Wellness@Work Grant Program

Applications for the 2025-2026 fiscal year are now open!

Background

The goal of the initiative is to promote the well-being of the whole person, and build caring campus environments that are vibrant and inclusive, open and respectful, where University members and visitors alike know they are valued, and working together to build healthier communities.

The Wellness@Work Grant Program encourages faculty and staff across all campuses and research stations at the University of Guelph to help promote wellness in their workplace through the implementation of a tailored health‐promoting program, approach, or idea in their workplace.


Grant Opportunities

You play a key role in fostering a healthy campus community. This initiative provides an opportunity to be innovative as you test out a new healthy workplace idea in your department.

When the grant program is open for applications, departments/groups can apply for a seed grant for their initiative. The number of grants available will be dependent on the number of applications received and the amount distributed for each successful grant.

Departments/groups are encouraged to collaborate with other groups to submit a joint application. In the application review process, selected applications with similar goals or ideas may be matched to collaborate on their workplace wellness idea.

Funding Stream for Guelph-Humber Initiatives 

For the 2025-2026 Wellness@Work Grant application period, the University of Guelph-Humber (Guelph-Humber) has allocated funds for grant initiatives that are planned and implemented at Guelph-Humber’s campus in Toronto. With this funding, Wellness@Work will have a specific stream of the grant program available to those who work at Guelph-Humber and are submitting a grant application. Applicants will be subject to the same application and evaluation process as the rest of the grant program. When applicants complete their grant application and select "University of Guelph-Humber" as the location, they will automatically be put into the Guelph-Humber stream of funding for the Wellness@Work Grant Program. Please refer to the deadlines below for more information. There will be a separate information session taking place at Noon on April 16th, 2025 for those applying for Guelph-Humber grant initiatives. Also, note the slight differences in deadlines for program implementation. 

Funding for Individual Professional Development Assessments

In partnership with Learning & Development, Wellness@Work is excited to now offer grant applicants the opportunity to submit individual applications to receive funding for assessments that support their professional growth and development. See below the list of assessments available, including the number of applications that will be approved for each assessment. Those who are interested in applying to receive funding for a professional development assessment will use the grant application link and select "Individual Professional Development Assessment" for the question "Please select the wellness program you would like to run." 

Assessment  Description  Number of Applications Approved per Assessment  
Firo-B Profile The FIRO-B® instrument identifies how you tend to behave toward others and how you want them to behave toward you. Your FIRO-B results can help you increase your self-understanding in a number of important areas, including how you handle interpersonal relationships and your own social needs, how others perceive you, and how you see them. 10
Kolb Experiential Learning Profile (KELP) The Kolb Experiential Learning Profile (KELP) is based on experiential learning theory and is designed to help individuals identify the way they learn from experience. This is deceptively important since learning is the primary process used to navigate life. All change, innovation, teamwork, decision-making, resilience, and leadership require learning and development. 10
LPI 360

This assessment is for people leaders. The Leadership Practices Inventory® (LPI®) 360 is an observer-based assessment that measures The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®, the acclaimed leadership development model created by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner.

This assessment empowers leaders with real-world feedback to evaluate their leadership competencies. The resulting personalized report serves as a powerful tool for leaders as they embark on their journey toward extraordinary leadership. 

 10
SDI 2.0   The Strength Deployment Inventory is an assessment that provides deep insights into your motivations, behaviors, and relationship dynamics in professional settings. These insights help you know yourself more fully, understand others more accurately, manage yourself more effectively, and achieve better results by building healthier relationships. 10
WE-I (Emotional Intelligence) 

The WE-I Profile simulates real-time interpersonal interactions by presenting us with eight short video vignettes in which we are being challenged by another person. Then we are presented with a series of statements and asked the degree to which the statements fit our experience of the interaction to understand our emotional reactions. Because the instrument is a real-time simulation and doesn’t ask what we would do or what we believe about ourselves and instead asks us what’s going on inside us, it captures hidden aspects of what drives our behavior under stress.

 20


Eligibility Criteria

Applications will be reviewed by the Wellness@Work Advisor. Programming and ideas must fit within one or more of the following three priority elements of the Wellness@Work Initiative:

  • physical well-being;
  • psychological well-being; and/or
  • social well-being

 To promote a mentally healthy workplace, grant applications focused on the following psychosocial factors identified as opportunities for growth in the 2024 Wellness@Work Comprehensive Survey will be prioritized:

  • Clear Leadership & Expectations
  • Growth & Development
  • Psychologically Supported Self-Care (burnout prevention and promotion of resilience)

Approved and Non-Approved Costs

Expenses related to physical changes to your workspace or safety equipment for your team do not fall within the scope of this grant program. 

Please review the application form and FAQ document for further details on the grant program with a more detailed list of approved and non-approved items.

Departments are responsible for the up-front cost of the grant program and are only reimbursed their approved amount at the end of the grant program.  

Important Considerations 

Where possible, grant programs should leverage internal resources from the University and facilitate programs on campus instead of in community locations. For example, if facilitating exercise classes for your department, leveraging the resources from Athletics & Recreation. Or if providing food through your program, ensure that Hospitality Services or other on-campus food providers are used. Locations such as Ridgetown, Guelph-Humber, or research stations may not have access to the same internal resources as those working on the Guelph Campus. This is taken into consideration during the evaluation process. 

Application Process

The grant application is to be submitted digitally via Qualtrics. Grant wellness program applications for the 2025-2026 fiscal year are now open. 

Apply now!

If you require to review the grant application questions before formal submission review the Wellness@Work Grant Application Questions for proposed initiatives planned and implemented

Important dates

  • April 8, 2025: Applications open
  • April 16, 2025: Grant info session 12:00pm-1:00pm for University of Guelph-Humber employees. Register now!
  • April 17, 2025: Grant info session 1:30pm - 2:30pm for all U of G (proposed initiatives for Guelph Campus, Ridgetown, and Research station). Register now!
  • May 16, 2025 at 5 pm: Deadline to submit applications
  • June 4, 2025: Applicants notified of decision 
  • November 2025: Mid-term progress check-In 
  • February 27, 2026 at 5pm: Guelph-Humber stream funding spending deadline and all financial documentation submitted. Final report due.
  • March 27, 2026, at 5 pm: Funding spending deadline and all financial documentation submitted. Final report due.

Readiness Checklist

I have…

  • Approval from my direct supervisor
  • Support and endorsement from my AVP or Dean (or for UofGH support from Supervisor/Department Head/Program Head) to submit a grant application and approval to cover up-front costs;
  • Conducted an informal needs assessment to determine what would interest and benefit colleagues in my department/group;
  • Considered the health benefits and potential outcomes of the program or idea on the staff/faculty;
  • Been thoughtful about how to create an accessible and inclusive program for diverse employees;
  • Determined how the program or idea will be evaluated/outcomes measured;
  • Discussed how this initiative might be able to be sustained and continued beyond the one year funding available; and
  • Reviewed the application form and the FAQ document to ensure all information necessary to complete the grant application has been included. 

Questions? 

Email wellnessatwork@uoguelph.ca. 

Thank you to the University of British Columbia for generously sharing materials and information from their Healthy Workplace Initiative Fund, which has inspired the Wellness@Work Grant Program.  

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