The Standards Program is being piloted in 2011 with the Founding Members and then made available to all charities and public-benefit nonprofits in 2012. Click here for an overview of the accreditation process.

A webinar was held in 2010 to share the proposed structure of the Program with the Founding Members. For those of you who were unavailable to join the webinar, please take some time to review the recording and materials for a comprehensive overview.

Organizations wishing to publicly demonstrate they have successfully met the standards will have the opportunity to participate in the voluntary peer-review based accreditation process. Organizations will be able to review the application materials to assess their readiness prior to beginning the accreditation process.

Organizations applying for accreditation will be required to complete a written application form that includes evidence that they have met the standards as per the requirements of their level. These applications and supporting materials will be evaluated by a volunteer peer-review committee. In order to balance the rigor of the accreditation process with the costs of the program, any onsite visits will be conducted during the compliance stage of the process for participating organizations. Compliance will be monitored by peer reviewers and staff through onsite spot checks/audits of 3-5% of accredited organizations.

Application Process

1. Application Preparation and Submission

Participation Agreement:  The board and staff of the applying organization sign a participation agreement and pay an application fee to begin the process and have access to support from Imagine Canada staff to prepare their application for submission.

Support: Imagine Canada staff will manage the application process to ensure that the application and supporting documentation is complete. We also provide information about expectations and guide organizations to capacity building sources, but will not evaluate whether or not the standards have been met. We anticipate that there will eventually be a role for volunteer peer reviewers to help and mentor organizations through this process once some organizations have gone through the accreditation process themselves.

We suggest that participating organizations assemble a small task force - that includes at least one board member - to collaborate on preparing the application and supporting materials for submission.

Application Form:  Contact standards@imaginecanada.ca for a copy of the application form based on where your organization fits into one of the three different levels. The applicants complete and submit an application form, and provide supporting documents, including policies, descriptions of processes, sample documents, etc.

Application Deadlines: The application deadline for the 2011 pilot program is November 30, 2011. The Peer Review Committee will meet in February/March 2012 to evaluate applications and make accreditation decisions. In future there will be 2 intake periods annually and the Peer Review Committee will evaluate the applications within 4-6 weeks of each deadline.

Estimated Preparation Time: The estimated time for each organization to prepare for accreditation will vary depending on how far along each organization is in meeting the standards,  We anticipate that it will generally take between 3 to 9 months for organizations to prepare their applications for review.

2. Review and Approval Process:

Peer Review Committee: A national voluntary peer review committee will review the applications and supporting documentation and determine whether the standards are met. The peer review committee will consist of 7 regional members. As the program grows, there will be more peer reviewers from all regions across Canada. All submissions, regardless of the level of standards they must meet, receive the same rigor of assessment.

Decision Process: The peer review committee makes one of the four following recommendations:

• Receive accreditation – all the standards are met
• Receive conditional accreditation – most (e.g. 90%) of the standards are met; the expectations for full compliance will be outlined by the peer review committee and staff will approve accreditation once they are completed.
• Revise and resubmit – the information submitted by the applicant is not sufficient or strong enough to warrant accreditation yet, and it requires additional work. The organization will have the opportunity to complete work that is deemed by the peer review committee as outstanding or incomplete (e.g., strengthen the conflict of interest policy) and can resubmit at the next intake period – this action will be taken if the applicants have met many of the requirements, but less than 90%); as well the peer review committee may choose to communicate with the applicant if they require further clarification (e.g. through a teleconference, teleweb communication or onsite visit). A report will be provided to the applicant with clear actions required.
• Deny accreditation – hopefully this is unlikely to occur since organizations will have understood the requirements before going through the process and many will have an opportunity to revise and resubmit. Those who are denied can reapply for accreditation at a later date.

3. Compliance and Renewal Process:

Compliance Process: Compliance will be monitored via both spot audits and complaints-based investigations. Approximately 3-5% of organizations accredited each year will be audited. Organizations may be selected for an audit randomly or on the recommendation of the Peer Review Committee.

Use of the Accreditation Seal and Annual License Fees: Accredited organizations must agree to the terms and conditions of participating in the program. An annual license fee is required from participating organizations to maintain their status in the program, use of the trustmark, and access to supporting resources for accredited organisations.

Response to breach of the standards: If a breach of the standards is uncovered through the spot check or complaint process or other events, it will be investigated and the organization will have an opportunity to explain the circumstances and remedy the situation.

Renewal Process: Accredited organizations will be required to renew their accreditation every five years.