SSHRC Partnership Engage Grants—Residential Schools Joint Initiative
Sponsor
SSHRC in partnership with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR)
Program
Partnership Engage Grants—Residential Schools Joint Initiative
Description
Missing children and the existence of unmarked burial sites at residential schools across Canada have been well-known for decades among Indigenous communities, and became the subject of volume 4 of the final report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). The TRC final report also included Calls to Action [1]. The National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation (NCTR) developed the National Residential School Death Register in response to Call to Action 72. The Register lists the names of 4,130 children who are known to have died while attending residential school. This research is ongoing. Despite this work, the broader Canadian public has only begun to understand the extent of the situation. These tragic realities underline the integral role of Indigenous community-led research and activities in shaping the path to truth and reconciliation.
As part of the response to the TRC’s Calls to Action 71-76, SSHRC is partnering with the NCTR to propose a unique opportunity for short-term funding to support Indigenous community-led research and related activities involving community decision-making processes, research and actions regarding residential school sites in Canada.
This NCTR-SSHRC initiative is taking the form of a one-time funding opportunity, the Partnership Engage Grants—Residential Schools Joint Initiative (PEG RSJI). The PEG RSJI will support projects responding to a community’s need for planning, discussions, archival work or storytelling prior to, or in addition to, excavations or identifications on residential school sites in Canada. Projects can also focus on ground exploration, identification of sites and remains, repatriation of missing children from residential schools in Canada, or mapping and preservation of these sites, as judged appropriate by the community.
Eligibility
PEG RSJI applications are subject to the general Partnership Engage Grants’ eligibility requirements [2].
Researchers can submit only one application to either Partnership Engage Grants or the PEG RSJI in the same competition (e.g., June 2022).
However, the following exceptions apply:
- researchers who have already submitted a Partnership Engage Grants application in the current calendar year are still eligible to apply for a PEG RSJI grant; and
- researchers can hold one Partnership Engage Grant (but not for the June 2022 competition), multiple Partnership Engage Grant COVID-19 Special Initiative awards and a PEG RSJI simultaneously.
Funding Availability
SSHRC is committed to investing up to $1 million for the June 2022 Partnership Engage Grants competition to support projects related to residential schools.
Maximum Project Value
$7,000 to $50,000 per project
Indirect Costs
0%
Project Duration
One year.
A one-year automatic grant extension without additional funding is also available under this joint initiative.
Deadlines
If College-level review is required, your College will communicate its earlier internal deadlines.
| Type | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
Internal Deadline | PI to submit OR-5 form along with a copy of the full application to: research.services@uoguelph.ca [3] Please hit 'submit' on the SSHRC Portal on or before the internal deadline. | |
External Deadline | Application will be submitted to SSHRC electronically by the Office of Research Services. |
How to Apply
Applicants must complete the Partnership Engage Grants application form and follow the accompanying instructions, as outlined in the Partnership Engage Grants description [4].
In their application form, PEG RSJI applicants must follow these steps:
- Select PEG RSJI in the drop-down menu for Joint or special initiative. By doing so, applicants accept that the content of their application will be shared with the NCTR. (See Regulations, policies and related information [5] section for details).
- Include, under Keywords, the term “Residential Schools.”
- Demonstrate under the Goal and project description section that the proposed project is responding to an Indigenous community’s need for:
- planning, discussions, archival work or storytelling prior to, or in addition to, excavations or identifications on residential school sites in Canada; and/or
- ground exploration, identification of sites and remains, or repatriation of missing children on residential school sites in Canada; and/or
- mapping and preservation of these sites.
- Include the letter of support from the partner representing the Indigenous community leading the project. The letter should demonstrate how the project is emanating from the community’s ideas and goals, describe the community’s participation, and explain how the relationship with the researchers will assist the community.
Although partner organizations are normally expected to support the activities of the partnership through cash and/or in-kind contributions [6], in an effort to alleviate barriers to all communities’ participation, partners unable to provide cash and/or in-kind contributions can explain alternative support in their letters. This support can include social capital, an asset that can emphasize social and familial relationships and networks and could affect the cost of research. A contribution could also include linguistic capital, such as the ability to engage with the community using its ancestral language(s) and a national language of Canada.
The NCTR and SSHRC encourage projects using Gender-based Analysis Plus [7].