Local Journalism Initiative

Applications for the 2024-2025 round of the Local Journalism Initiative are now open! 

Eligible campus, community, and Indigenous radio stations are invited to submit their applications for funding under the Local Journalism Initiative.

The Local Journalism Initiative supports the creation of local original journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada. Funding is available to eligible media organizations to hire journalists to produce civic journalism such as coverage of significant institutions (ie. city council, band council, school boards, courthouses, Federal Parliament, and provincial legislatures) and other topics of public importance.

The Local Journalism Initiative (LJI) supports the creation of original civic journalism that covers the diverse needs of underserved communities across Canada.

The content produced is made available publicly so that Canadians can be better informed. It is also made available to Canadian media organizations through a Creative Commons license.

The content can be found at Frequency (anglophone news) and Fréquence (francophone news). An archive of past content can be found at Canada-Info.ca so that Canadians can be better informed. It is made available to Canadian media organizations through a Creative Commons license.

This program has been made possible by the Government of Canada.

Guidelines

LJI 2024-2025 Program Guidelines

Assessment
criteria and
decision-
making
process:

Applicants seeking renewal of funding will also be evaluated on their past performance as part of the program. This is a competitive process and applying does not guarantee funding for your project. Applications are judged by an independent panel of experts using a weighted scoring system based on the following criteria:

  • The description of the underserved community and the demonstrated need for journalistic coverage
  • The applicant’s proposed journalistic coverage
  • The applicant’s ability to implement the project
  • The project’s ability to further program objectives includes but is not limited to the regional distribution, the representation of Indigenous, ethnocultural, LGBTQ+, and official language minority communities.

Eligibility

Eligible applicants are not-for-profit Canadian stations that hold one of the following CRTC broadcasting licenses: Campus & Community radio (as per CRTC 2010-499) and Native Type B radio (as per CRTC 1990-89). Please note: CBC / Radio-Canada is not eligible. Private commercial broadcasters are not eligible. 

Deadline

Wednesday May 15, 2024 at 3:00PM ET. Late applications will not be accepted.  Please email Program Officer Francella Fiallos at francella@crfc-fcrc.ca for more information.

Recipients

 

2020-2021 / 2021-2022 / 2022-2023 / 2023-2024

We welcome applications from eligible broadcasters, but we anticipate that demand for funding will exceed our allocation. If you have questions regarding the decision on your application, please book a meeting with Program Officer Francella Fiallos. If you are not satisfied with the decision on your application, complaints can be filed with the CRFC via the following procedure. 

If a dispute between members, directors, or officers of the CRFC arising out of the by-laws or any aspect of the operation of the organization is not resolved in private meetings between the parties, the dispute may be resolved through the following dispute resolution mechanism: 

  1. The dispute shall first be referred to mediation. One party shall appoint a mediator and the other party shall appoint another mediator. The two mediators shall jointly designate a third mediator. The three mediators shall then meet with the parties to attempt to reach a settlement. 
  2. With the agreement of the parties, the number of mediators may be reduced from three to one or two mediators. 
  3. If mediation does not settle the dispute, the parties may settle it by arbitration by submitting it to a single arbitrator, who shall not be one of the above-mentioned mediators. The parties agree that all arbitration proceedings are confidential, and that disclosure of any kind is prohibited. The decision of the arbitrator shall be final and binding and not subject to appeal. All costs related to the mediators shall be borne equally by the parties to the dispute. 

The costs of arbitration shall be borne by the parties as determined by the arbitrator.

If you have any feedback, questions, or comments on Frequency or Fréquence, please email francella@crfc-fcrc.ca. You will receive a confirmation that the complaint has been received and we will work with you to resolve your concerns. Should you not be satisfied with the proposed resolution, you may escalate your concern to our Executive Director Alex Freedman, who can be reached at alex@crfc-fcrc.ca.