Grants:Programs/Wikimedia Community Fund/General Support Fund/Wikimedia Canada 2025-2027

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Applicant information

Organization name or Wikimedia Username for individuals. (required): Wikimedia Canada

Do you have any approved General Support Fund requests? (required): Yes, I have already applied and received a General Support Fund

You are applying as a(n). (required): Wikimedia Affiliate (chapter, thematic org., or user group)

Are your group or organization legally registered in your country? (required): Yes

Do you have a fiscal sponsor?: No

Fiscal organization name.: N/A

Please provide links to the following documents if they are available

These documentation can be provided in your local language(s), no translations required.

Organizational website
Detailed financial reporting and/or audits
Documentation of the governance structure, board list, governance processes
Documentation of the general assembly decision on your plan

Organizational website : https://www.wikimedia.ca/

Detailed financial reporting and/or audits : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikimedia_Canada_Financial_Statements_2024.pdf

Documentation of the governance structure, board list, governance processes : https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f0/Wikimedia_Canada_Annual_Report_2023_%28EN_version%29_01.pdf

Documentation of the general assembly decision on your plan : https://ca.wikimedia.org/wiki/Annual_General_Meeting_2024

Main proposal

1. Please state the title of your proposal. This will also be a title for the Meta-Wiki page. (required): Wikimedia Canada 2025-2027

2. Do you want to apply for the multi-year base funding for 3 years? (required) (only for returning applicants): Yes

2.1. Provide a brief overview of Year 2 and Year 3 of the proposed plan and how this relates to the current proposal and your strategic plan? (required)

2026 is the final year of our strategic development plan. It will be a pivotal year for us as we begin to prepare for the next plan, which will launch in 2027.

To achieve this, we will assess the outcomes of our actions through performance indicators to measure the success or failure of our initiatives over the past years. We need to identify the programs we wish to continue, those we may set aside, and the new initiatives we want to focus on more closely. This strategic development will position our organization as a key player in open knowledge in Canada. We aim to strengthen our leadership role in the digital commons.

At the same time, we will continue to work closely with the community across Canada to meet its needs and support its efforts. This involves leveraging our expertise to provide assistance to individuals or institutions that may require it. We will also maintain our collaboration with our partners, including those in the Wikimedia movement (such as WikiFranca and WCNA), as well as others in Canada and around the world, particularly in the GLAM sectors.

Finally, we aim to dedicate more time to developing our relationships with Indigenous communities in Canada. Working with these communities relies heavily on trust, which is built gradually. Therefore, it takes time to establish strong relationships that will yield the desired outcomes.

3. Proposed start date. (required): 2025-01-01

4. Proposed end date. (required): 2027-12-31

5. Does your organization or group have an Affiliate or Organizational Annual Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required): Yes; https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ThDGOdznjkKRLfdZwITImPu7jErK72m84HVQXbAvHEw/edit?usp=sharing

6. Does your affiliate, organization or group have a Strategic Plan that can help us understand your proposal? If yes, please provide it. (required): Yes; https://docs.google.com/document/d/1G0XBjdnv59FISJ8ts55djLohJteAXAin1k5D6EROxwk/edit#heading=h.tj3rsur8zsr2

7. Where will this proposal be implemented? (required): Canada

8. What are your programs, approaches, and strategies? What are the challenges that you are trying to address and how will your strategies support you in addressing these challenges? (required)

In 2024, we conducted a survey and a series of interviews with Canadian contributors to gather their opinions on the chapter and to understand their needs and challenges. This allowed us to formulate several recommendations aimed at improving our work within the community (the report is available upon request, and a summary will be published online by the end of 2024).

Recommendations from the survey ● Increase Awareness: Efforts should be made to engage GLAM institutions outside Quebec and to reach more francophone contributors outside Quebec. ● Programming: Develop and provide resources for event planning and standard training materials for new contributors. Consider partnerships to increase access to Canadian news content for contributors. ● Communication: Enhance on-wiki communication strategies and consider conducting regular surveys to continuously gather and act on community feedback.

Recommendations and future perspectives from Interview: Taking into account the responses of those interviewed, several lines of action could enhance WMCA's impact. These include: ● Creation of Canada-related content: provide more support for the creation of quality content on Canada-related topics, particularly on Indigenous communities, small towns and rural areas. This also includes actions before and during federal elections, to ensure that reliable information is available on Wikipedia. ➢ WMCA must support the creation of content related to Canada, particularly concerning under-represented topics.

● Pan-Canadian vision: prioritize actions and projects with a national impact, to benefit all contributors across Canada, not just Quebec. ➢ Extend actions beyond Quebec to represent the whole country and meet the specific needs of English- and French-speaking contributors, either by changing our structure or by making significant efforts in this direction.

● Events and training: more training opportunities, particularly on artificial intelligence, article translation and Wikidata use - hybrid or online events, to make it easier to participate. ➢ Organize more training sessions and provide training materials, especially for new contributors. The creation of a train-the-trainer program also seems necessary.

● Support for diversity: stronger commitment by WMCA to promote diversity among contributors, in particular by encouraging under-represented communities to contribute. ➢ Continue to diversify its actions, improve its communication and encourage the participation of contributors from marginalized communities. These efforts will enable the organization to better meet the expectations of its community and increase its influence on a national scale.

Wikimedia Canada wants to focus its actions on the needs of Canadian volunteers while ensuring the inclusion of people and knowledge that are currently underrepresented in the Wikimedia projects. We engage in a range of activities, outreach initiatives, community building events, content creation projects, partnerships with cultural and knowledge institutions, and collaborations with Indigenous communities. We work to respect the principles set out in the Foundation's Strategy 2030: inclusion, equity, empowerment, cooperation and transparency, among others. To do this, Wikimedia Canada has chosen to organize its activities into six programs:

P1 - Support to WikiClubs and volunteers : Since Wikimedia projects are developed collaboratively by volunteers, Wikimedia Canada aims to support volunteers in Canada by providing them with the help and tools they need to easily contribute to Wikimedia projects. For exemple, in 2025, we plan to work on the creation of a Senior Wikiclub. We want to teach senior people how to contribute on Wikimedia's projects so they can share their inestimable knowledge.

P2 - Indigenous cultures, knowledge and languages : A component of this program aims to support the creation, development and growth of Wikimedia projects in Indigenous languages. Indeed, the vast majority of Indigenous languages in Canada are in danger of extinction. Wikimedia projects can be a free open source tool as part of a comprehensive approach to revitalize these languages. Wikimedia Canada understands the importance of language for Indigenous Peoples, and aims to reach out to Indigenous communities to help them take ownership of the Wikimedia projects and free licenses, and to accompany them to develop Wikimedia projects in their languages. In 2024, we got a 60 000$ grant from CIRA to work on a toolkit with young indigenous people, to help them to use Wikimedia so they can recognize misinformation online.

P3 - Francophonie : Since French is a minority language in North America, Wikimedia Canada actively supports the production of free knowledge on Wikimedia projects in French. For the 3rd time, in 2025, we will organize an edit-a-thon on French Canadian litterature.

P4 - Diversity of knowledge and high-impact topics : This program aims to increase the representation of minority or under-represented groups and subjects within the Wikimedia projects, both in terms of contributors and in terms of content. It also aims to increase the quality of the content of the Wikimedia projects on topics identified as having a high impact. There are currently knowledge gaps within the Wikimedia projects. We believe that knowledge equity cannot be achieved if we do not make the effort to add content that has historically been overlooked.

P5 - Collective for free knowledge : The Collective for free knowledge brings together organizations committed to free access to knowledge. This collective, initiated by Wikimedia Canada and its partners, will become a space for dialogue on various issues such as free knowledge, freedom of expression, free access to knowledge, free licenses, open data, and the vulgarization and dissemination of academic knowledge. It aims to become a key partner in open science in Canada.

P6 - Research and development : Wikimedia Canada's research and development (R&D) program aims to contribute to the advancement of the Wikimedia Movement and free knowledge by allocating resources to experimentation. Among other things, Wikimedia Canada aims to work with volunteers, online contributor communities, and partners to identify high-impact topics where there are currently knowledge gaps on the Wikimedia projects, and to identify priorities, initiatives, methodologies, tools and partnerships that can help reduce these knowledge gaps. This includes identifying topics for which the Wikimedia projects are most used, and for which there is a greater danger of poor content, for example, where there may be misinformation. For exemple, In 2025, we're going to implement a "Train the Trainers" program for the Canadian community. In 2024, we organized a conference on Digital Commons and Francophone AI. This conference, held in parallel with the Francophone WikiConvention, aims to initiate a discussion on the role of knowledge commons as training resources for AI in Francophone regions. This is the kind of initiative we would like to reproduce in the next few years.

Finally, we will continue to fundraise effectively outside the Movement. To achieve this, we will continue our fundraising efforts with Canadian businesses and foundations. We will also work to encourage our individual donors to contribute on a monthly basis. Additionally, we aim to secure public funding for specific projects, such as those involving Indigenous communities or addressing the needs of French-speaking minorities in Canada.

9. What categories are your main programs and related activities under? Please select all that apply. (required)


Category	Yes/No
Education	Yes
Culture, heritage or GLAM	Yes
Gender and diversity	Yes
Community support and engagement	Yes
Participation in campaigns and contests	Yes
Public policy advocacy	No
Other	No

Education

9.1.1. Select all your programs and activities for Education. (required): Wiki Club, Editing Wikipedia Training; Other programs and activities if any: N/A
9.1.2. Select all relevant audience groups for Education. (required): Secondary school students, Vocational, tertiary, or higher education, Teachers or professors, Senior citizens; Other groups if any: N/A

Culture, heritage or GLAM

9.2. Select all your programs and activities for Culture, heritage or GLAM. (required): Supporting institutions to open up their collections, data, metadata, and research, Supporting GLAM professionals to incorporate use of Wikimedia in their work, through documentation, training, or Wikimedian in Residence programs, Partnering with institutions, professional associations, and allied organizations to raise awareness of open culture, ethical sharing, and related issues; Other programs and activities if any: N/A

Gender and diversity

9.3. Select all your programs and activities for Gender and diversity.: Bringing in women and/or gender diverse participants and editors, Focusing on creating content about women and/or gender diverse groups, including biographies, intersectional topic areas and/or adding images, Focusing on creating content about marginalized (underrepresented) communities and their knowledge, Building organizer skills in women and diversity groups, Sensitize and educate for gender perspective among Wikimedia projects stewards and editors; Other programs and activities if any: N/A

Community support and engagement

9.4. Select all your programs and activities for Community support and engagement.: On-wiki training of community members, Organizing meetups, conferences, and community events, Supporting community members' participation in events and conferences, Offering micro-funding and other financial support to community members , Offering non financial support and services to community members (equipment, space, books, etc.); Other programs and activities if any: N/A

Participation in campaigns and contests

9.5. Select all campaigns that apply. (required): 1Lib1Ref, Art+Feminism, Wiki Loves Monuments, Other; Other programs and activities if any: Wiki Loves Sport

Wikidata Coordinate Me Contest WikiConference North America WikiConvention Francophone - WikiFranca

10. Please include a link to or upload a timeline (operational calendar) for your programs and activities. (required): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1rMkn_nu6IoznP88NwC_dtZc0uVCXyOs2XEVcMfsmnsA/edit?usp=sharing

11. Describe your team. (required)

There is one Executive Director (User:Louis Germain (WMCA)) : Louis has been heavily involved, since his arrival in the role, in matters concerning the governance of the movement. He has also been part of the organizing teams for the North American WikiConference in Toronto and the Francophone WikiConvention in Quebec.

There is one Program Officer (User:Chelsea Chiovelli (WMCA)) : Chelsea is based in the West part of the country. She is responsible for implementing various programs identified by our organization. She oversees the execution and supervision of projects related to these programs. Additionally, she proposes and carries out activities aimed at enhancing the organization's visibility.

There is one Communications & Philanthropic Development Officer (User:SophieWMCA). Sophie is responsible for the implementation of various communication and philanthropy activities. She proposes and implements a communications plan aimed at increasing the organization's awareness and sharing its activities. She develops strategies to increase donations and sponsorships in order to generate new revenues.

There are 9 community-elected members on the Board of directors of WMCA. Currently, Michael David Miller (User:BiblioQC) serves as President, and Étienne Beaule (User:Ebe123) is the Vice-President. Other members are Hélène Ouellet, Jennyfer Jacques, Ha-Loan Phan, Catherine Bernier, Thérèse Ottawa, Sarah Severson, Pierre-Luc Joncas and Benoit Rochon. All the people on our Board are volunteers and are experienced and diverse, including a majority of women, representation from the LGTBQ+ community, and representation from Indigenous Peoples.

12. Will you be working with any internal (Wikimedia) or external partners? Describe the characteristics of these partnerships and bring a few examples of the most significant partnerships. (required)

We work closely with WikiFranca and WikiConference North America, as well as NARWHAL and WALRUS. These diverse collaborations allow us to build connections and create synergy with other members of the international community. We participated in organizing the WikiConference North America in Toronto, as well as the WikiConvention francophone in Quebec. In doing so, we were able to leverage our expertise and ensure the success of the events. Since then, we feel there is a momentum for the Chapter, and we wish to seize this opportunity to continue exploring partnership possibilities with other chapters and user groups around the world.

At the local level, we have established agreements with public partners (such as BAnQ, for example) and supported various institutions in carrying out their activities: University of Ottawa, University of Alberta in Edmonton, Dalhousie University, Canadian Centre for Architecture, Archives of Ontario, Archives gaies du Québec, and more.

By working together with these partners, we can pool our knowledge, networks, and resources, facilitating the collection and dissemination of open knowledge. Moreover, cooperation encourages the exchange of ideas, creativity, and synergy among partners, contributing to an environment conducive to innovation and the success of our projects. Ultimately, it enhances the impact of our initiatives by mobilizing a broader community of contributors and raising awareness about the importance of preserving and promoting open knowledge in Canada.

We also want to prioritise new partnerships that can contribute to knowledge equity, and/or give a substantial contribution to the quality of the Wikimedia projects.

13. In what ways do you think your proposal most contributes to the Movement Strategy 2030 recommendations. Select all that apply. (required): Increase the Sustainability of Our Movement, Ensure Equity in Decision-making, Coordinate Across Stakeholders, Invest in Skills and Leadership Development, Identify Topics for Impact

Metrics

Wikimedia Metrics

14. Please select and fill out Wikimedia Metrics for your proposal. (recommended)

14.1. Number of participants, editors, and organizers.

All metrics provided are optional, please fill them out if they are aligned with your programs and activities.

Participants, editors, and organizers
Metrics name	Target	Description
Number of all participants	N/A	N/A
Number of all editors	175	The number of participants that have contributed with edits to one of the Wikimedia platforms, as part of one of our activities. This is measured e.g. by them being added to the Programs & Events Dashboard or signing up on a contest page.
Number of new editors	N/A
Number of retained editors	N/A
Number of all organizers	80	The number of organizers and volunteers involved in organizing an event.
Number of new organizers	N/A

14.2. Number of new content contributions to Wikimedia projects. (recommended)

Contributions to Wikimedia projects
Wikimedia project	Created	Edited or improved
Wikipedia		3300
Wikimedia Commons		10000
Wikidata		15000
Wiktionary
Wikisource
Wikimedia Incubator
Translatewiki
MediaWiki
Wikiquote
Wikivoyage
Wikibooks
Wikiversity
Wikinews
Wikispecies
Wikifunctions / Abstract Wikipedia

Description for Wikimedia projects contributions metrics. (optional)

We do not distinguish between items created and items improved as we think that there is no difference between impact on the quality of the Wikimedia projects.

Other Metrics

15. Do you have other quantitative and qualitative targets for your project (other metrics)? (required): Yes


Other Metrics	Description	Target
Number of active WikiClub	N/A	15
Number of projects supported from Aboriginal communities	N/A	3
Number of major projects supported that aim to increase the representation of minority or underrepresented groups:	N/A	3
Increased number of partners	N/A	12
N/A	N/A	N/A

Budget

16. Will you have any other revenue sources when implementing this proposal (e.g. other funding, membership contributions, donations)? (required): Yes

16.1. List other revenue sources. (required)

Individual and Corporate donations Private Foundation Public funding for specific project Membership

16.2. Approximately how much revenue will you have from other sources in your local currency? (required): 588300

17. Your local currency. (required): CAD

18. What is the total requested amount in your local currency? (required): 1091800 CAD

Multi-year funding request summary
Year	Amount (local currency)
Year 1	343000 CAD
Year 2	363500 CAD
Year 3	385300 CAD

Requested amount in USD: 797188.69 USD ^{[note 1]}

Multi-year funding request summary in USD
Year	Amount USD ^{[note 1]}
Year 1	N/A USD
Year 2	N/A USD
Year 3	N/A USD

↑ ^a ^b ^c The following amount in US dollars was calculated by Wikimedia Foundation staff using the fixed currency rates. This amount is approximate and may not reflect the actual currency exchange rates on the day of submission or distribution. If the application is funded, the funding will be sent in the recipient’s local currency.

19. Does this proposal include compensation for staff or contractors? (required): Yes

19.1. How many paid staff members do you plan to have? (required)

Include the number of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include them separately and mention their terms.

Currently, we are three full-time employees. We would like to be four full-time employees. This is why we are requesting a grant increase during the first year of funding.

Several arguments support our request:

1. Canada is a very large country. It is exceedingly difficult to engage a community in such an expansive nation with so few human resources. Canada is vast and diverse. An additional employee could help us cover regions that are currently neglected or underserved, thus increasing our reach and visibility in the market. 2. With an additional employee, we can allocate time and resources to innovation or process improvement projects, which can stimulate our long-term development. In fact, in our staffing development plan, we aim to have four program officers in a few years from now: one for Western Canada, one for Ontario, one French-speaking officer for Quebec, and one for the Eastern provinces. This way, the entire country would be supported by a specific program officer, ensuring better representation from coast to coast. 3. With three employees, managing the workload across Canada can be challenging. It often requires extensive travel, which is both exhausting and costly. An additional employee would allow for a better distribution of tasks, reducing stress and the risk of burnout for the current team. 4. We would like to spend more time and ressources to reach out to Indigenous communities across Canada, but we need financial and human ressources for that, as it takes a lot of time to do that.

We also have, once in while, contractors to help us with specific projets, accountability, and stuff like that. For now, we have a contractor working with us part-time, on an Indigenous project. This project will end in September 2025. The employee is from the Atikamekw community.

19.2. How many FTEs (full-time equivalents) in total? (required)

Include the total FTE of staff and contractors during the proposal period. If you have short-term contractors or staff, please include their FTEs with the terms separately.

4 FTE if you accept the increase requested.

3 if you don't.

1 PTE, 20 hours/week, until September 2025.

19.3. Describe any staff or contractor changes compared to the current year / ongoing General Support Fund if any. (required only for returning grantees): Just as stated above, we would like to hire a second Program Officer.

We think Wikimedia Canada is an important chapter, but we are understaffed. With your help and with other sources of revenue, we could proceed and have a better representation, across Canada.

20. Please provide an overview of your overall budget categories in your local currency. The budget breakdown should include only the amount requested with this General Support Fund (required).


Budget category	Amount in local currency
Staff and contractor costs	235220 CAD
Operational costs	32262 CAD
Programmatic costs	75444 CAD

21. Please upload your budget for this proposal or indicate the link to it. (required)

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1N_oknCR166wDe8j56N6790pesC0YBy1BjEnGk9gC9Wc/edit?usp=sharing

Additional information

22. In this optional space you can add any other additional information about your proposal or organization that you think can help us when reviewing your proposal. (optional)

The strategic objectives of Wikimedia Canada align with the recommendations of the Wikimedia 2030 strategic process:

Increase the number and diversity of free knowledge and contributors across all Wikimedia projects in Canada; Enhance the visibility and reputation of Wikimedia Canada and its activities; Adapt the governance, operational structure, and finances of Wikimedia Canada to the growth of the organization. In recent years, and for the years to come, we always keep these objectives in mind. However, despite our hard work to diversify our funding sources and having someone dedicated to this task since 2023, we still lack the resources to achieve our goals. Although we have invested time - and money - in fundraising, the results are not sufficient to cover the costs of one 1 fte extra staff for the coming years. And that is what we really need.

The Wikimedia community in Canada expects us to be present from coast to coast. To establish partnerships, support Wikiclubs, continue our innovation efforts, and ensure better representation across the country, we need assistance from the WMF. We understand that budgets for the North American region have only increased at the rate of inflation. We also realize that our funding request exceeds this increase. We are working very hard to maximize our revenue, but a boost from the Foundation would allow us to hire a second program officer, enabling us to achieve all our objectives and even more. Without going so far as to say that Wikimedia Canada is underfunded compared to similar-sized chapters, we humbly believe that an effort could be made to help us ensure better functioning of our administration, organization, and activities. Canada is a big and large country. We need assistance to ensure better geographic representation across the country.

By submitting your proposal/funding request you agree that you are in agreement with the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and the Universal Code of Conduct.

We/I have read the Application Privacy Statement, WMF Friendly Space Policy and Universal Code of Conduct.

Yes

Feedback

Please add any feedback to the grant discussion page only. Any feedback added here will be removed.

[fixedrate-1] The following amount in US dollars was calculated by Wikimedia Foundation staff using the fixed currency rates. This amount is approximate and may not reflect the actual currency exchange rates on the day of submission or distribution. If the application is funded, the funding will be sent in the recipient’s local currency.

[note 1]