Education Partnerships Program
This proposal-based program is designed to advance First Nations student achievement in First Nations, independent, provincial and territorial schools.
Call for proposals
The 2025 to 2026 Call for proposals for the Partnerships, Structural Readiness and Regional Education Agreement Development components is now open. The deadline to submit a proposal is December 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
On this page
About the program
The program supports:
- collaboration between First Nations, provincial and territorial ministries or departments of education and Indigenous Services Canada (ISC)
- the capacity development and enhancement of First Nations organizations to deliver education, including establishing education systems and service delivery agreements responsive to First Nations students and community education needs
The program has 3 distinct funding components:
- Partnerships: this component supports First Nations education administration and service delivery organizations to deliver activities that:
- are related to existing partnerships
- address some of their governance and administration costs
- Structural Readiness: this component supports targeted activities that build the capacity of First Nations education administration organizations to:
- deliver education services
- develop and implement transformative education systems and agreements that delegate responsibility for elementary and secondary education to First Nations
- Regional Education Agreement Development: this component supports activities such as:
- information sessions on education transformation
- technical tables
- negotiating or renegotiating education agreements supported by leadership
Who can apply
Under the terms and conditions of a Contribution Funding Agreement, recipients of Education Partnerships Program (EPP) funding are required to submit final reports each fiscal year, and if applicable, a report detailing deferred revenue outlining information on next steps and timelines. For the 2025 to 2026 Call for Proposals process, applications will not be given consideration where there are outstanding EPP reporting obligations from fiscal year 2023 to 2024 and earlier.
Partnerships
Applicants who may be eligible to receive funding through the Partnerships component of the program are:
- First Nations
- any First Nations organization mandated by First Nations
First Nations organizations mandated by First Nations must:
- demonstrate support from First Nations communities or schools, such as but not limited to a band council resolution, letter or email of support
- undertake, as a key function, elementary and secondary education support for groups of First Nations communities or schools
Applicants must have an existing partnership arrangement with 1 or more of the following:
- First Nations, including First Nations organizations mandated by First Nations
- school board-like entities
- provincial or territorial ministries of education
- provincial or territorial school boards
- Indigenous Services Canada
Applicants must clearly identify their respective partners in their proposal and demonstrate that partners will work together on identified priorities.
The purchasing of services, regardless of the duration of the service agreement, does not constitute a partnership for the purposes of this program.
Structural Readiness
Applicants who may be eligible to receive funding through the Structural Readiness component of the program are:
- First Nations
- any First Nations organization mandated by First Nations
- a First Nations designated organization who will administer the Structural Readiness component on behalf of the region
First Nations organizations mandated by First Nations, or a First Nations designated organization must:
- demonstrate support from First Nations communities or schools, such as, but not limited to, a band council resolution, letter or email of support
- undertake, as a key function, elementary and secondary education support for groups of First Nations communities or schools
Eligibility to apply for Structural Readiness funding does not depend on having a partnership memorandum of understanding.
Entities such as bands or First Nations organizations that are delivering education services under a self-government arrangement are not eligible to apply to the Structural Readiness component.
Regional Education Agreement Development
Applicants who may be eligible to receive funding through the Regional Education Agreement Development component of the program are:
- First Nations
- any First Nations organization mandated by First Nations
First Nations organizations mandated by First Nations must meet the following criteria:
- have demonstrated support from First Nations communities or schools, such as but not limited to, a band council resolution, letter or email of support
- individual First Nations communities or schools can only be a party to a single proposal in each component
Entities such as bands or First Nations organizations that are delivering education services under a self-government arrangement are not eligible to apply to the Regional Education Agreement Development component.
Deadline
The deadline to submit a proposal for the Partnerships, Structural Readiness and Regional Education Agreement Development components is December 19, 2024, at 11:59 p.m. Pacific time.
How to apply
In 2024 to 2025, a new online proposal data collection instrument (DCI) was introduced for the Partnerships and Structural Readiness components. Applicants will need an Education Information System (EIS) account to access the online DCI through the ISC services portal.
All partnerships and structural readiness proposals must be submitted to ISC using the official 2025 to 2026 DCI, PDF or online version, which specifies the mandatory information. Both the Partnerships and Structural Readiness components use the same proposal template, but each has different eligibility criteria and guidelines. If applicants are applying for both components, a separate proposal DCI must be used for each application. Refer to the DCI's View instructions button for assistance.
Applicants who have access to the ISC services portal can access the online Partnerships or Structural Readiness proposal DCI form by opening a session on the ISC Services portal and completing the proposal online. Applicants who do not have access to the portal should contact their regional office.
All Regional Education Agreement Development proposals must be submitted to ISC using the official 2025 to 2026 REA Word proposal template, which specifies the mandatory information.
Applicants to the Partnerships, Structural Readiness and Regional Education Agreement Development components can only submit a single-year proposal. Multi-year proposals are not available. Contact your supporting regional office to learn more information and for support with application submissions.
For the purpose of all call for proposal processes, the existing terms and conditions apply.
More details on the application process, eligible activities and eligible recipients can be found in:
- Education Partnerships Program: Partnerships: National Program Guidelines 2025 to 2026
- Education Partnerships Program: Structural Readiness: National Program Guidelines 2025 to 2026
- Education Partnerships Program: Regional Education Agreement Development: National Program Guidelines 2025 to 2026
Other reference:
Guidelines for last year
- Education Partnerships Program: Partnerships Component: National Program Guidelines 2024 to 2025
- Education Partnerships Program: Structural Readiness Component: National Program Guidelines 2024 to 2025
- Education Partnerships Program: Regional Education Agreement Component: National Program Guidelines 2024 to 2025