Western Economic Diversification Canada
www.wd-deo.gc.ca
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Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the Community Adjustment Fund?
- Is the Community Adjustment Fund a permanent program?
- How much of the Community Adjustment Fund is being invested in the West?
- What type of communities are CAF projects benefiting?
- What kinds of projects were eligible for funding?
- Who was eligible to apply for project funding?
- What costs are eligible?
- How were projects assessed?
- When were successful applicants notified if their projects received funding?
- Were there any special requirements for successful projects that received funding?
- Who has benefited from the Community Adjustment Fund?
- Did Western Economic Diversification Canada fund businesses under the Community Adjustment Fund?
- Was CAF included in the recent extension to EAP projects?
- What if my project won't be completed before the March 31, 2011 cut-off date?
- Who can I contact if I have questions about the initiative?
1. What is the Community Adjustment Fund?
The Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) is providing $1 billion over two years to address the short-term economic needs of Canadian communities impacted by the global recession. This national economic stimulus initiative supports projects that create jobs and maintain employment in and around communities that have experienced significant job losses and lack alternative employment opportunities.
Launched in May 2009, CAF is part of Canada's Economic Action Plan, the Government of Canada's plan to help ensure a quick recovery from the recent economic downturn. By focusing on the creation of short-term employment to support communities and the sectors that contribute to their viability, CAF will play a distinctive role in relation to other economic stimulus measures included in Canada’s Economic Action Plan.
Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) is delivering the fund in the four western provinces, investing $306 million to help communities reduce the short-term impacts of the economic downturn. The primary goal of CAF is immediate job creation.
All projects funded under CAF must be completed by March 31, 2011
top of page2. Is the Community Adjustment Fund a permanent program?
The Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) is a two-year program. All projects funded under the CAF must be completed no later than March 31, 2011.
3. How much of the Community Adjustment Fund is being invested in the West?
The Community Adjustment Fund will inject $306 million in Western Canada over two years to help create jobs and support adjustment measures in communities impacted by the global economic downturn.
4. What type of communities are CAF projects benefiting?
Communities with populations under 250,000 that have been adversely affected by the economic downturn were eligible to apply for projects under CAF. These communities:
- have experienced significant job losses and lack alternative employment opportunities, or
- have experienced at least a 20% increase in the number of EI beneficiaries in the past year.
The focus of the Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) is to help create and/or maintain jobs in the short-term. The fund supported projects in and around affected communities. Priority was given to rural, single industry communities that are reliant on resource based industries (i.e.: forestry, mining, energy, agriculture and fisheries) and to communities that were reliant on the manufacturing industry.
5. What kinds of projects were eligible for funding?
Projects funded under CAF had to:
- Provide benefits to communities affected by the global economic recession;
- Create immediate, short-term employment;
- Be able to start quickly; and,
- Be incremental (funds had to be in addition to existing resources and not replace funding available elsewhere).
In addition, priority was given to projects in and around communities that:
- Were located in rural, single-industry communities;
- Created jobs and maintained employment;
- Leveraged funds from provinces, territories and other funding partners;
- Built on partnership arrangements already in place (e.g. federal-provincial/territorial agreements) and existing programs; and,
- Provided a legacy of longer-term economic benefits.
Eligible projects were also required to be completed by March 31, 2011 with no requirement for continued support.
Projects that were not supported under CAF included:
- Direct transfers of funds to workers;
- Investments in slaughterhouse capacity;
- Projects that were eligible for funding under any federal infrastructure program would not normally have been considered for funding under the Community Adjustment Fund; and,
- Projects undertaken by private for-profit entities that were not consistent with the Canada-US Softwood Lumber Agreement.
6. Who was eligible to apply for project funding?
Entities eligible to apply for funding under CAF included:
- Not-for-profit organizations;
- For-profit organizations (incorporated, sole proprietorships, partnerships or other legally established businesses) *
- Post-secondary education institutions;
- Co-operatives;
- Indian Bands;
- Provincial government departments, agencies and crown corporations; and
- Municipal governments and organizations created by them.
* Contributions to for-profit organizations undertaking commercial activities were made on a repayable basis.
In order to be eligible for CAF funding, costs incurred by recipients must be reasonable, incremental and directly attributable to activities necessary to achieve desired results. Examples of eligible costs include:
- Operating: personnel, administration, consulting fees and supplies.
- Capital: equipment purchases and leases, Information Management and Technology (IMT) acquisitions and capital improvements.
Reasonable expenses are those that are necessary for completion of the project. Only costs that are directly related to the eligible activities are allowed.
Reasonable expenses are those that are necessary for completion of the project. Only costs that are directly related to the eligible activities are allowed.
8. How were projects assessed?
Priority was given to projects in and around eligible communities that:
- Were located in rural, single-industry communities;
- Created jobs and maintain employment;
- Leveraged funds from provinces, territories and other funding partners;
- Built on partnership arrangements already in place (e.g. federal-provincial/territorial agreements) and existing programs; and,
- Provided a legacy of longer-term economic benefits.
9. When were successful applicants notified that their projects received funding?
Western Economic Diversification Canada contacted successful applicants immediately after their applications were approved in order to begin work on the project immediately.
10. Were there any special requirements for successful projects that received funding?
As projects are implemented, Western Economic Diversification Canada (WD) will monitor recipients’ progress against a set of performance milestones included in each contribution agreement. Recipients will be required to report quarterly on progress towards job creation and other measures.
An independent evaluation will also be conducted at the end of the program to evaluate success and effectiveness, and to measure short-term outputs such as the number of jobs created and/or maintained, new business start-ups, number of projects approved and total funds committed.
11. Who has benefited from the Community Adjustment Fund?
Many communities across Canada rely on industrial sectors that have been hard hit by recent economic conditions, including forestry, mining, energy, agriculture, fisheries and manufacturing. The Community Adjustment Fund (CAF) gave priority to severely affected communities that are resource-based and/or that depend on a limited industry base.
12. Did Western Economic Diversification Canada fund businesses under the Community Adjustment Fund?
Businesses located in and around affected communities were eligible to apply for funding under the Community Adjustment Fund to create new jobs or maintain jobs that would otherwise be lost.
13. Was CAF included in the recent extension to EAP projects?
No, the extension applies only to projects funded under the four key EAP infrastructure programs: the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund, the Building Canada Fund Communities Component (BFC-CC) Top-Up, the Recreational Infrastructure Canada (RInC) program and the Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP).
14. What if my project won't be completed before the March 31, 2011 cut-off date?
Contribution agreements signed, agreed to and relied upon by both the proponent and the Government of Canada will continue to apply.
WD will pay for agreed upon costs incurred by the program deadline of March 31, 2011 and will also work with project proponents to ensure that eligible costs are maximized before that date. WD will not fund any costs incurred past March 31, 2011. In specific circumstances, proponents may be able to complete projects after March 31, 2011 at their own expense without being required to repay WD’s contributions; please contact WD for more details about these circumstances.
15. Who can I contact if I have questions about the initiative?
If you have further questions about the program, you may contact us directly at any of our offices, by email, telephone, fax, or mail.
