The Community Sport Fund (CSF) is an initiative of ISWO’s Well Nation program.  The program is intended to increase opportunities for participation in sport, recreation, and physical activity while building community capacity and decreasing behaviours that can have long-term negative consequences. The CSF supports projects that utilize sport as a positive agent to impact social change, helping to achieve social development outcomes in Indigenous communities. Proposals that outline how culturally grounded sport, recreation and physical activity opportunities will support overall wellness will be considered for funding.

The CSF is intended to make community sport, physical activity, and Indigenous approaches to wellness more accessible to people of all ages and abilities. ISWO encourages remote and rural communities where sport-related opportunities are fewer, and large urban Indigenous populations where low participation rates may exist, to apply.

The CSF is supported through contributions from the Government of Canada, under STREAM 1 of the Sport for Social Development in Indigenous Communities (SSDIC) initiative, administered by Sport Canada.

What type of programs are eligible for the CSF?

For the purposes of this fund, “sport” is being defined broadly. Activities that could be viewed as recreation or physical activity are permissible if they include a physical activity component, and are chosen and supported by the community. The CSF is distinct from sport development as it is focused on the achievement of community social development needs. Your project must also be designed in a way that includes measurable outcomes for the four community social development needs.

Applicants must demonstrate how their project will:

• Lead to new or continued sport participation opportunities;
• Increase the number of people involved in organized sport activities in their community;
• Increase the capacity of the community to deliver additional or enhanced sport, recreation, and physical activity programming as a direct result of this funding; and
• In addition, stream 2 applicants must demonstrate how their project will encourage and enhance women and girls’ participation in sport through all stages of life.

Who can apply for the CSF?

• First Nation, Métis or Inuit (FNMI) community associations located in Ontario;
• Established Indigenous youth groups in Ontario;
• Indigenous not-for-profit organizations located in Ontario;
• A First Nation, Inuit, or Métis governing body, an Indigenous provincial/territorial organization or authority in Ontario; or
• Not-for-profit organizations, clubs, and associations, located in Ontario, that directly influence organized sport delivery in Indigenous communities, in consultation and collaboration with those communities.

ISWO is responsible for determining the eligibility of each applicant, their project, and project-related expenses. Please note that the CSF is intended to support communities and organizations located in the province of Ontario; all activities and programs related to the funding request must take place in the province of Ontario. Indigenous bands or community associations in Ontario.

Streams

Applicants can either apply to STREAM 1 or STREAM 2 funding for the 2022 CSF. Please see below descriptions for each stream.

STREAM 1

Stream 1 funding is for wide-ranging community sport and recreation programming. The desired outcomes of this funding stream are to build capacity, enhance safety and wellbeing, increase confidence, education, employability, and reducing behaviours that interfere with such development. If your application is intended for the general population of any First Nation(s), Métis and/or Inuit programming, you can apply toward Stream 1 funding. 

STREAM 2
Stream 2 funding is for sport and recreation initiatives specifically aimed at supporting the participation and/or retention of Indigenous women and girls within communities through social development outcomes as identified in Stream 1.

What are the timelines for the CSF?

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2022 Community Sport fund.

2020 Projects