FCM's Green Municipal Fund offers grants to develop sustainable community plans. Plans must consider environmental, social and economic objectives and include specific targets for environmental performance.
Initiatives
Available
funding
Assessment
criteria
Timeline
Cross-sector plans,
including:
Sustainable community plans, such as Integrated Community Sustainability Plans (ICSPs)
Neighbourhood plans
Municipal greenhouse gas reduction plans, such as Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) local action plans
Brownfield action plans, such as Community Improvement Plans (CIPs)
Grants for up to 50% of costs to a maximum of $350,000
Municipal governments or corporations wholly owned by a municipal government applying in partnership with a municipality can submit an application for a grant to develop a plan.
Key prerequisites
Before they apply, municipal governments must pass a council resolution committing to establish a vision and targets in the plan
Application and approval process
Applicants can submit an Intent to Apply at any time of the year. Applicants from the Province of Quebec must submit their Intent to Apply to the Ministère des Affaires municipales, des Régions et de l'Occupation du territoire (MAMROT) rather than to GMF*. Once an Intent to Apply has been accepted, GMF invites eligible applicants to submit a Detailed Application.
Applications are rated by a Peer Review Committee, then reviewed by the GMF Council which makes a recommendation to the FCM National Board of Directors. It takes from six to nine months from the time an Intent to Apply is accepted to when the FCM board makes a final decision on the full Detailed Application.
*MAMROT analyzes applications and passes a recommendation on to GMF within 15 working days.
Reporting
FCM awards grants in part based on the potential for creating new knowledge and replicating leading approaches. All grant recipients are required to report on their plans and the lessons they learned through the initiative.
These reports are a cornerstone of GMF; they create opportunities for funding recipients to share their lessons and for all communities to learn from these leading examples and to start their own sustainable community plans one step ahead.