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National Crime Prevention Strategy (NCPS)

Frequently asked questions

Glossary

We encourage organizations intending on applying to familiarize with the following terms, which have been defined by Public Safety Canada for the sole purposes of the administration of the NCPS programs.

Amortization

Is an accounting method used for spreading out the cost for the use of a long-terms asset over the expected period the long-term asset will provide value. It lowers the book value of a loan or an intangible asset over a set period of time. This accounting method cannot be used.

Auto-theft

Auto theft is on the rise in Canada. In May 2024, the Government of Canada announced a National Action Plan on Combatting Auto Theft. Given the complexity of this problem, the Action Plan contains a range of measures and initiatives that will be implemented by federal, provincial and territorial governments and their partners, in keeping with their respective roles, priorities and responsibilities.

The Action Plan identified youth as being of particular concern, due to reports that youth are being forced into auto theft by organized crime rings. For the purposes of this call for applications, 'auto theft' refers to concerns that communities have about auto theft in their community, and actions that they seek to undertake to address concerns around auto theft by youth.

Bullying/Cyberbullying

This call for applications seeks to fund the implementation of community-based intervention projects to address youth bullying and youth cyberbullying.

'Bullying' refers to acts of intentional harm, repeated over time, in a relationship where an imbalance of power exists. It includes physical actions (e.g. punching, kicking, biting), verbal actions (e.g. threats, name calling, insults, racial or sexual comments), and social exclusion (e.g. spreading rumours, ignoring, gossiping, excluding).

'Cyberbullying' is the use of social media, email, text messages, websites or other electronic means to physically threaten, verbally harass or socially exclude an individual or group. Social media technologies often allow bullies to remain anonymous while distributing damaging messages/pictures to a widespread audience. Cyberbullying is considered to be a form of gender-based violence as research has shown that a disproportionate number of the victims are young girls and/or members of vulnerable communities.

Sources - How to recognize bullying - Canada.ca, Bullying Prevention: Nature and Extent of Bullying in Canada, and Parliamentary Committee Notes: Gender-based Violence and Intimate Partner Violence

Call for Applications

A set period whereby Public Safety Canada solicits applications under one of the department's grants and contributions programs.

Core or On-going Funding/Expenses

Core or ongoing operating expenses are expenses that would still be incurred whether or not the recipient receives Public Safety funding for a specific project.

Direct intervention

Refers to crime prevention that addresses specific risks and protective factors for youth that get involved in violent criminal activity, such as gun violence and auto theft, and prevents bullying and cyberbullying. It directly influences behaviors and conditions where these issues exist or are emerging threats.

Funding Agreement

A written agreement or documentation constituting an agreement between the Government of Canada and an applicant or a recipient setting out the obligations or understandings of both with respect to one or more transfer payments. This can be in the form of a Contribution Agreement (CA) or a Grant (G).

Gun violence

Gun-related crime can have major impacts on affected persons and on communities. These include physical injuries, but also impacts on mental health and the perception of community safety and wellbeing. For the purposes of this call for applications, 'gun violence' refers to concerns that communities have about the presence of guns in their community, and actions that they seek to undertake to address concerns around the use of guns and firearms by youth.

Gang involvement/Youth gang

'Gang involvement' is a gradual process shaped by a young person's life experiences, including individual, familial, and social factors. Studies show that risk factors for gang involvement often arise well before a young person actually joins a gang, particularly for those who have experienced behavioral or social challenges during childhood.

For the purposes of this call for applications 'gang involvement' and 'youth gang' refer to the risk factors that may lead to a young person joining a gang. Funding will be for initiatives that prevent at-risk youth from joining gangs, provide exit strategies for youth who belong to gangs, and offer support to youth so they do not re-join gangs, in communities where youth gangs are an existing or emerging threat.

Source - Youth gang involvement: What are the risk factors? and Youth Gangs in Canada: A Review of Current Topics and Issues

Indigenous

The term 'Indigenous' refers to individuals identifying themselves as 'First Nations people, Métis or Inuit'. These are three distinct peoples with unique histories, languages, cultural practices and spiritual beliefs.

Sources - Indigenous peoples and communities and Statistics on Indigenous peoples

In-Kind Contribution

A contribution of goods or services which does not involve a monetary transaction (i.e. nonmonetary goods and services) provided by third parties and/or the recipient to support the project. When a person or entity pays for goods and services on the recipient's behalf, the payment is also considered as an in-kind contribution. Vendors selected to realize the project cannot provide in-kind contributions.

Program Advisor (PA) / Program Delivery Staff (PDS)

The departmental official from Public Safety Canada who will be assigned to your project proposal if selected, to help you reach a funding agreement.

Program Fidelity (if implementing a model program)

Is the degree to which an intervention is delivered as intended and is critical to the successful translation of evidence-based interventions into practice.

Racialized Youth

Refers to youth with heritage in the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese.

This definition is based on the concept of 'visible minority' in Canada's Census. In the Census, the visible minority population consists mainly of those with heritage in the following groups: South Asian, Chinese, Black, Filipino, Arab, Latin American, Southeast Asian, West Asian, Korean and Japanese. Visible minority refers to whether a person is a visible minority or not, as defined by the Employment Equity Act. The Employment Equity Act defines visible minorities as "persons, other than Indigenous peoples, who are non-Caucasian in race or non-white in colour".

Source - Racialized groups - Canada at a Glance, 2022

Recipient

An individual or entity that either has been authorized to receive a transfer payment or that has received that transfer payment.

Strengthening Community Readiness (SCR)

The degree to which a community is willing and prepared to take action on an issue. In other words, community readiness is a determination of how prepared a community is to deal with an issue concerning them, and how they can create positive change.

For the purpose of the NCPS call, SCR projects are those which aim to build crime prevention capacity within Indigenous populations. It is distinct from Direct Intervention projects, serving as a preparatory stage that emphasizes readiness and partnership mobilization without direct intervention activities. This entails Needs Assessment, Knowledge Development & Sharing, Partnerships & Collaboration, Training, and Implementation Readiness & Pilot Projects.

Source - Crime Prevention - Research Highlights 2017-H02-CP - Community Readiness and Mobilization

Violent crime

Violent crime involves the use, or threat of use, of force against a person. Violent crimes and incidents include homicide, attempted murder, various forms of sexual and non-sexual assault, robbery and abduction. Traffic incidents that result in death or bodily harm are also included, under Criminal Code traffic incidents.

For the purposes of this call, 'violent crime' refers to community concerns about a range of violent incidents occurring in their community. Interventions in this category are expected to divert youth from future involvement in a broad range of criminal and anti-social activities that involve violence.

Source - Microsoft Word - Concepts and Definitions_E.doc

Youth

The NCPS refers to youth as individual of the ages of 6 to 30 years old.

Youth with repeated contact with the criminal justice system

The NCPS Call for Applications prioritizes addressing  youth with repeated contacts with the justice system, aligning with the goals of the Framework for Reducing Recidivism.

For the purposes of this call, 'contact with the criminal justice system' will include interactions with law enforcement (including all interactions along the continuum of issuing warnings up to making an arrest); courts (regardless of the outcome of the proceedings); and correctional services (in custody or under community supervision).

The contact does not need to be at an official level – i.e. arrest, charges or conviction. An informal contact with the police (warning) is sufficient to qualify for this funding priority.

A re-contact is defined as a subsequent contact with any level of the criminal justice system, including many pathways: police only; police and courts; police and restorative justice program.

The nature of the offence that resulted in the youth coming into contact with the criminal justice system is also irrelevant for the purposes of this Call, but should be noted as part of the intake process. For example, the youth could be referred for having delinquent peers or anti-social associates or for having committed any sort of offence (violent or non-violent).

Previously, an important aspect of NCPS-funded programs is that youth participation is voluntary and not court-mandated. This ensured that the youth involved were genuinely seeking to change their behavior and more likely to benefit from the programs. However, for the purposes of this call, court-mandated programming will be eligible. This will help youth and young adults rebuild their lives through positive connections with their families, communities, and peers, while also addressing the systemic barriers that led to their initial involvement with the justice system.

Source - Supporting the Successful Implementation of the National Crime Prevention Strategy

Youth violence

For the purpose of this call, youth at risk of committing violence is defined as youth that do not fall under Indigenous or Racialized youth that have a high risk of committing a crime of one of the three categories of violence: violence against oneself, interpersonal violence and collective violence. As such, all interventions targeting this population would be expected to divert youth from future involvement in a range of criminal and anti-social activities.

Source - National Prevention Strategies for Youth Violence

Examples of strategies and solutions

Culturally based prevention and intervention strategies

Challenges

Indigenous and racialized communities are faced with a multitude of risk factors, meaning that youth violence projects must be able to attend to a number of pragmatic issues such as provision of food, childcare, transportation and literacy issues in addition to trying to implement an evidence-based approach with fidelity. Previous program evaluations have reported the difficulties in securing the trust and participation of eligible families. Furthermore, these evaluations have stressed the importance of implementing strategies tailored to the situational realities of these communities, including isolation and remoteness, political and economic realities, health determinants, language and cultural barriers, and resource limitations.

Solutions

The following key elements have been drawn from promising crime prevention approaches in northern and Indigenous communities:

• Cultural relevance – It is important that program activities and processes are interactive and are respectful and sensitive to traditional, Indigenous values. Practices such as learning from the natural world, spiritual awareness, mentorship, and focusing on visual and audio learning styles have been noted as successful elements in initiatives involving Indigenous youth. Participants almost always speak favourably about opportunities to sing, drum, attend sweat lodges and round dances, and be involved in other traditional activities.
• Values-based approach – In addition to cultural relevance, promising approaches also take into account the social and economic realities of Indigenous communities such as housing, poverty, addiction, mental and emotional health, community capacity, and literacy among others; these needs should be accounted when tailoring intervention strategies for at-risk youth in these communities. The high demand for accompanying services also accentuates the importance of ensuring community trust, buy-in and partnerships to maximize local resources and the chances for success.

With regard to immigrant youth, Ngo (2010) recommends the following principles to guide the development of programs and services for this population:

• Integration of empowering identity development – Initiatives should outline clear strategies to promote positive self-concept, Canadian identity and ethnic identity.
• Promote equity – Stakeholders should address equity in resource allocation and availability of services, support and opportunities that in turn ensure equitable outcomes of well-being and success of youth from immigrant families.
• Multi-stakeholder involvement, coordination and collaboration – Multiple individuals and organizations working together can increase resource and professional expertise, and ensure both specialized support for specific needs and development of the youth.
• Multiple approaches to youth services – In response to the complex life experiences and needs of high-risk youth from immigrant families, stakeholders should be attentive to the multiple layers of needs and corresponding initiatives required to address the complex issue.
• Timelines and responsiveness – Initiatives should be swift and respond to the needs of at-risk youth who are dealing with competing social pressures, demands and influences.

In addition, to help facilitate any adaptations of projects required to better suit local contexts, cultures, and concerns, applicants can refer to Local Adaptations of Crime Prevention Programs: A Toolkit. This publication offers a practical guide on how to modify programs to enhance their local and cultural acceptability, while maintaining the effectiveness of the program (see also Bania, Roebuck, & Chase, 2017; Bania, Roebuck, O'Halloran, & Chase 2017).

Gender-based prevention and intervention strategies

Challenges

While many risk factors and reasons motivating young women to engage in criminal activity overlap with those of their male counterparts, there are also key differences. For this reason, prevention and intervention initiatives should include both gender-neutral (with a proven record of improving female as well as male outcomes) and gender-specific approaches and programs.

Solutions

Recent studies have outlined some key elements for effective gender-informed prevention and intervention strategies for young women (see Dunbar, 2017):

• They should be provided in a safe and nurturing environment (including single-sex space) favourable to therapeutic change.
• They should include content which reflects both the risk factors and the realities of their daily lives: multi-disciplinary, comprehensive, holistic and solutions-focused approach to addressing the multiplicity of young women's risks, strengths and experiences (including physical and sexual health, practical difficulties, life skills, parenting support, experiences of victimization, aspirations, mental health/trauma, educational opportunities, preparation for work, substance reliance).
• They should promote self-esteem, healthy assertive behaviour and self-reliance to build resilience against future victimization and provide opportunities for empowerment, growth and explorations of identity.
• They should foster respectful and positive relationships as an important device for promoting change: facilitating association with alternative peer groups; and utilizing mentors, particularly women with similar experiences who can identify with and advise them.
• They should include work with families (especially the mother-daughter relationship) and engagement of other adults supporting the longer-term resilience of these young women with attention to improving interaction and communication, providing structure and accountability, and facilitating opportunities.

Information sessions

The program offers online information sessions for interested applicants in both official languages. The information sessions present a unique opportunity to learn more about the program, the application process and to ask questions to program officials directly.

Information sessions are offered during or around a Call for Applications period.

To be notified when information sessions are held, subscribe to our mailing list. You may also check this page during an application period regularly. If sessions are offered, a registration link will be made available to you.

Register for an information session

Key documents

• NCPS Application Guide (How to apply)
• Mandatory Workplan Template
• Mandatory Budget Template

Contact information

E-mail: NCPS-SNPC@ps-sp.gc.ca

Telephone (general enquiries line): 1-800-830-3118