Funding Criteria - Three Types of Funding
Contributions, Contracts, and Letters of agreement
Contributions and contracts
GeoConnections uses three funding mechanisms to maintain, operate, and evolve the Canadian Geospatial Data Infrastructure (CGDI) and promote its use: contributions, contracts, and letters of agreement.
1. Contributions
The first mechanism, contributions, is a non-contractual arrangement. Under this arrangement, GeoConnections agrees to share the cost of a project undertaken by a second party for that party's benefit. Projects are typically selected through a competitive process under terms laid out in an Announcement of Opportunity (AO). GeoConnections usually employs this mechanism to fund those who require aid in using the CGDI to support decision making or in linking their content to the CGDI.
2. Contracts
The second mechanism, contracts, is a binding agreement between GeoConnections/Natural Resources Canada and a second party, usually in the private sector. GeoConnections agrees to pay for a product or service supplied by the second party. The requirements for this product or service are laid out in a Request for Proposals (RFP).
Occasionally, GeoConnections will use a Request for Information (RFI) to scope private-sector capacity before issuing an RFP. The contractual mechanism is typically used to develop specific components of the CGDI, to procure innovations required by end-user communities, or to integrate large-scale framework data sets (such as satellite imagery).
All of the types of funding opportunities are listed on the GeoConnections website, and subscribers to our stakeholder database can be notified by e-mail when new opportunities arise. RFPs are handled through the federal government's standard procurement process administered by Public Works and Government Services Canada.
3. Letters of agreement
A third mechanism, letters of agreement, is a non-contractual agreement between GeoConnections and other federal and, at times, provincial/territorial government agencies to cost-share projects.
Information about GeoConnections' each program area's funding envelopes