ONCAT Capacity Grants

ONCAT Capacity Grants support the development and implementation of learner-centric policies, practices and pathways at a single postsecondary institution.

Activities funded by ONCAT Capacity Grants should create transformative and measurable change for Ontario learners by focusing on any of the following elements of learner mobility:

• expanding opportunities for learners to move between postsecondary programs and institutions  
• improving processes to support Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR)  
• maximizing credit that learners receive for their previous education and experience
• reducing unnecessary, bureaucratic or inequitable barriers that impede a learner’s ability to pursue their educational and professional goals
• helping learners achieve greater levels of academic success and personal satisfaction with their postsecondary experiences
• supporting learners with transitions into the labour market 
   

Here are examples of activities that align with the focus of ONCAT Capacity Grants:

• implementing learner-friendly practices for transfer credit assessment (e.g., reducing application costs, expediting notifications)
• innovating new methods for the assessment of course equivalencies, the efficiency of Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR) processes or the stackability of micro-credentials  
• developing or expanding programs that help transfer students achieve greater levels of academic success and personal satisfaction with their postsecondary experiences
• enhancing the equity, transparency and accessibility of transfer-related policies and practices
• building administrative capacity to submit and update information to ONTransfer.ca
• building administrative capacity to collect, analyze and report data related to learner mobility (e.g., pathway traffic, student characteristics, academic success, graduation rates)  
• developing or expanding strategies for recruiting prospective transfer students, especially for opportunities that facilitate entry into the labour market
• promoting effective practices of fair, consistent and transparent credit assessment for your institution’s academic and administrative staff  
• supporting your institution’s implementation of MyCreds (a pan-Canadian platform for digital credentials)
• deepening or expanding your institution’s integration of MyCreds to enhance the secure issuing, exchange and verification of official digital documents, badges, micro-credentials and diplomas  
• implementing ideas and strategies that were identified through your institution’s previous participation in ONCAT’s MapIt program  
• continuing and extending the processes that were developed through your institution’s previous participation in ONCAT’s DataPilot program