IONS is situated in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaw people. Unceded means that the Mi’kmaq have never relinquished, sold, traded, or transferred ownership of their land to European settler colonies, yet land was taken over without their consent through various processes of settler colonialism. This territory is covered by the Treaties of Peace and Friendship, which the Mi’kmaq and Wolastoqiyik people first signed with the British Crown in 1726. These Treaties did not involve the surrendering of rights to the lands and resources they had traditionally used and occupied. We are all Treaty People.

We further acknowledge that Nova Scotia is the birthplace of Black culture and heritage in Canada. People of African descent have shared these lands for over 400 years, and over 50 strong and resourceful African Nova Scotian communities exist here today.

We are committed to the struggle against systems of oppression that have resulted in profound inequities and the denial of self-determination rights. We are working actively to deepen our learning at an individual level, provide learning opportunities about anti-racism and decolonization, and to develop partnerships with organizations serving and led by underrepresented groups.

  • EDIA Consultant

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    1. Introduction
    UNITE is seeking proposals from qualified consultants or firms to work collaboratively with the UNITE Principal Investigators and Hub team to clarify and add further dimension to UNITE’s EDIA approach, including guidance, implementation considerations, and accountability mechanisms that are appropriate to our scope, context, and values.

    UNITE is committed to sustained efforts to approach our research through an intersectional lens that embeds the value of lived experience and prioritizes Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (EDIA) at a foundational level. This commitment informs how our team members work together, how we engage with communities, and how UNITE’s research is designed, carried out, and mobilized.

    Our ways of working are actively being shaped through shared learning, lived experience, and collaboration, as part of a dynamic, evolving process led by the UNITE Hub team’s collective practice and informed by relationships with extended team members, partners, and interest holders. We recognize there is always more to deepen, articulate, and strengthen—particularly in relation to impact, accountability, shared understanding, and consistency across different contexts.

    2. Project Overview
    UNITE is a six-year participatory research initiative focused on strengthening youth mental health outcomes in Nova Scotia by learning from what is already working within the province’s Youth Mental Health and Addictions (YMHA) system and building on it in meaningful ways.

    Funded by Research Nova Scotia and hosted at Dalhousie University, UNITE brings together youth, families, service providers, community organizations, decision-makers, and researchers to better understand how the YMHA system functions in practice. Rather than focusing on individual programs in isolation, UNITE examines how relationships, networks, and structures across sectors shape real-world experiences of care.

    UNITE is grounded in the belief that improving youth mental health outcomes requires more than adding new services. Meaningful change happens when diverse groups work together across the system, and when research focuses not only on what we do, but how we collaborate, learn, and adapt over time.

    3. Scope of Work
    This work is intended to complement and add dimension to EDIA-informed approaches already underway within UNITE, rather than duplicate or replace existing workstreams. The individual or team is expected to work in a collaborative, non-prescriptive manner, contributing additional perspectives and expertise while supporting shared stewardship of EDIA across the UNITE team.

    Deliverables are intended to surface, consolidate, and strengthen existing practices, and to support the development of adaptable guidance in areas not yet fully articulated. Deliverables should be practical, proportionate, and capable of evolving over time.

    In addition to drawing from multiple sources of knowledge and lived experience, the deliverables described in this scope of work should align with relevant frameworks, including:

    – Nova Scotia Health Equity Framework
    – Nova Scotia Accessibility Action Plan
    – Dalhousie EDIA Policies

    Note: UNITE’s commitment to reconciliation will be a parallel stream of work. While this work engagement will align with reconciliation principles, reconciliation requires dedicated focus, relationships, and engagement beyond the scope of this proposal.

    4. Deliverables
    – Co-development of a shared EDIA-informed approach to practice and accountability, building on UNITE’s Guiding Principles as they are currently articulated and evolving, including a reference model for how these principles are applied across different contexts and streams of work.

    UNITE’s Guiding Principles:

    –Contextually Grounded – We build on what is already happening and what is working.
    –Relationally Focused – Relationships and connections are central to our work.
    –Inclusive and Participatory – Diverse experience and expertise meaningfully drive the -process and outcomes, and we share contributions and recognition.
    –Complexity-Informed – Solutions are not simple and linear.
    –Oriented Toward Meaningful Outcomes – We seek to do work that makes a difference in the lives of youth.

    – Informed by the shared EDIA-informed approach developed above, refinement of UNITE’s EDIA accountability indicators and development of light-touch measurement tools, with clear purpose, consent, and appropriate use.

    – Development of usability and accessibility heuristics to support consistent evaluation of UNITE outputs and solutions across digital, physical, and engagement contexts, as a baseline expectation.

    – Support the conceptualization and implementation of UNITE’s Impact and Engagement Council.

    – Building on the work above, assess and surface EDIA-informed practices already in motion within UNITE, identifying areas of strength, momentum, and emergence. Provide recommendations for prioritizing and sequencing future areas of work to be strengthened over time, informed by capacity, readiness, and potential impact.

    Although this is a limited-term scope of work, UNITE is committed to ongoing learning and accountability in this area. Recommendations will be stewarded and implemented internally by the team, with the potential for future collaboration as our needs evolve.

    5. Timeline
    RFP open of submissions: March 1, 2026
    RFP closes: March 31, 2026
    Contact shortlisted applicants for further information: April 15, 2026
    Tentative timeline for initial engagement with selected applicant: June 2026-May 2028

    6. Proposal Requirements
    Interested individuals and teams are invited to submit a brief response outlining their relevant experience and approach, and a proposed fee or fee range for this work. Responses should include examples of anticipated deliverables and proposed indicators or milestones for completion, to illustrate how proponents would approach scoping and accountability for this work.

    Once the work engagement begins, UNITE and the selected individual or team will collaboratively confirm and finalize deliverables, timelines, and indicators of completion, recognizing that these may evolve through the work and will be used to support shared understanding, accountability, and payment.

    7. Evaluation
    Submissions will be evaluated based upon relevant experience & expertise, meaningful roles of people with relevant lived experience, proposed approach & methodology, cost, clarity and completeness.

    8. Submission Instructions
    Submit proposals by email to: [email protected]

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