What we were proposing for each of the projects we were going to fund—for instance, under the theme of the blueprint projects—was a specific recipe. But we left it to the groups to propose activities that take into consideration their local circumstances. The big framework was set. There must be a gender-based analysis. There must be a knowledge dissemination strategy. In some cases we wanted to see things such as a mentoring component. So those broad components were required.
The groups had some flexibility in identifying the best fit in implementing their work. So the direction was clear from the outset, rather than starting from scratch. Some groups are more experienced than others in developing project proposals, and each department has its own little framework that they like groups to fit in, as does each province. For the applicants, it was much simpler and they were thankful for that.