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