From: Shannon Simpson, Director, Office of Indigenous Initiatives
Date: October 22, 2020
Re:Additional Funding Opportunity and Call for New Proposals – Postsecondary Education Fund for Aboriginal Learners

The Office of Indigenous Initiatives would like to announce that there is remaining funding left over from the 2019/2020 PEFAL Project Year.

All units with Indigenous projects, programs, and other initiatives that fall within the scope of the PEFAL Guidelines, are encouraged to apply for this unique funding opportunity.

Important: In July 2020, there was a callout for the 2020/2021 PEFAL Project Year, and all 34 of the received project proposals were approved. These projects will remain funded through the 2020/2021 funding allotment.

Therefore, please only submit a proposal for:

A)      A new Indigenous project/hire
B)      An existing Indigenous project/hire, not funded through PEFAL
C)      A budgetary increase for an existing PEFAL-initiative approved for the 2020/2021 year (when applying, please only indicate the additional amount you are applying for)

All approved projects have the ability to commence immediately, and should conclude no later than June 30, 2021.

Further information about the PEFAL grant, can be found below:

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) has been partnering with U of T, along with other postsecondary institutions across Ontario, for a number of years to administer the Postsecondary Education Fund for Aboriginal Learners (PEFAL). The goal of the fund is as follows (more information can be found, here and here):

“The (PEFAL) Student Success fund provides proposal-based funding to colleges, universities and Aboriginal Institutes for student-focused services and programs that increase the number of Aboriginal learners accessing and completing postsecondary education and training.”

Currently, the fund is administered through the Office of Indigenous Initiatives (the OII). The role of the OII with PEFAL is to oversee Indigenous programs supported by the fund, while offering leadership and strategic guidance on how to initiate and advance Indigenous initiatives on all 3 U of T campuses. 

The Office of Indigenous Initiatives has worked with many units throughout the years to foster PEFAL-funded programming to support Indigenous students, and can also provide strategic guidance within the following domains:

i.                 Best practices regarding Indigenous hiring, and/or the creation of  Indigenous positions;
ii.                Thorough consultation and expertise on all topics relating to Indigenous postsecondary education;
iii.               Indigenous cultural competency training, and cultural protocols;
iv.               Indigenous project and programming guidance, as well as much more.

PEFAL funding is monitored centrally, in order to ensure programs adhere to the abovementioned guidelines set by the MCU, and yearly reporting on all funded-programs is relayed back to MCU in order to inform the Province on the success of their Aboriginal Postsecondary Education & Training Policy.

Please submit all proposals here (clicking the link will take you to the project submission portal).

Proposals are due November 6, 2020, and units can expect to receive feedback and/or funding confirmations by mid-November.