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This feature story is part of the City of Ottawa Service Reviews: an initiative aimed at ensuring our services are meeting your needs. Visit ottawa.ca/YourIdeas today.
If you ever wanted an example of how small City grants can end up making a big difference for a lot of people, look no further than Connected Canadians.
Volunteers for this Ottawa-based charity teach digital literacy skills to older adults. They are Canada’s leader in this field.
“We believe that all people should be empowered to use technology safely and effectively to engage with loved ones and enhance quality of life,” says Emily Jones-Joanisse, cofounder and CEO of Connected Canadians.
A Connected Canadians volunteer works with another satisfied client in the Perley Health community.
We all remember how important digital connectivity became during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing each other face-to-face was difficult, older adults were especially isolated from their loved ones, and food service workers everywhere were out of work.
That’s where Connected Canadians stepped in. They applied for and received a Community Economic Development Grant (CED) from the City to train 20 unemployed food service workers to teach older adults how to use the internet, video calling, social media and more.
The funding program provides financial support to selected projects that are anticipated to create new enterprises in the not-for-profit or social sectors and create resilient jobs.
The program is intended to support historically under-represented residents. Visit ottawa.ca for more background on CED funding criteria.
“It seemed a natural fit to pair lonely bartenders with isolated seniors who needed literacy skills,” Emily recalls. “We were able to pay people to work online for something that helped seniors across the country. Meanwhile, people in the food service industry learned other serviceable skills that helped them build new careers.”
The 2020 grant worked so well that Connected Canadians applied for and received another in 2021. This time, the grant enabled them to train 12 new Canadians.
“With food service workers, we had to build their tech skills. For immigrants, they already had the technical skills, but for them it was about language and cultural awareness to serve seniors in a way that would be helpful to them.”
But wait, there’s more. Word spread about the charity’s training modules and other organizations started asking them for help. A certain national telecommunications company ended up purchasing 2,040 senior-friendly customer service training licenses for their technicians.
“We developed a train-the-trainer model that has become a source of revenue today. This was a further byproduct of the original technology mentor training we developed during the CED programs – which directly helps to subsidize our ongoing free training for seniors across Canada.”
That was two grants, over two years. This month, the City is naming 10 organizations as recipients of the 2025 Community Economic Development (CED) Funding Program.
The program awards a total of up to $285,000 per year, distributed among the proposals that are selected by a jury panel of reviewers. Funds are awarded among the top-ranked projects, until the annual funding maximum is reached.
Out of 31 applications received, the successful grant recipients this year include:
CED grants have had a significant impact that goes well-beyond the program’s immediate beneficiaries. For Connected Canadians alone, that’s thirty-two trainers, plus the people they trained, plus the loved ones who connected to them, plus, plus, plus. Good luck to all the 2025 recipients on the good work and pluses coming their way.
Your city, your ideas!
Supporting job creation in under-represented communities is one example of how we’re working with partners to create policies that attract customers and investors to create prosperity for our economy. Do you have ideas related to this or other City services? Share your ideas at engage.ottawa.ca/ProsperousEconomy.
For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca or call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401). or 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with us through Facebook, Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
查看原文...
If you ever wanted an example of how small City grants can end up making a big difference for a lot of people, look no further than Connected Canadians.
Volunteers for this Ottawa-based charity teach digital literacy skills to older adults. They are Canada’s leader in this field.
“We believe that all people should be empowered to use technology safely and effectively to engage with loved ones and enhance quality of life,” says Emily Jones-Joanisse, cofounder and CEO of Connected Canadians.
A Connected Canadians volunteer works with another satisfied client in the Perley Health community.
We all remember how important digital connectivity became during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seeing each other face-to-face was difficult, older adults were especially isolated from their loved ones, and food service workers everywhere were out of work.
That’s where Connected Canadians stepped in. They applied for and received a Community Economic Development Grant (CED) from the City to train 20 unemployed food service workers to teach older adults how to use the internet, video calling, social media and more.
The funding program provides financial support to selected projects that are anticipated to create new enterprises in the not-for-profit or social sectors and create resilient jobs.
The program is intended to support historically under-represented residents. Visit ottawa.ca for more background on CED funding criteria.
“It seemed a natural fit to pair lonely bartenders with isolated seniors who needed literacy skills,” Emily recalls. “We were able to pay people to work online for something that helped seniors across the country. Meanwhile, people in the food service industry learned other serviceable skills that helped them build new careers.”
The 2020 grant worked so well that Connected Canadians applied for and received another in 2021. This time, the grant enabled them to train 12 new Canadians.
“With food service workers, we had to build their tech skills. For immigrants, they already had the technical skills, but for them it was about language and cultural awareness to serve seniors in a way that would be helpful to them.”
But wait, there’s more. Word spread about the charity’s training modules and other organizations started asking them for help. A certain national telecommunications company ended up purchasing 2,040 senior-friendly customer service training licenses for their technicians.
“We developed a train-the-trainer model that has become a source of revenue today. This was a further byproduct of the original technology mentor training we developed during the CED programs – which directly helps to subsidize our ongoing free training for seniors across Canada.”
That was two grants, over two years. This month, the City is naming 10 organizations as recipients of the 2025 Community Economic Development (CED) Funding Program.
The program awards a total of up to $285,000 per year, distributed among the proposals that are selected by a jury panel of reviewers. Funds are awarded among the top-ranked projects, until the annual funding maximum is reached.
Out of 31 applications received, the successful grant recipients this year include:
- Active Newcomer Youth Ottawa
- Amano Gardens
- Centre for Social Enterprise Development
- Fondation Canadienne de développement économique et d’employabilité
- Impact ON
- John Howard Society of Ottawa
- Mindtrust
- Operation Come Home
- Ottawa Chinese Community Service Centre
- National Aboriginal Capital Corporations Association
CED grants have had a significant impact that goes well-beyond the program’s immediate beneficiaries. For Connected Canadians alone, that’s thirty-two trainers, plus the people they trained, plus the loved ones who connected to them, plus, plus, plus. Good luck to all the 2025 recipients on the good work and pluses coming their way.
Your city, your ideas!
Supporting job creation in under-represented communities is one example of how we’re working with partners to create policies that attract customers and investors to create prosperity for our economy. Do you have ideas related to this or other City services? Share your ideas at engage.ottawa.ca/ProsperousEconomy.
For more information on City programs and services, visit ottawa.ca or call 3-1-1 (TTY: 613-580-2401). or 613-580-2400 to contact the City using Canada Video Relay Service. You can also connect with us through Facebook, Bluesky, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.
查看原文...
