluation projects into their next phase (e.g., to cover funding gaps). In some circumstances, this grant may also be used to fund literature reviews and syntheses.

Team Composition

The "Principal Applicant" for the Seed/Bridge Fund grant must be a service provider, administrator, or researcher working with clients of the Ministry or in partnership with programs and services offered by the Ministry of Seniors and Community Supports, and contracted services through community agencies. Project teams are encouraged, where appropriate, to be multi-disciplinary and multi-sectoral, and to be comprised of a service provider or decision/policy-maker and a community partner (e.g., seniors or persons with disabilities, community organizations), and have sufficient research expertise. These partners are listed as "Project Partners" on the Application Form.

Amount and Duration of Grant

The maximum amount awarded for a single grant is $25,000 and all Seed/Bridge Fund projects must be completed and reporting submitted within two years of the project start date.

Scope of Grant

It is anticipated that grants will be used to assess, investigate or evaluate services, programs or policy (e.g., for planning and reporting purposes). Projects must:

• be focused on research or evaluation of interest to the Ministry,
• be related to mental health or mental well-being,
• fall under one or more of the six domains of interest, and
• have either or both seniors and persons with disabilities as the target population.

Distinction between seed and bridge funding

Seed funding is intended to stimulate research and provide funding to allow researchers/practitioners to gather initial information/data to explore potential areas of research and innovation. Bridge funding is intended to facilitate or enable projects to move from one stage of funding to another stage or level of funding.

In both instances (Seed or Bridge), this funding is intended to connect to or result in other projects as part of a larger research endeavour. This includes, for example, pilor projects where further phases are expected or anticipated. Alternatively, it may also include moving forward an existing evaluation or project to another level of research. All  applicants must suggest how their project is intended to relate to previous or subsequent projects.