Specific Claims Research, Development and Submission Program: Guidelines

On this page

• 1. Introduction
• 2. Objective
• 3. Who can apply
• 4. Application deadline
• 5. Eligible activities and expenditures
• 6. Ineligible activities and expenditures
• 7. Maximum amount of research funding
• 8. Determination of the amount of funding and stacking
• 9. Application process
• 10. Reporting requirements
• 11. Claim research units
• Appendix 1: Stages of specific claims research for measurable progress

1. Introduction

Specific claims deal with past wrongs committed by the Crown against First Nations. The Government of Canada works with First Nations under the Specific Claims Policy to resolve specific claims through negotiated settlements.

2. Objective

First Nations are responsible for researching their own claims and submitting those claims to Canada. The objective of this contribution funding program is to provide First Nations with financial assistance to support them in researching, developing and submitting their claims to be considered under the Specific Claims Policy and Process Guide.

Under the section Advancing reconciliation with Indigenous peoples, Budget 2019 committed $8 million of additional funding per year over 5 years to help First Nations research and develop their specific claims, on top of the $4 million per year of ongoing funding. The Government of Canada has recently announced a two-year extension of the additional funding, bringing the total budget envelope to $12 million in fiscal years 2024 to 2025 and 2025 to 2026.

3. Who can apply

Recipients eligible to receive funding under this program are the following:

• First Nations entities mandated by bands and First Nations to conduct specific claims research on their behalf, known as a claims research units
• bands and First Nations
• Indigenous representative organizations

Bands and First Nations who have provided a mandate to a claims research unit to conduct a claim research and development on their behalf cannot receive funding separately from the Government of Canada for the same claim.

First Nations who are considering a change of mandate must work in collaboration with the claims research units to determine the best approach in order to avoid duplication of work and funding. Continued discussions on potential approaches to better respond to these requests in the future are underway with the claims research units and Negotiation Support Directorate working group.

4. Application deadline

The deadline to submit a proposal for research funding is January 31 of each fiscal year or the next business day where January 31 falls on a weekend or statutory holiday (for example, for fiscal year 2022 to 2023, funding proposals are to be submitted by January 31, 2022).

Should funding remain unallocated after the consideration of the submissions received by January 31, Crown-Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada could offer a second opportunity to submit new or revised funding proposals in September or October.

5. Eligible activities and expenditures

Eligible activities are those supporting the fully documented specific claims submissions (Appendix 1: Stages of specific claims research for measurable progress), including, but not limited to:

• community engagement and consultation in the identification and assessment of potential claims
• preliminary research
• research and information gathering (for example, Elder interviews and archival research)
• in-depth document research
• write-up of claims research reports
• legal analysis of claims and incorporation of legal arguments
• meetings with First Nations
• submission of claims to First Nation and to Canada
• meetings with Canada in the development of claims
• other activities related to the development of claims submissions

Eligible expenditures are those supporting the eligible activities which may include, but is not limited to:

• salaries and wages
• accommodations
• administrative and reporting costs
• information retrieval and storage
• travel costs within the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's guidelines as specified in the Travel Directive in effect at the time of travel
• professional services (for example, legal advice and research consultants)
• community meetings and workshop costs (for example, room and equipment rentals)
• honoraria
• communication products

Other eligible expenditures are those associated with the planning and delivery of the National Claims Research Workshop, as well as those supporting the participation of claims research units and First Nations in the annual research directors meeting. These events provide opportunity to support the capacity, connectedness and effectiveness of the claims research community.

Eligible expenditures may include, but is not limited to:

• room and equipment rentals
• salaries and wages, honoraria
• professional services
• travel costs within the Treasury Board Secretariat's guidelines as specified in the Travel Directive in effect at the time of travel
• administrative and reporting costs
• communication products

Consistent with the department's collaborative approach to specific claims resolution, an eligible recipient may also seek research funding after a claim is submitted when the eligible recipient determines through engagement with the Specific Claims Branch that additional research activities could assist in the assessment of the claim by addressing evidentiary gaps or clarifying matters under consideration.

The stages of specific claims research for measurable progress includes activities undertaken after a First Nation receives a letter indicating whether the Government of Canada is in a position to negotiate the claim or not. These activities could include historical, anthropological, ethnographic, oral history research and corresponding legal work.

Consistent with the department's collaborative approach to specific claims resolution, these activities would be intended to build a common understanding of the claim, expand the scope of the claim or resolve an issue that is rooted in the history which could affect the settlement. Examples of claims where this could apply are:

• claims partially accepted
• claims where the strength of claim and a lack of evidence will affect compensation
• claims where there is a beneficiary issue which complicates settlement

Specific Claims Branch is not involved in the administration of funding proposals. However, for collaborative approaches to specific claims resolution, the Negotiation Support Directorate will ask the Specific Claims Branch to confirm that the work plan received supports additional research that the eligible recipient and the Specific Claims Branch have identified as useful in supporting further development of the claim. These discussions will help inform the scope of the project and how best to support it.

6. Ineligible activities and expenditures

Ineligible activities and expenditures are those that are not related to the research and development of specific claims and activities that are already funded through loan funding in support of negotiations. Claims which the Government of Canada has accepted for negotiation in the specific claims process are eligible for negotiation support funding.

To find out more on funding eligibility and the application process, visit:

• Specific claim negotiation costs funding guidelines

Activities associated with the costs of litigation and the Specific Claims Tribunal are also not eligible. Funding can be provided to support First Nations who choose to file a specific claim with the Specific Claims Tribunal of Canada.

To find out more on the eligibility and application process, visit:

• Funding for First Nations with claims at the Specific Claims Tribunal of Canada.

Travel costs which exceed the rates set for in the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat's Travel Directive are not eligible for funding.

Honorariums cannot be provided for First Nations representatives who receive a salary through band administered funding.

7. Maximum amount of research funding

8. Determination of the amount of funding and stacking

Funding will be awarded to each eligible recipient based on:

• annual research funding available
• a work plan provided describing the mandate, claim, stages, activities supporting the research, development and submission of a specific claim for the fiscal year and for the subsequent fiscal year for multi-year research plan (Appendix 1: Stages of specific claims research for measurable progress)
• a budget provided describing the eligible specific costs to complete the work plan activities for the fiscal year and for the subsequent fiscal year for multi-year research plan
• the review of the previous years' expenditures and identification of unexpended funding
• a measurable progress report provided describing work completed and status of the research, development and submission of a claim, where applicable
• an application of a maximum amount per active claim and benchmark and rates
• other funding assistance from the Crown or from any provincial, territorial or municipal government that may be used for any of the eligible activities.

First Nations are required to declare any and all sources of funding to support the research, development and submission of claims that are expected to be received or are received, including all funding from the Government of Canada and from provincial, territorial and municipal governments. Annual financial reporting must show all sources of funding received.

9. Application process

Applications for the research, development and submission of specific claims must be submitted to the Negotiation Support Directorate by the claims research unit or band or First Nation in accordance with the application deadline and must include the following:

• for claims research units, a band council resolution or other means of mandate given, for any First Nation that has requested an organization to conduct research for a new specific claim on its behalf
• for bands and First Nations who have given a mandate to a third party to submit an application for research funding on their behalf, a band council resolution or other means of mandate given
• details on salaried positions and names, if applicable
• annual or multi-year work plan describing for each fiscal year the mandate, the claim, the stages and activities supporting the research, development and submission of a specific claim
• annual or multi-year budget describing for each fiscal year the eligible specific costs to complete the work plan activities
• for each subsequent fiscal year of a multi-year agreement, a revised or updated work plan and budget for the fiscal year
• a measurable progress report describing work completed and status of the research, development and submission of a claim, where applicable
• details on professional services required for the fiscal year which includes a list of activities, timelines, estimated level of effort (such as, number of hours of work, travel and other type of resources needed) and name of the firm, if applicable.

Application for funding to support the planning and hosting costs of the National Claims Research Workshop, travel costs for delegates to attend and annual research directors meeting must be submitted to the Negotiation Support Directorate by the hosting community or hosting claims research unit, along with a proposed date and location, estimated number of participants and budget by January 31 of each fiscal year.

Application for funding to support the costs of the claims research units and First Nations involved in the claims process to participate in the annual research directors meeting should be included in their annual proposals along with an estimated budget.

Applications are to be submitted via email to dsnprp-nsdscp@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca and include in the subject line of the email, the following information: Name of the applicant – Year of proposal for the specific claims research funding submission.

To the attention of:
Director, Negotiation Support Directorate
Fiscal Branch
Treaties and Aboriginal Government Sector

To access annual or multi-year work plan and budget templates to assist with the application process, please contact Negotiation Support Directorate using the following generic e-mail address: dsnprp-nsdscp@rcaanc-cirnac.gc.ca.

Continued discussions on potential approaches to improve the funding application process for the research, development and submission of specific claims in the future are underway with the claims research units and Negotiation Support Directorate working group.

10. Reporting Requirements

The reporting requirements (program and financial reports) are listed in the recipient's contribution agreement, and details on these requirements are available in the Reporting Guide.

Specific claims contribution research and development funding must be reported separately from any other funding received by the First Nation.

11. Claims research units

Claims research units in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic offer services and expertise to bands and First Nations to support research, development and submission of claims. Services are to be delivered by the claims research unit as per the mandate given by the member bands and First Nations.

The claims research unit shall establish ongoing communications with First Nations to ensure needs and accountabilities are met in accordance with the mandate given.

Specific claims contribution research and development funding must be reported by the claims research unit separately from any other funding received by the First Nation.

Appendix 1: Stages of specific claims research for measurement of progress

It is understood by all parties that researching claims is not necessarily a linear process and that events and research may dictate moving back and forth to different stages within this basic framework. It should also be noted that this list of stages is not necessarily all inclusive, nor will all research projects follow these stages which means that stages are not limited to the ones listed. However, these stages will likely apply to the processes and stages for most research for the vast majority of claims.

These stages were developed in consultation with claims research units as a general reference about the potential stages that research might go through as a claim proceeds from identification through to acceptance for negotiation.

In addition, new stages may be identified as the research and development of specific claims evolves under future reforms to the Specific Claims Policy and new research requirements are identified that cannot be anticipated at this time. There is a possibility that this stage of the process may need to be re-assessed after a number of claims have proceeded to and past this point of the process.

These stages have been adopted as a tool for understanding and reporting on the progress in specific claims research. Only the stages identified in Roman numerals would be required. The lettered bullets under each 'stage' are merely to provide information in this document to funding officers as to the kinds of activities that the researchers generally undertake during that particular stage. If the funding officer requires more information or clarification about the work being undertaken in the stage, they will contact the research funding recipients.

An annual review of the "stages" document should occur periodically at the National Research Directors' meeting to ensure the document accurately accounts for work being done. These reviews will be undertaken jointly.