Contribution

Agreement

OCASI Executive Directors

Forum 2011

• Commitment to assist

newcomers and invest

public funds responsibly

• Open and fair process

in place to select and

award contribution

agreements

• Negotiation and

Contract preparation

• Document changes

in activities and

contributions to

reflect actual

program delivery

• Assess the extent to

which the expected

results of an agreement

are being met and

whether they are being

met in an effective and

efficient way.

• Ensures that all

obligations have been met

and are within the terms

and conditions of the

agreement.

• Reimburse funded organizations for eligible, incurred, actual and paid costs related to the delivery of services in a timely manner

Life Cycle of a Contribution Agreement

Purpose:

• Set priorities, and formulate delivery

objectives to ensure that services meet

client needs;

• Confirm the level of the contribution

funding allocation;

• Review relevant information on

trends and newcomer needs;

• Create better linkages between

different CIC business lines to ensure

continuity and cohesion;

• Contribute to improved programming

and client outcomes.

Service Provider Organizations

play an important role in

identifying newcomers’ needs and

the changes in the communities.

Purpose:

• Ensure contribution agreement funds

are awarded using impartial and

transparent processes;

• Projects selected are feasible, cost

effective and will successfully deliver

the required services to eligible clients.

Selection Criteria:

• Timeliness

• Completeness

• Eligibility and Capacity of the

Applicants

• Financial Stability of the Applicants

• Eligibility of the proposed Clientele

• Eligibility and Appropriateness of the

Proposed Activities

• Cost Effectiveness of the Proposals

• Past and Current performance of the

Applicants

Selection Criteria

• Timeliness - Proposal was submitted on or before the deadline.

• Completeness - A signed application was received. All necessary

documents were included with the proposal as stated in the call for

proposals.

• Eligibility of the Applicants:

– accessible to all newcomer population;

– Provincial, territorial or municipal governments;

– Not for profit organizations including non-governmental organizations,

non-profit corporations, community groups and umbrella organizations;

– Businesses;

– Educational institutions (including school boards, districts and divisions);

– Individuals.

Selection Criteria

• Capacity of the Applicant

– Physical infrastructure meets proposed program/service

requirements;

– Adequate management structure and strong internal controls;

– Governance structure (Board of Directors);

– Financial capacity:

• Evidence of various sources of funding;

• Ability to incurred costs up front and be reimbursed later.

• Financial Stability of the Applicant

- Review of the applicant’s financial situation based on audited financial

statement.

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Selection Criteria

• Eligibility of the Proposed Clientele

– Permanent Residents of Canada.;

– Convention Refugees and Protected Persons

– Individuals who have been selected, in Canada to become permanent

residents (pending verifications) and who have been informed, by a

letter from Citizenship and Immigration Canada;

– Live-in Caregivers who are in Canada with a work permit under the

Live-in Caregiver Program are eligible to settlement services, but not

language training.

• Eligibility and Appropriateness of Proposed Activities

– Meet priorities and prescribed activities identified in the call for proposals;

– Able to achieve the objectives within the duration of the agreement.

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Selection Criteria

• Cost Effectiveness of the Proposal

- Minimum funding to achieve the proposed objectives;

- Costs must be necessary and directly related to the delivery of services and

achievement of the program objectives;

- Proposal must demonstrate and represent a sound investment for the

Department.

• Past and Current Performance of the Applicant

- Applicant’s track records in meeting:

- negotiated targets/deliverables;

- financial accountability requirements;

- Applicant’s management and governance capacity and capability;

- CIC’s past experience with the Applicant.

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CIC’s

Settlement

Service

Standards

Agreement

Negotiated

1st Service Standard:

Acknowledgement of Receipt

of Application

2nd Service Standard:

Decision on Applicant

Eligibility

3rd Service Standard:

Decision on proposal

Approval

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3rd Service Standard (125 calendar days from CFP closing)

2nd Service Standard (40

calendar days from

CFP closing)

1st Service Standard (10 calendar days

from CFP closing)

Purpose:

• Reflect accurately the terms and

conditions of the Settlement Program;

• Articulate the program outcomes and

results;

• Identify CIC’s maximum contribution

to prescribed services delivery and

activities;

• Satisfy the Department’s

programming, reporting and

accountability needs.

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Contribution Agreements

What is a Contribution Agreement (CA):

• A legal and binding document between service provider

and CIC that reflects the mutually agreed terms and

conditions;

• Identifies the objectives, activities, results and deliverables

of the agreement;

• Stipulates the maximum contribution/budget over a

specified period for the administration and delivery of

identified services and expected results;

• Has a clearly defined start and end date signaling the

contribution period.9

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Negotiation Phase

• Quantitative and qualitative objectives, deliverables and

expected results should be:

– in support of CIC’s program objectives;

– realistic, and achievable within the duration of the agreement.

• Costs must:

– Be necessary, reasonable, and directly related to the provision of services;

– Conform with CIC’s Negotiation Guidelines.

• CIC will contribute to portion of the shared costs required to

achieve program objectives;

• CIC will not reimburse costs that occur prior to the start of

and after the end of the agreement;

• Applicants need to declare all sources of funding initially and

during the duration of the CA. 10

Eligible and Ineligible Costs

HST

Salaries and

benefits

required to

deliver services

Employee

severance

costs

Parking

tickets

Classroom

rentals

Delivery

assistance

tools

Travel costs

related to the

administration and

delivery of

services

Hospitality

expenses for

agency`s own

activities

Child care snacks

and supplies

Criminal check

for staff and

volunteers

working with

children

Salaries costs

associated with

union activities

Maternity and

long term

disability

Early lease

cancellation

penalty

Late payment

fees and

charges

Purpose:

•Reimburse eligible and actual expenses

that have already been incurred and paid by

the service delivery organization in support

of the delivery of CIC programs;

• CIC may issue advance payment.

Conditions for Reimbursing a Claim:

• Claimed costs must be

eligible, actual, incurred and paid;

• Submission of a signed claim form by the

appropriate signatory from the

organization;

• The claims are free of errors;

• Claimed costs do not exceed the

amounts allowed;

• Claimed costs do not include any

previous reimbursed costs.

• Claims should correspond to the format

of Schedule 2.1

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Conditions for Reimbursement

• CIC’s contribution is a reimbursement of actual, incurred

and paid eligible costs by the service provider;

• CIC’s reimbursement is also contingent on service provider

demonstrating its compliance with all the elements of the

contribution agreement;

• CIC’s contribution will not exceed the maximum amount

negotiated and identified on Schedule 2 of the CA, unless

service provider has received prior approval from CIC and

the CA has been amended;

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Conditions of Reimbursement

• Claims should be submitted by the 10th day of each month

for the eligible expenses incurred and paid for the previous

month, together with the required activity report;

• From the receipt of claims, it takes approximately 2 weeks

for CIC to issue the payment; however, the use of Direct

Deposit will reduce processing time;

• When deemed appropriate, CIC will request supporting

documents from funding recipients to substantiate claimed

expenses;

• CIC may set off overpayments against eligible payment.

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Conditions for Issuance of

Advance Payment• Funded organization must demonstrate a need for

advance payment;

• Funded organization has accessed other alternative

funding sources;

• The request for advance payment must be made in

writing;

• There is:

– A fully signed agreement in place;

– A cash flow forecast based on the current contribution identified on

Schedule 2 of the CA;

– A fully completed Basic Service provider Information Sheet.

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Inappropriate Practices

• Not claiming actual costs;

• Claiming costs that have been incurred, but not paid;

• Claiming ineligible costs;

• Costs cannot be properly supported;

• Claiming shared costs in excess of the agreed

percentage;

• Claiming ineligible costs to fully spend unused budget

(slippage) from the CA;

• Claiming costs in excess of the maximum contribution

identified on Schedule 2 of the CA without CIC’s prior

approval.

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Purpose:

• Reflect any changes in activities or funding

from the existing contribution agreement.

Amendments to an agreement may be requested

by the service provider or by CIC, but when is an

amendment necessary?

• Funds, greater than $1,000, are moved into or

out of the four cost categories within the

agreement;

• CIC and the service provider agree that an

amendment is necessary to increase or

decrease the funding amount;

• he scope of the project is increased or

decreased;

• The duration of the agreement must be

changed;

• The funding amount or reallocation of funds

between fiscal years is increased or decreased;

• There are changes to expected outcomes or

project outputs.

Purpose:

• Assess compliance against the terms

and conditions of the contribution

agreement;

• Identify the needs of an organization

and to provide support;

• Fulfill accountability requirements

within CIC and on the part of the funded

organizations.

Monitoring may take the form of:

• On-site visit;

•Request supporting documentation

accompany the claim submission;

• Audit.

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What Happens in a Monitor

During a Monitor:

• Funded organizations must provide all the necessary records

for the verification of all claimed expenses;

• Funded organizations must be able to demonstrate that

reports and claims submitted accurately reflect program

statistics and costs incurred and paid;

• Funded organizations can demonstrate that organization’s

own internal policy and management control have been

properly followed and effective program delivery oversight is

in place;

• Funded organizations can demonstrate and share with CIC

the challenges and successes of program delivery and the

changes in client and community needs. 19

Purpose:

• Ensures that all obligations have been met

and are within the terms and conditions of

the agreement.

Closing Agreement

CIC will

• Conduct a thorough review of

the last claim;

•Assess and document

performance in terms of output

and outcomes, as applicable;

•Determine the disposition of the

capital assets;

•Ensure all overpayment has been

recovered;

• Issue the final payment to

funding recipient.

Closing Contribution

Agreements

• Completing and submitting the final progress report and

financial claim in accordance with the directions and the

timelines specified by CIC;

• March claims should only include eligible expenses

incurred up to March 31;

• For all March claims (or the last claim of the fiscal

year), CIC will conduct a thorough review of the claims to

ensure all costs claimed are in accordance with the

terms and conditions of the CA.

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Closing Contribution

Agreements

• If the service provider will not be receiving further

funding; the closing of the contribution agreement may

consist of:

• Disposing of capital assets;

• Protecting and disposing of personal client information;

• Arranging for the retention of financial and client records.

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QUESTIONS