Planning & Development

The following links provide information to local governments and First Nations about funding programs for the development, administration, and enforcement of standards for land use, design, construction, and housing.

Please note that the Province of British Columbia is not responsible for the material and/or content presented on any non-provincial government site listed below.

Funding Programs

2009 Age-Friendly Community Planning Grant Program
Supports local government to develop and implement policies that facilitate the development of age-friendly communities.
http://www.civicinfo.bc.ca/181.asp?grantid=170

BC Anti-Racism and Multiculturalism Program, Building Safe Communities - Critical Incidence Response Model
The provincial Critical Incident Response Model (CIRM) assists communities throughout B.C. to develop community-led responses to racism and hate activity. Local governments, community-based organizations, the provincial Hate Crime Team and other local members work together to develop a plan for responding to racism in their community.
http://www.welcomebc.ca/en/service_providers/cirm.html

BC Healthy Communities Seed Grant Program
BC Healthy Communities (BCHC) is now accepting applications for Round IV of the Seed Grant Program. BCHC Seed Grants are small, one-time-only funding opportunities that support communities to undertake activities and processes that will develop effective community building practices.
http://www.bchealthycommunities.ca/Content/News/Index.asp#WhatisSG

BC Hydro Donations and Sponsorships Programs
Through donations and sponsorships, BC Hydro makes monetary and in-kind contributions to support cultural, social and economic well-being in British Columbia. BC Hydro provides grants and in-kind support to registered charities and not-for-profit organizations who meet outlined criteria. Funding areas include: environment and sustainability; youth and education; people and leadership; and, community initiatives.
http://www.bchydro.com/community/community_investment...

BC Recreation and Parks Association Built Environment & Active Transportation
Is launching Phase 2 of its Community Planning Grants funding program which is available to local governments, regional districts and First Nations to develop plans for active transportation.
http://www.physicalactivitystrategy.ca/index.php/beat/...

CivicSpatial Program
The CivicSpatial Grant Program is a 3-year grant initiative to help local governments improve the quality of their cadastral base and assist in the maintenance and sharing of this data. CivicSpatial is a grant program designed to assist local government ICIS members improve their cadastral fabric.
http://www.icisociety.ca/index.htm

Columbia Basin Trust Community Development Program
The Community Development Program responds to project proposals or ideas from Basin communities, groups and organizations that build capacity within the Basin in ways that are consistent with the Columbia Basin Trust’s mandate.
http://www.cbt.org

Community Development Program, Building Rural and Northern Partnerships
Offers funding to assist rural and northern regions get information, and access/develop the expertise, tools and processes needed to: 1) respond to rural/northern challenges and opportunities; and 2) become more competitive by collaborating regionally, building on their local assets and developing unused potential.
http://www.rural.gc.ca/RURAL/...

Community Development Trust
Launched in 2008, this initiative includes three programs: the Transitional Assistance Program supports older workers as they move towards retirement; the Tuition Assistance Program helps forestry workers upgrade skills; the Job Opportunities Program creates short-term job opportunities for forestry, fishing, agriculture, mining or manufacturing resource workers.
http://www.cd.gov.bc.ca/cdt

Crime Prevention Action Fund
The Crime Prevention Action Fund (CPAF) supports crime prevention initiatives in communities large and small. It aims to build partnerships between sectors (such as policing, community health, voluntary and private sectors) to enhance community capacity to prevent crime through social development.
http://www.ps-sp.gc.ca/prg/cp/cpaf_index-en.asp

Family Violence Initiative
The Family violence Initiative (FVI) is an ongoing federal commitment to a long-term societal problem with a multitude of social, justice, and health dimensions. The long-term goal of the FVI is to prevent and reduce the occurrence of family violence in Canada.
http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/ncfv-cnivf/familyviolence/initiative_e.html

Farm Credit Canada AgriSpirit Fund
Provides between $5,000 and $25,000 for community improvements such as emergency services equipment, playgrounds , food banks and recreation centres.
http://www.fcc-fac.ca/en/aboutus/responsibility/agrispiritfund_e.asp

Green Municipal Fund Feasibility Studies and Field Tests 2008
FCM offers Green Municipal Fund (GMF) grants to cover half the eligible costs of feasibility studies and field tests that seek to demonstrate the potential of a project to improve the environmental effectiveness of municipal operations related to brownfields, energy, transportation, waste or water.
http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/GMF/Funding-Studies.asp

Green Municipal Fund Sustainable Community Plans 2008
Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) offers Green Municipal Fund (GMF) grants to cover half the eligible costs of sustainable community plans. Plans must consider environmental, social and economic objectives and include specific targets for environmental performance.
http://www.sustainablecommunities.fcm.ca/GMF/Funding-Plans.asp

Infrastructure Planning Grant Program
The Infrastructure Planning Grant Program offers grants to support local government in projects related to the development of sustainable community infrastructure. Grants up to $10,000 are available to help improve or develop long-term comprehensive plans that include, but are not limited to: capital asset management plans, community energy plans, integrated stormwater management plans, water master plans and liquid waste management plans.
http://www.cd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/infra/infrastructure_grants...

Island Coastal Economic Trust
The Island Coastal Economic Trust provides funding to create new and sustainable regional economic growth through strategic investments in targeted “sectors” with the north Island, coastal and Sunshine Coast regional economy.
http://www.islandcoastaltrust.ca/index.php

Justice Partnership and Innovation Fund
The Department of Justice manages the Justice Partnership and Innovation Fund, which supports activities that respond effectively to the changing conditions effecting Canadian justice policy.
http://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/pi/pb-dgp/prog/jpif-fjpi.html

Labour Market Partnerships
Labour Market Partnerships is a program used to encourage, support and facilitate human resource planning and labour market adjustments which are in the public interest. This measure provides funding to assist employers, employee/employer associations and communities, including local governments, to improve their capacity for dealing with human resource requirements and to implement labour force adjustments.
http://www1.servicecanada.gc.ca/eng/epb/sid/cia/grants...

Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund
The Nechako-Kitamaat Development Fund Society is a grant-making agency that assists the people of North West British Columbia, and in particular the Nechako region and Kitamaat Village, by sponsoring sustainable economic and social projects in the area most affected by the Kemano project and the creation of the Nechako Reservoir. The NKDF will invest in community economic development projects and/or programs that are supported by the community, as long as they do not subsidize private business.
http://www.nkdf.org/

New Horizons for Seniors Program (Community Participation and Leadership Component)
Offers up to $25,000 for community-based projects that encourage seniors to participate in and contribute to their communities through volunteerism, mentorship and civic leadership.
http://www.hrsdc.gc.ca/eng/community_partnerships/seniors/index.shtml

Northern Development Initiative Trust - Community Foundation Funding Program
The Northern Development Initiative Trust's Community Foundation Funding Program assists all municipalities and regional district electoral areas in the Northern Development Initiative Trust region of central and northern British Columbia in building an endowment fund that supports local social, cultural and environmental needs via local decision-making.
http://northerndevelopment.bc.ca/community-funding...

Northern Development Initiative Trust - Economic Development Capacity Building
The Northern Development Initiative Trust's Economic Development Capacity Building Program funding provides $30,000 annually from the Cross Regional Account to ensure stable economic development funding for municipalities and regional districts. An additional $5,000 is available to each eligible local government, specifically for a collaborative project with another local government, regional economic development alliance, or another group, with outcomes that deliver measureable economic benefits to the area.
http://northerndevelopment.bc.ca/community-funding...

Northern Development Initiative Trust - Economic Diversification Infrastructure Program
The Northern Development Initiative Trust's Economic Diversification Infrastructure program provides municipalities, regional districts, First Nations and non-profit groups funding via Northern Development’s six (6) principal Trust Accounts: the Regional Development Accounts (Cariboo-Chilcotin/Lillooet, Northeast, Northwest, and Prince George), the Pine Beetle Recovery Account, and the Cross Regional Account. As Northern Development’s primary community economic development funding program, projects that serve to diversify local and regional economies are eligible for infrastructure and capital investment funding.
http://northerndevelopment.bc.ca/community-funding...

Northern Development Initiative Trust - Feasibility Studies or Marketing Program
The Northern Development Initiative Trust's Feasibility Studies or Marketing Program provides municipalities, regional districts, First Nations and non-profit groups such as industry associations with a grant up to a $20,000 for: a feasibility study that will demonstrate a strong business case for an infrastructure project that is aligned with Northern Development’s Economic Diversification Infrastructure funding program that will diversify and provide direct measurable economic benefits to the local or regional economy, or; development and implementation of a marketing program that will increase revenues within the region.
http://northerndevelopment.bc.ca/community-funding...

Northern Development Initiative Trust - Grant Writing Support Program
Ensures that communities and First Nations within the Northern Development region will be able to hire a grant writer to access program and dollars from any funding course to provide needed investments in community infrastructure and services.
www.northerndevelopment.bc.ca/community-funding/grant-writing-support/

Northern Development Initiative Trust - Industry Attraction Rebate Program
The Northern Development Initiative Trust's Industry Attraction Rebate Program provides up to $20,000 in matched funding from the Cross Regional Account directly to communities in central and northern British Columbia to hire appropriate resources to create jobs through industry attraction. As an output from this work, communities will: understand the needs of the target industry; how they can meet those needs; and implement focused marketing and discussions with senior executives at target companies.
http://northerndevelopment.bc.ca/community-funding/industry-attraction

Real Estate Foundation of British Columbia Funding Program
The Real Estate Foundation funding Program provides both project funding and endowment grants to non-profit organizations. Endowment grants are available only to organizations with charitable status (includes municipalities as donees). Project funding is granted to help an organization attain particular goals in a specified time period.
http://www.realestatefoundation.com/

Safe Street and Safe Schools Program
The Safe Streets and Safe Schools Grant Program provides support to schools and communities for strategies that enhance public safety and local crime prevention efforts. The program encourages the development of best practices and innovative strategies that expand or increase problem solving approaches to crime and build capacity for community safety at the local level.
http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/community_programs/crime/safe.htm

School Community Connections
The School Community Connections program provides grants of up to $8000.00 to assist in transforming school facilities into vital, lively hubs for community activities and services.
http://www.schoolconnections.ca/

Smart Development Partnership Program
The Smart Development Partnership Program (SDP) is a Ministry of Community and Rural Development initiative aimed at improving the land use planning and development system in British Columbia. Each project developed under the program represents a new and innovative approach to specific issues or opportunities related to land use planning. The goal is to make improvements in the overall system by targeting opportunities that have significant potential for innovation and partnerships.
http://www.cd.gov.bc.ca/lgd/intergov_relations/smart_development...

Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust
A $50-million Southern Interior Development Initiative will give communities the funding and ability to create new opportunities for sustainable economic growth and more jobs. The mission of the Southern Interior Development Initiative Trust is to support regionally strategic investments in economic development projects that will have long-lasting and measurable regional benefits for the Southern Interior.
http://www.sidit-bc.ca/

Trees for Tomorrow
Is a Province of British Columbia initiative designed to support urban and rural communities in the planting of millions of trees in schoolyards, hospital grounds, civic parks, campuses, parking lots and other public spaces throughout British Columbia over the next five years.
http://www.treesfortomorrow.gov.bc.ca

Urban Development Agreements
An Urban Development Agreement is a partnership between federal, provincial and municipal governments to collaborate when addressing broad urban development issues for specific cities. Whether it is inner city revitalization, strengthened innovation, or sustainable economic development, each urban development agreement is tailored to address the needs of the city it involves.
http://www.wd.gc.ca/eng/298.asp

Welcoming and Inclusive Communities and Workplaces Program
Supports WelcomeBC by fostering inclusive, welcoming and vibrant communities in British Columbia where immigrants can realize their full potential, racism is eliminated, and cultural diversity is valued and celebrated.
http://www.welcomebc.ca/en/service_providers/wicwp.html