Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting and Distribution Projects

• Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting and Distribution Projects
• Objectives
• Eligible Recipients
• Program / Project Eligibility
• Eligible Expenditures
• Ineligible Expenditures
• Proposal Format

Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting and Distribution Projects

Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting (NAB) supports Aboriginal broadcasting societies to produce and distribute radio and television programming in the north. The NAB was established as part of the federal government's Northern Native Broadcasting Policy. The Policy set out five policy principles:

• Northern residents should be offered access to a range of programming choices through the exploitation of technological opportunities;
• Northern Native people should have the opportunity to participate actively in the determination by the CRTC of the character, quantity and priority of programming broadcast in predominantly Native communities;
• Northern Native people should have fair access to Northern broadcasting distribution systems to maintain and develop their cultures and languages;
• Programming relevant to Native concerns, including content originated by Native people, should be produced for distribution wherever Native people form a significant proportion of the population in the service area; and
• Northern Native representatives should be consulted regularly by government agencies engaged in establishing broadcasting policies that would affect their cultures.

Objectives

The primary objectives of the NAB are:

• to support the production of culturally-relevant Aboriginal programming
• to facilitate establishment & maintenance of production facilities
• to ensure availability of significant amount of radio and television programming
• to contribute to the protection and enhancement of Aboriginal languages and cultures
• to provide venues to articulate issues of relevance to Aboriginal audiences and communities

Eligible Recipients

Eligible recipients include not-for-profit Aboriginal organizations providing broadcast communications north of the Hamelin Line, which is drawn at the 55^th parallel and defines the Canadian North for purposes of policy.

Program / Project Eligibility

Program funding may be provided for network production activities if they are judged to contribute to the protection and enhancement of Aboriginal languages and cultures, and facilitate Northern Native participation in activities and developments related to the North.

Project funding may be provided under Distribution Projects to resolve emergency transmission problems.

Eligible Expenditures

Subject to ministerial approval, eligible expenditures must be directly related to the activities and may include:

• salaries¹and employee benefits
• travel within Canada²
• training
• meetings
• rent/utilities
• communications
• professional/consulting/elder fees
• equipment rental/service/purchase
• purchase or refurbishment of transmitter system and receiving equipment
• installation, engineering and shipping costs
• satellite leasing costs
• costs associated with new and emerging communications technology, including purchase and upgrade of hardware and software

Ineligible Expenditures

Ineligible expenditures are:

• capital construction and renovation
• stipends, allowances or honoraria for attendance in a course/activity
• costs incurred before the application is received by the Department
• start-up and operations costs for institutions, training centres, commercial enterprises and support for the development of cultural/professional industries
• contingency/miscellaneous fees
• deficit recovery

Proposal Format

In addition to submitting the information required in the General Application Form, in preparing your proposal it is required that you provide information to address each of the following points:

Mission

Please describe the mandate of your organization and the purpose of programming produced with funding from the NAB.

Objectives

The proposal must include the objectives of the organization in a way that relates clearly to the objectives of the NAB.

Staffing and Management Plan

Submit the following documents with your proposal:

• current staff list, with titles;
• current organization chart;
• current salary scale;
• job descriptions for any new staff positions;
• minutes of your most recent members meeting;
• schedule and location of Board Meetings planned for the fiscal year; and
• list of Board of Directors, including each members' name, address, phone number and the expiry date of their term.

Please describe the process for Board members selection as well as the organization's membership and operation of your management committee.  If your organization does not have a management committee, describe how management decisions are made.

Programming Plans

Describe programming plans for the next fiscal year. For each program planned, please include:

• title of program;
• language of broadcast;
• duration;
• frequency of broadcast;
• time-slot;
• targeted age group; and
• brief description of program content.

Specify how many hours of radio and/or television programming per week your organization plans to produce and broadcast for the next fiscal year.

Please describe how and by whom your weekly and annual programming priorities, plans and schedules have been developed.

Please describe how your organization, as an Aboriginal producer and broadcaster, change or adapt programming to meet the needs of the audience. Audiences are becoming more demanding and it is important to reflect the changing demands that could increase audience share and market.

Training

Please describe your plans for staff and board training over the course of the funding period. Identify targeted funding sources for training projects.

Expected Results

Please describe the impact your organization, operations, programming and communications services expects to have in the communities within your region.

The proposal must describe the expected results of the proposed activity/activities, i.e., who is expected to benefit and how, performance indicators used, and how these results relate to the project objectives.

The performance indicators should include:

• Quantitative indicators related to the project, e.g., number of workshops, number of participants, etc.; and
• Qualitative indicators that describe the impact of the project, e.g., as a result of the workshop, the participants gained knowledge/awareness/capacity in XYZ, etc.

Budget

The proposal must include:

• a detailed annual budget for radio and/or television service and a signed, authorized monthly cashflow that links to the planned activities, includes the position(s) to be funded under the proposal, the salary dollars applied to each, and a breakdown of administrative expenses;
• budget notes that show how amounts were calculated;
• in cases where advance payments are required, an explanation of the need for advance funding;
• information on any other funds requested for the proposed activity/activities, including the source of funds, and how they are to be applied against the budget; and
• an estimate of the total revenue of the applicant organization for the fiscal year in question, including the funding sources.

N.B.: The cashflow should be divided according to estimated monthly financial requirements of the planned activities and needs and not simply divided equally by 12 months.

Note:  If your organization is applying for a multi-year funding agreement, please refer to the "Multi-Year Funding Guidelines: Direct Delivery" document when preparing your proposal.

Distribution Systems

Please describe any change in your distribution system.
Please list current broadcast or network licenses held by your organization, including expiry dates.

Distribution Projects

Approximately $40,000 is available annually within the Aboriginal Peoples Program to assist Aboriginal broadcasters to deal with emergencies. To access these funds, a separate application will be required. Projects may be funded which resolve emergency production and/or distribution problems, such as a transmitter failure. All expenditures should be of a one-time nature. The following categories will be considered as eligible expenditures:

• satellite uplink transmitter system;
• receiving equipment for down linking sites;
• installation, engineering and shipping costs;
• travel, accommodation for technical staff;
• antennas, towers, cables and transmitters;
• refurbishment of transmitters and of satellite uplinks and downlinks; and
• administration-related costs of project (up to a maximum of 5%).

Submissions for distribution funding should include:

• quotes from 2 or more suppliers;
• complete list of equipment and installation costs for each location;
• budget with detailed budget notes;
• detailed work plan and calendar of events; and
• résumés of consultants who will work on project.

Partnerships

The proposal must identify any organizations and institutions that will be involved in meeting the objectives of the proposal, and clearly identify the role that they will play in the project.

Reporting

The proposal must commit to providing timely activity, evaluation, and financial reports and other related information, as requested by the Department. For detailed reporting requirements, please refer to the "Northern Aboriginal Broadcasting Reporting Guide".

Recognition

The applicant must describe how the APP contribution will be recognized in a way that ensures that both the participants and, to the fullest extent possible, the community are aware of the support provided by the Department of Canadian Heritage.

Notes

• ¹ Each position covered by salaries must be identified along with the amount paid to each.
• ² In the case of employee travel, the rate of reimbursement may not exceed Treasury Board Guidelines on travel expenses as found at: Travel.