The REFBC Board of Governors approved 18 grants at the Foundation’s spring grants meeting, totaling $1,105,166.

General Grants

Twelve grants were approved under the Foundation’s General Grant intake, which is open to any non-profit organization in BC doing projects related to land use. These grants are listed in alphabetical order below.

Canada Green Building Council to develop a national framework for municipalities and provinces on energy benchmarking, reporting and disclosure. $25,000

Capital Regional District: for a region-wide project to stimulate long-term changes in urban and rural environments and support increased use of active transportation, including walking, cycling, using a wheelchair, in-line skating or skateboarding. $50,000

Community Futures of Central Kootenay to create a rurally based and focused Regional Food Policy Council operating within the Regional District of Central Kootenay to develop and implement a coordinated regional food systems strategy. $40,000

Cowichan Social Planning Society: for community asset mapping, using a climate change adaptation lens, to engage citizens in identifying existing community assets, skills and knowledge, and explore issues and challenges around climate change adaptation. $20,000

District of Fort St. James to develop and implement a ‘housing action plan’ guided by sustainable land use principles and environmental, social and cultural needs in the communities of Fort St. James and the Nak’azdli First Nation. $20,000

Georgia Strait Alliance: to produce and disseminate a State of the Waterfront Report. $30,000

Ministry of Community, Sport and Cultural Development (MCSCD) to support outreach and training for local governments across BC on an innovative new Community Infrastructure Decision Support Tool, which integrates financial, engineering, planning, and environmental perspectives to compare the long term infrastructure costs of different land use scenarios. $17,350

Sustainable Prosperity: for a programme including pilot examples, a business case, incentives and tools for municipalities to conserve and enhance the natural capital that supports civic services (e.g. storm water management, water purification, disaster risk reduction). $150,000

Thompson Rivers University Foundation for a Research Chair in Ecosystem Reclamation (CER) to lead applied reclamation research that will work with mining industry associations, regulators, First Nations (FN) and other levels of government. $150,000

University of Northern British Columbia: to develop a new monitoring and assessment tool for measuring the cumulative environmental, socio-economic, and health impacts of resource development in northern BC’s rural and remote communities. $149,532

University of Victoria for work with three Indigenous communities to map (research, articulate, document) their water laws and draw parallels between Indigenous water stewardship practices and licensed water use and behaviour in the context of specific watersheds. $168,734

West Coast Environmental Law Association to support the development of coastal green infrastructure approaches at the neighbourhood scale for two Metro Vancouver communities, Jericho Beach and Boundary Bay that are highly vulnerable to sea level rise. $60,000

Real Estate Industry Grants

Six grants were funded through our Real Estate Industry Grants intake, which is open to organizations that are connected to BC’s real estate industry. These grants are listed in alphabetical order below.

Affordable Housing Education Awareness and Development (AHEAD) to undertake an in-depth study to examine various municipal, regional, provincial, and federal policy mechanisms that can be used to preserve and expand affordable housing along transit oriented development areas. $15,000

BC Northern Real Estate Board to cover costs for instructors to facilitate Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses in remote locations. $6,050

British Columbia Real Estate Association to support member communications about the possibility and value of a new structure for organized real estate (ORE) in BC. $150,000

British Columbia Association of the Appraisal Institute of Canada to host a one-day workshop to bring together AIC professionals with BC First Nations operating under the First Nations Land Management Act to assist First Nations transitioning to self-government of their lands. $12,500

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver to develop 7 new courses to provide professional education opportunities for REALTORS®. $21,000

Vancouver Island Real Estate Board to teach and train REALTORS® about residential energy efficiency and home energy labelling, and their practical applications in helping consumers buy and sell homes. $20,000

The deadline for our next intake of General Grant applications is Sept. 8, 2016. For details, visit our grants page or contact Nick Davies, Grants Coordinator, at nick@refbc.com.