You’ll receive leadership practice, mentorship, funding, learn new skills and the chance to test your ideas in real life. As a successful applicant, you will:

• Connect with other youth leaders and Canadian Red Cross mentors
• Join free workshops on health, wellness, emergencies, and climate change (optional)
• Build skills like leadership and budgeting
• Share what your project did to help people
• Do something good in your community!

To receive up to $5,000 in funding, your project must meet some criteria:

• Led by youth: The project should be planned and run by young people.
• Action-focused: It should include real activities, not just ideas.
• Safe and respectful: It should make sure everyone feels comfortable.
• Inclusive and helpful: It should welcome everyone and give back to the community.

Your project can be anything that helps your community! Here are some examples.

• Start a free community sports night
• Create a mural on truth and reconciliation
• Host a 2SLGBTQ+ arts and awareness workshop
• Plant a community garden
• Organize a newcomer welcome club
• Make emergency preparedness kits for families

You can apply by yourself or with a team of youth (such as friends, classmates, teammates). You must also be:

• Between the ages of 16 and 30
• A Canadian citizen, permanent resident, or have refugee status in Canada

We all come from different backgrounds and have unique experiences. At the Canadian Red Cross, we celebrate your uniqueness!

• If English isn’t your first language, or if this is your first time applying for funding – that’s okay! We’ll support you.
• We’ll give you the tools and guidance to create a project that makes a real difference in your community.
• If you receive $2,000 or more in funding, you will be paired with a Red Cross mentor to guide you and help make your idea become reality.

The Funding Guide is your go-to document for understanding how you can spend money from the Resilience Fund towards your community project. 

The Funding Guide includes: 

• Definitions of technical terms that are useful to know (page 1) 
• Eligibility criteria explaining who can apply (page 2) 
• Project ideas exploring what kind of projects you can do (page 3) 
• Project criteria that explain what you can and cannot do as part of your project (page 4) 
• Rules for project costs which explain what you can and cannot buy for your project (page 6) 
• The Responsibilities Checklist of things you will need to do to manage your project and your funding (page 9) 

FUNDING GUIDE

Please submit your application using this link:

SM Apply Portal Link

Remember: Deadline to apply for Cohort 2 is March 31, 2026.

If you would like to wait to apply for Cohort 3, please keep an eye out for future dates. 

In this section, you will find optional tools and guides to help you plan your project, fill out the application, and build your budget

These files are easy to use. You can fill out the PDF versions directly on your computer. They work best if you open them with Adobe Reader or Acrobat. We also have Word versions if you prefer to print and fill them out by hand.

Save this page and check back often because new tools and guides will be added!

• Shaping your Project Idea - PDF
• Shaping your Project Idea - Word
• Completing your Application - PDF
• Completing your Application - Word
• Budgeting Tips - PDF
• Budgeting Tips - Word
• Completing your Project Report - PDF