OTF: System Innovations Grant

OTF: System Innovations Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: Ontario Trillium Foundation
Amount: Up to C $250,000
Last Updated: January 25, 2026

Summary

The Ontario Trillium Foundation's System Innovations Grant aims to strengthen community systems for youth, particularly Indigenous and Black youth, through collaborative initiatives. Eligible projects must reflect community diversity and include young leaders. Funding supports groundwork and implementation activities over a term of 2 to 6 years, addressing key outcomes such as creating safe spaces and promoting employment pathways. The grant encourages culturally responsive approaches to benefit youth facing systemic barriers across Ontario.

Overview

NOTE: Book a required one-to-one pre-application coaching call by August 31, 2022 to be eligible to apply. This deadline is reflected in our 'LOI Deadline.' Mission The mission of the Ontario Trillium Foundation (OTF) is to build healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario by investing in community-based initiatives and strengthening the impact of Ontario’s non-profit sector. System Innovations Grant System Innovations Grants support collaboratives to better understand, strategize, and work collectively to strengthen systems so they work better for youth, while prioritizing Indigenous and Black young people. Term Length: Minimum 2 years, Maximum 6 years The grant funds one or both of the following: Groundwork: Planning and preparing for systems changeImplementation: Putting research, theories of change, and plans into action Groundwork You can spend a maximum of two years on groundwork activities that allow you to prepare for systems change work. Laying the groundwork looks like:Forming or solidifying partnerships, inclusion of young people and other key stakeholders. Formalize the collaborative’s governance model Planning for systems change and ensuring the essential information, knowledge, and people are identified and gathered in order to inform an effective and sustainable system change strategy Groundwork activities include: research to understand the experiences and needs of young people as they engage with the specific system, exploring potential models and best practices, designing a theory of change, and drafting an action plan Implementation Implementation involves the collaborative putting its groundwork (research, theories of change, and plans) into action. Implementing systems change looks like:An engaged group of partners that have experience working together towards a shared strategic vision Putting into action the collaborative’s governance model, theory of change, strategic framework, and action plan Implementing strategies for systems change Priority Outcomes Creating safe spaces for Indigenous and/or Black youth to build strong community and cultural connections Addressing racism and its impacts on youth in urban, rural, and/or Northern communities Supporting Indigenous, Black, and/or newcomer youth to enter the labour market and transition to sustainable career pathways Supporting youth who are not connected to education programs, employment programs, and training programs (i.e. NEET) to exit poverty and social assistance Empowering girls and young women to lead, including women’s economic empowerment initiatives Providing mentorship opportunities for youth in and leaving care and/or youth involved in the justice system Priority Populations Indigenous youth (First Nation, Métis, or Inuit) Black youth Racialized youth Newcomer youth Francophone youth Two-spirit, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and/or questioning, intersex, asexual (2SLGBTQIA+) youth Youth living with disabilities or special needs between the ages of 12 to 29 Youth living with mental health needs and/or addiction Youth living in rural, remote and/or Northern communities Youth in conflict or at risk of being in conflict with the law Youth in care or leaving care Youth at-risk of dropping out or have dropped out Youth in low-income situations or from low-income families Youth who are homeless or at risk of being homeless Youth who are not engaged or at risk of not been engaged with education programs, employment programs, or training programs

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. Collaboratives eligible to apply to the System Innovations grant:Must reflect the communities and populations served. This means that partnering organizations reflect communities served in terms of both mandate, leadership, and staff teams. Must include young leaders in both groundwork and implementation as the intended beneficiaries of the systems change work Have the capacity to lead culturally responsive youth-centred systems change Can be newly formed or have been working together for some time Include partners from diverse sectors and backgrounds relevant to the system in focus and vision for change. This includes, but is not limited to Indigenous and Black organizations, organizations led by and serving specific communities, grassroots groups, youth-led groups, system partners, and community networks. We recognize that collaboratives will enter this process in different stages of readiness. If there are collaborative members missing that you consider essential to the work, you will have the opportunity to describe how this collaborative will secure their engagement as part of the application. Have clearly defined roles, responsibilities, and accountabilitiesWhat do we look for in a collaborative lead?Each collaborative will select one organization to be the lead. The lead organization accepts responsibility for the funded project and plays a key role in bringing key stakeholders to the collaborative table. The lead must meet all requirements to be an OTF funded organization.Additionally, they must:Bring strong community connections, a strong reputation, and the respect of community stakeholders. We invite Indigenous organizations and Black organizations to assume the role of lead in the collaboratives that are working to improve systems for Indigenous and Black youth in Ontario. Be a registered charity with the Canada Revenue Agency, or an organization incorporated as a non-profit corporation without share capital in a Canadian jurisdiction, or a First Nation, and a Métis, Inuit, or other Indigenous community.Your project may be eligible if it:Submitted a complete application Has a collaborative agreement in place, which is available to be shared with YOF if requested Strongly aligns with your chosen YOF Priority Outcome Complies with OTF policies. Our policy requirements define eligibility for OTF funding and outline exclusions. Funds are granted to eligible applicants delivering eligible project activities that directly align with YOF Priority Outcomes. Benefits young people ages 12-25 facing systemic barriers, and/or 12-29 for youth living with special needs and/or disabilities Carries out all project activities in OntarioCosts that can be funded in System Innovations include: Direct personnel costs: Salaries, mandatory employment related costs and employee benefits for staff positions funded specifically to carry out the project. Direct Non-Personnel Costs: All non-personnel costs directly related to project deliveryPurchased services: Services purchased including the services of consultants / contractors / subject experts specifically relating to the delivery of the project. Equipment Purchase or Rental: Cost to purchase or rent equipment related to the delivery of the project. Meetings | Convenings: Meeting/convening costs incurred relating to the delivery of the project. Supplies and materials: Items purchased specifically for use in the delivery of the project Travel: Travel costs incurred by employees, volunteers and participants, that are directly related to delivering the project. Honorariums: To acknowledge, in a small way, the contributions of community leaders and experts in the groundwork and/or implementation stages of work Knowledge Sharing: Costs associated with space, food, accommodations for an in person or virtual Knowledge Sharing event Learning and Evaluation costs: YOF grants include the support of a third-party evaluator that will focus on process evaluation. These costs are covered by the YOF. If the collaborative would like to go further in the evaluation of your work, up to a maximum of 10% of the total grant request budget can be used for planning and executing an evaluation of your grant project. This amount is only for the evaluation of your grant project. Overhead and Administration Costs: YOF will support overhead and administrative costs directly associated with the funded project, to a maximum of 15% of the total YOF Grant Budget. All costs funded by YOF must be eligible and directly attributable to the project.Please note that 10% of the awarded funding will be held back, to be paid upon satisfactory review of the final report.

Ineligibility

Ineligible expenses include:Expenses related to programming or service delivery for an extended period Capital infrastructure projects (renovations to space) Expenses related to political or religious activities General or ongoing operating expenses (unrelated to the project) Bursaries, scholarships, sponsorships or individual requests (including regranting funds to other projects or people) Fundraising campaigns