Faculty Mobility Program

Guidelines

The Faculty Mobility Program aims to increase the number of institutional collaborations and student exchange agreements between Canadian and non-Canadian institutions eligible under the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP). These agreements are created between colleges, technical or vocational institutions and universities in Canada, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The Program will award grants to faculty members to teach or conduct research for a short term in ELAP-eligible countries (Caribbean, Central and South America, and Mexico).

Scholarship value and duration

Funding for the ELAP Faculty Mobility Program is made available by Global Affairs Canada through its legal title: the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD).

The Canadian post-secondary institution will receive funding in the form of a grant from DFATD and will be responsible for disbursing the funds to its successful candidates.

The maximum grant value per project is CAD 7,000. Recipients may seek additional funding from other sources (private or public).

The duration of the mobility is three weeks minimum and eight weeks maximum. Successful candidates may extend their stay with funds from other sources.

All funds provided by DFATD related to the project must be spent by March 31, 2021. The actual project end date may extend beyond March 31, 2021.

Eligible expenses

Canadian institutions will disburse funds to the recipient to contribute to the following costs:

• Transportation (economy fare, by the most direct route);
• Lodging, meals, incidentals (according to Treasury Board guidelines);
• Insurance costs;
• Expenditures related to securing visas or work permits.

Note: Buying equipment (computer, tablet, phone, printer, etc.) is not an eligible expenditure. Public servants (federal, provincial/territorial, municipal, or Crown corporations) are not eligible.

Payment procedure

Subject to the terms and conditions of the Grant Agreement, funding will be disbursed by cheque or electronic transfer issued to the Canadian public post-secondary institution upon receiving the Grant Agreement signed by both the designated authority at the Canadian institution and the designated authority at DFATD.

Funds will be disbursed to successful candidates according to the Canadian public post-secondary institution’s internal processes and in conformity with the Grant Agreement concluded between DFATD and the Canadian public post-secondary institution.

Eligibility

The following conditions must be met to ensure eligibility for the ELAP Faculty Mobility Program:

• Candidates must be full-time faculty members at Canadian public post-secondary institutions (Part-time professors and lecturers are not eligible);
• Canadian public post-secondary institutions will have to designate and provide contact information of the official coordinator responsible for submitting applications on behalf of eligible candidates to the scholarships administrator, the Canadian Bureau of International Education (CBIE);
• Host institutions must be at the college level and above;
• Host institutions will have to provide an invitation letter expressing their support and confirming that the proposed teaching or research project will indeed take place.

Grant recipients must teach or conduct research in the following eligible ELAP countries:

• Caribbean: Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos;
• Central America: Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama;
• North America: Mexico; or
• South America: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela.

Any questions?

Please direct all inquiries regarding the ELAP Faculty Mobility Program to: scholarships-bourses@cbie.ca.

Deadline for Canadian public post-secondary institutions

The application period will be open from January 27 to April 14, 2020. Canadian post-secondary institutions will be able to submit applications on behalf of their eligible candidates during that period. The deadline for Canadian post-secondary institutions to submit applications is 11:59 p.m. EDT, April 14, 2020.

It is the responsibility of the Canadian institution to ensure that the applications are received by the deadline.

Notification

Canadian institutions will receive a preliminary update on the eligibility status of their respective applications by the end of April 2020. The Canadian Bureau for International Education (CBIE), the Scholarship Administrator, will communicate all updates and results to the main contact at the Canadian institution.

Participating Canadian institutions will be informed of the final selection and results at the beginning of June 2020, following approval from the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD).      

Application process

To be considered for the Faculty Mobility Program, the Canadian postsecondary institution must apply on behalf of the candidate(s) by completing and submitting the online application form and providing the supporting documents as requested.

Late or incomplete submissions will not be considered. Applications submitted by email and not through the online application form will not be considered.

Online application

Canadian post-secondary institutions are encouraged to carefully read the instructions below before filling out the online form. If applicants experience difficulty filling out or submitting the form, they should send an email to scholarships-bourses@cbie.ca.

Instructions

Canadian post-secondary institutions must:

• complete the online form;
  • If they do not have an account, they will first need to Register an account.
• Once the account is created and activated, they will need to log in. Under “For Canadians” section, they will need to go to the Faculty Mobility Program and click on Apply Now.
  • download the Privacy notice statement for the candidate to sign and attach under the "Supporting Documents" section at the end of the application form;
  • enter data in the fields marked mandatory, following instructions for each item;
  • upload all required supporting documents;
  • upon completion, verify the data prior to submission;
  • print the form for their records using the print function in the browser; and
  • click SUBMIT to provide the form electronically to Global Affairs Canada. The Canadian post-secondary institution will receive a confirmation message and reference number once their form is submitted.

NOTE: Canadian post-secondary institutions will have the possibility to save their application and complete it at a later time. Both saved and submitted applications will appear on the Canadian institutions’s profile homepage. Once an application is submitted, it can only be viewed or printed. The online application system does not allow it to be modified at this stage.

Supporting documents

• CV of the candidate
• Completed budget form
• Letter of invitation from the host institution
• Signed privacy notice statement

Post-award requirements

Within 30 days of the termination of the project, grant recipients must produce a narrative report of maximum 5 pages, including:

• Summary of undertaken activities
• Results and number of beneficiaries
• Contribution to institutional partnership building between the host and home institutions
• Action plan to publicize the project and/or to acknowledge Global Affairs Canada support

Selection process

The following guidelines are followed for the review, assessment and selection of applications:

• All online applications received by the deadline will be pre-screened to ensure they meet eligibility requirements established for the Program.
• Eligible and complete applications, including the supporting documents, will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
  • Potential for the project to advance institutional partnership between the home and host institutions of the candidate;
  • Quality and feasibility of teaching or research activities undertaken;
  • Accuracy of the budget;
  • Qualifications of the participant.

Only applications submitted directly by Canadian public post-secondary institutions will be considered.

The Faculty Mobility Program grants are subject to the availability of funding from the Government of Canada.

Frequently asked questions about the Faculty Mobility Program

1. Is the program funding only for creating new partnerships or can it be used to strengthen existing partnerships?

The aim of the program is to increase the number of institutional collaborations and student exchange agreements between Canadian and non-Canadian institutions eligible under the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP). Projects based on existing partnerships will be considered eligible as long as they advance and enhance the ongoing collaboration.

2. How many projects can a Canadian post-secondary institution propose as part of this competition?

There is no maximum number of projects.  However, the maximum grant value per project is CAD 7,000.

3. Can multiple trips be undertaken under the same grant?

Yes, they can. However, the funding amount per project will not exceed CAD 7,000.

4. Can the project take place in more than one country?

Yes, but only in ELAP eligible countries. Furthermore, the maximum amount per project remains the same regardless of the number of countries.

5. If the Canadian faculty participating in the project travels to the partner institution before the results are announced, is the project still eligible for funding?

There is no guarantee that a project will receive funding before the adjudication is completed. Funding is retroactive for successful candidates who have incurred eligible expenses in relation to their projects.

6. I am a full-time faculty member on sabbatical. Am I eligible for this program?

Yes.

7. I am a part-time course lecturer at a Canadian public postsecondary institution. Am I eligible for the program?

No. Only full-time instructors are eligible to apply.

8. I am a non-Canadian professor at a Canadian public postsecondary institution. Am I eligible for the program?

Yes. All full-time researchers and professors at Canadian public post-secondary institutions are eligible to apply, regardless of their citizenship or permanent resident status.

9. Can the project combine teaching and research?

Yes.

Background

In 2009, the Government of Canada announced the Emerging Leaders in the Americas Program (ELAP) to support the development of human capital and the next generation of leaders in the Americas while strengthening the linkages between post-secondary institutions in Canada and Latin America and the Caribbean.

The scholarships also advance Canada’s objectives for the Americas: democratic and accountable governance, human rights, the environment, diversity and Indigenous peoples.

Over 500 scholarships are awarded every year for a total of over 4,700 scholarships since 2009.