The call for projects is now open!

The Civic Incubator is an MIS training and coaching program for project leaders seeking to build their capacity to deploy innovative projects with high potential for positive social and environmental impact.

Winners embark on a free 5-month coaching program designed to take them from idea to pilot project, mature enough to develop partnerships and start operations.

MIS is already in the eleventh cohort of its Civic Incubator program. To date, the program has contributed to the emergence of numerous projects and initiatives. For concrete examples of projects incubated in the past, visit the page of all winning projects. See also the “News” section to learn more about the experiences of several of our Civic Incubator alumni. 

The people best placed to grasp a socio-environmental issue, and who have the best ideas for addressing it, don’t necessarily have access to the keys to success that will enable their ideas to be deployed.

All too often, projects with high potential for positive socio-environmental impact fail to make it to the starting line. Indeed, several obstacles can stand between an idea and its realization:

• a lack of knowledge and skills to structure and deploy a credible project, likely to be supported by various stakeholders (public institutions, donors, investors, support organizations);
• lack of access to networks of influential players and potential partners;
• lack of access to the resources needed to deploy the project;
  more personal causes, such as impostor syndrome or fear of failure, which often prevent people from exploring their potential and curb their ambitions.

These obstacles can have a number of consequences:

• high-potential projects are abandoned;
• social and environmental problems persist or worsen;
• overwork, discouragement and disengagement on the part of project leaders.

It is for these agents of change, whose ideas deserve support, that MIS has developed the Civic Incubator.

No. However, experience has taught us that by working in pairs in the Civic Incubator, participants can more easily deepen their reflections on their project and carry out the work proposed to them. Working in pairs enables them to combine their respective experiences, knowledge (theoretical, activist, professional, etc.) and talents, to better reveal their blind spots and to support each other in case of difficulty or unforeseen absence. It also helps prepare the ground for sharing the workload during deployment. In the case of the Civic Incubator, two heads really are better than one!

So, without being an essential criterion for bidding, applications that include two people will be considered positively.

Note that more than one person can be part of a project, but that a maximum of two can follow the path.

A few suggestions…

If you’d like to take part in the Civic Incubator, but haven’t yet found a partner with whom to begin the support process…

• Talk about your project to people around you who share your concerns and your desire to change things.
• Clearly establish the criteria you’re looking for in a partner, such as the complementarity of their skills with yours, the affinity of your respective visions of the project, and the level of availability and motivation.
• Share your call for contributions on your social network’s territorial theme groups (e.g. citizen groups) or on the Passerelles platform.

In addition to helping you form a pair, these steps will allow you to practice pitching your project and testing your idea!

MIS values projects that have the potential to change the world! That said, as the 2025 cohort is partly financed by the City of Montreal, your project should initially be deployed in one or more sectors, neighborhoods or municipalities of the Greater Montreal area. If successful, it can certainly be exported to other regions of Quebec, Canada or the world.

If your project is at the ideation or design stage (i.e., not yet up and running), or if your project is in the seed phase (i.e., recently launched), the Civic Incubator is for you!

On the other hand, if your project is already ready to be deployed or in the process of being scaled up, it will be deemed ineligible.

PROJECT NOT STARTED = ELIGIBLE

If your project is in the ideation or conception stage (i.e., not started or in the pre-startup stage), it is considered eligible for the Civic Incubator. A project at the ideation or conception stage has the following characteristics:

• The issue and targeted impact have been identified. A problem analysis is underway, but incomplete.
• A project idea has germinated, but has not yet been finalized, and efforts are focused on detailing its form and operation.
• The project (or one of its components) has not yet been developed or tested with a restricted group of people (team members, partner organizations, friends, etc.).
• The deployment strategy has not yet been formalized (action plan, identification of partners, financing, legal form, etc.).
• The legal structure is generally non-existent.
• Funding is generally non-existent, and investment is mainly in volunteer hours and a few expenses paid out of the project leaders’ own pockets.

RECENTLY STARTED PROJECT = ELIGIBLE

If your project is in the seed phase (recently launched), it is considered eligible for the Civic Incubator. A project in the seed phase (recently launched) has the following characteristics:

• Problem analysis and ideation are more or less complete; the levers of action most likely to have an impact have been identified.
• Although adjustments can still be made, the project is relatively well defined.
• There is interest in obtaining a critical view of the project in order to strengthen certain aspects considered unclear or weak.
• The deployment strategy is currently being considered (action plan, identification of partners, financing, legal form, etc.).
• Some communication tools may already be in place (e.g. brand image).
• The project may have been the subject of a competition.
• The structure may be formal or incorporated (e.g. NPO, cooperative) or informal (e.g. citizens’ group).
• Although no stable income-generating activity has yet been established, occasional funding may have been obtained through grants, competitions, fund-raising or subsidies. Some teams may also have obtained income from consulting work.

PROJECT READY FOR DEPLOYMENT = NOT ELIGIBLE

If your project is ready for deployment or in the process of being scaled up, it is deemed ineligible for the Civic Incubator. A project ready for deployment or in the process of scaling up has the following characteristics:

• The understanding of the problem, the concept and the deployment plan are complete, and there is no need for a critical look at these elements.
• The project is already being deployed or scaled up.
• Efforts are focused on finding partners and funding to accelerate deployment.

The MIS Civic Incubator is a program offered free of charge to laureates thanks to the support of its financial partners: the City of Montreal and the Béati Foundation for their financial support of the 2025 Civic Incubator cohort.

Through hands-on, project-based learning and coaching, you’ll develop your ability to deploy innovative projects with high potential for positive socio-environmental impact.

More specifically, at the end of the module entitled :

Understanding: what are the most promising opportunities for action?

At the end of the Understanding module, participants will be able to analyze the various facets of the targeted problem and identify opportunities for action.

Design: how to intervene?

At the end of the Design module, they will be able to define a successful impact strategy and design an innovative project with a positive socio-environmental impact, using data from field research and the principles of service design.

Experimentation: where to start?

At the end of the Experimenting module, participants will be able to define their prototype and experimentation strategies.

Planning: how to get organized?

At the end of the Planning module, they will be able to plan the broad outlines of a successful project deployment strategy.

Consolidate: how to overcome obstacles?

At the end of the Consolidate module, participants will be able to mobilize their full potential as agents of change in the deployment of their project. The module covers the following concepts in particular:

• Acquire a better understanding of oneself as an agent of change.
• Identify internal blockages and discover strategies to overcome them.
• Developing confidence in our ability to take transformative action in our living environments.
• Enhance your resilience to cope better with the obstacles you will encounter when deploying your project.

The proposed support program runs for approximately five months, from January 8 to June 12, 2025.

An individual commitment of seven to ten hours per week is required, including hours devoted to team exercises and participation in various activities.

For this 2025 cohort, the course will include a variety of learning activities:

• A wealth of online content (videos, readings, exercises), available for consultation at any time, to help you discover key concepts and tools, and to fuel your reflections;
• 45- to 60-minute remote virtual classes with MIS coaches to deepen your understanding of the content covered;
• Self-directed team exercises to help you put your thoughts on paper, in preparation for the coaching sessions and workshops;
• Thematic virtual workshops, which will enable you to validate your reflections, raise your blind spots, and bring new perspectives to evolve your project with the support of MIS coaches, guest speakers and other cohort members;
• Remote team coaching sessions (1 hour) with the MIS coach who will follow your progress throughout the course;
• Optional individual coaching sessions for those wishing to deepen their understanding of certain notions related to their posture as project leaders;
• 5 days of face-to-face work, during which teams will have the opportunity to
  • work on the aspects of their projects they choose to explore in greater depth;
  • consolidate their posture as impact project leaders by learning to know themselves better, to better manage their stress and emotions to better face the challenges encountered during project deployment, and to mobilize their full potential in the deployment of their project.

In the year following completion of the Civic Incubator, you will also benefit from a bank of up to 10 hours of coaching from your coaches, as well as access to the alumni community and its activities.

What’s more, MIS will be making additional networking efforts to bring laureates together with public, private and philanthropic players who want to support the deployment of solutions with a positive socio-environmental impact in the Montreal community.

In particular, MIS expects the selected teams to:

• Be present at all of the program’s activities*;
• Guarantee a sustained effort in advancing the project between program activities;
• Participate actively in the activities by contributing to exchanges and activities with generosity and to the best of their abilities;
• Contribute to establishing a climate of respect and openness, conducive to learning;
• Respect the diversity of individuals, values, opinions and beliefs within the group;
• Participate occasionally in the Civic Incubator’s communication activities;
• Authorize the publication of their name and/or image as part of the MIS’s communications activities, for promotional purposes and to give visibility to incubated projects;
• Offer constructive feedback to enable MIS to improve the Incubator’s activities.

If your team is selected, an agreement detailing the terms of commitment and reciprocal expectations between MIS and the participants will be signed before the start of the program.

*By registering for the Civic Incubator, you agree to take part in all of the program’s activities. As each activity has been planned to form a coherent whole, your attendance will help your project to develop smoothly.

If you don’t think you’ll be able to take part in several of the proposed activities, or if you don’t think you’ll be able to devote 7 to 10 hours of work to the Civic Incubator each week, we ask you not to apply, so as to leave room for another team that could benefit from the program and its free services. Furthermore, if a participant systematically misses activities or arrives unprepared, and this behavior continues despite warnings to this effect, MIS reserves the right to exclude the person from the rest of the program.

For virtual activities – Most activities are planned online. So they’ll take place wherever you want! We recommend that you choose a quiet, distraction-free location to attend the various online activities.

What tools or equipment do I need?

We strongly recommend that you have the following equipment at your disposal for each online session:

• Computer with webcam
• Computer microphone and speakers, or headset
• Internet access with a recommended bandwidth of 1.5 Mb/s, enabling you to take part in group workshops via videoconferencing.

Throughout the process, MIS will support you in using the online tools and resolving any technical problems that may arise.

If your project is selected, but you don’t have access to the above-mentioned equipment, the MIS team will explore different solutions to help you.

MIS is not a funding agency, and will therefore not be able to finance your project from its own funds once it has been completed.

However, depending on the context and the chosen deployment strategy, MIS will make every effort to put you in touch with organizations with which you can explore options for financing your project.

A number of projects incubated in the past have been able to take advantage of funding opportunities right at the end of their pathway, thanks to the networking efforts deployed by MIS.

The application selection process takes place in 4 stages.

Step 1: Submit your project using the online form before October 27, 2024 at 11:59 pm.

Please note: only one form per project.
Note that you can save your form and return to it later to complete it before the submission deadline.

EARLY-BIRD FORMULA – MIS will offer a tailor-made coaching session lasting almost an hour to the first 15 teams to submit their applications by October 6, 2024, and who meet the program’s eligibility criteria. These early birds will benefit from strategic advice before the October 27 project submission deadline.

Take advantage of the Early-Bird formula!

Step 2: If your project meets the eligibility criteria (see question 3 above) and is selected in the first selection phase, your team will be invited to a remote interview (via Zoom) in November 2024. The interview will last approximately 45 minutes. The purpose of the interview is to assess the team’s :

• Is motivated to get involved in the Civic Incubator
• Is determined to see the project through
• Has identified strategies for combining their work with the Civic Incubator with their professional or personal activities.
• Has demonstrated a certain level of team cohesion (in the case of a two-person team) and resilience in the face of the unexpected and obstacles
• Demonstrates ability to learn independently and to be coached
• Able to justify eligibility, should clarification be required

You will be greeted by members of the MIS team and the selection panel.

Step 3: Following the workshop, the selection jury will meet between November 25 and 29, 2024. Its mandate is to assess the extent to which the project :

• Presents a high potential for positive socio-environmental impact and, as far as possible, a potential for systemic impact;
• Is innovative, i.e. proposes a non-existent solution or an improvement on an existing solution;
• Presents concrete avenues for deployment;
• The jury will also assess the extent to which the teams have the training AND/OR personal experience AND/OR professional experience needed to successfully complete their project.

The jury is made up of a variety of representatives from the public, private, community and philanthropic sectors.

Step 4: Between December 2 and 22, 2024, the new cohort will meet over drinks, and the selected teams will meet the coach who will follow them along the way.