The Real Estate Foundation's Board of Governors approved 58 grants during 2009, totalling $1,487,450. Grants were approved according to the Foundation's legislated purposes of research, public and professional education, law reform, and other activities intended for the public or professional good in relation to real estate activities.

 

$2,000 - BC & Yukon Chapter of the Air & Waste Management Association to assist with speaker costs of the workshop, Land Use, Transportation and Air Quality: Making Healthy Decisions, held in Burnaby.

 

$2,000 - Mayne Island Conservancy Society for inventory and mapping of near-shore marine habitats, activities intended to support conservation and land use planning on the island.

 

$4,300 - West Bench Irrigation District to support a workshop on developing large lot xeriscape design concepts and awareness in the West Bench area near Penticton.

 

$4,650 - Simon Fraser University Seniors Program for production of an interactive roundtable discussion DVD on “learning what seniors want in the age-friendly communities of the future”.

 

$4,820 - South Okanagan Real Estate Board for speaker costs associated with delivering continuing professional education (CPE) seminars to Board members in 2009.

 

$5,000 - Northern Rockies Seniors Society for property inventory and analysis in preparation for development of seniors’ housing in Fort Nelson.

 

$5,000 - Thrupp Manor Association to assist with a seniors’ housing need and demand study in Kamloops.

 

$5,600 - Vancouver Island Real Estate Board for statistical analysis of buyer profile research data.

 

$5,735 - Kamloops & District Real Estate Association for speaker costs associated with delivering continuing professional education (CPE) seminars to Association members in 2009.

 

$6,000 - Village of Pemberton to support a community visioning and design process for Pemberton’s downtown.

 

$7,000 - City of Quesnel to conduct an affordable housing needs assessment.

 

$7,500 - Galiano Conservancy Association to assist with the creation of a restoration plan for the Heritage Forest (a special land use designation on Galiano Island).

 

$8,000 - North Central Municipal Association to assist with the Creating Universally Designed Healthy Sustainable Communities conference, held in Prince George.

 

$8,310 - International Centre for Sustainable Cities to assist with the Sea to Sky Community Mapping Project, which will include the visions of local youth in regional planning processes.

 

$9,300 - Kootenay Real Estate Board for speaker costs associated with delivering continuing professional education (CPE) seminars to Board members in 2009.

 

$10,000 - Planned Lifetime Advocacy Network to create an online homeownership course for individuals with disabilities and family members across BC.

 

$10,000 - Royal Canadian Legion, Branch 227 for a seniors’ housing needs assessment in Okanagan Falls.

 

$10,000 - Sea Change Marine Conservation Society for public and professional education on the impacts of land use practices on marine ecological health in the Saanich Inlet.

 

$11,175 - BC Northern Real Estate Board for speaker costs associated with delivering continuing professional education (CPE) seminars to Board members in 2009.

 

$12,000 - Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC Farm to conduct land use planning and education activities associated with the integration of the farm with the surrounding Vancouver community.

 

$15,000 - Community Resource Centre for the North Thompson to assist with development of the North Thompson sustainable watershed atlas.

 

$15,000 - Mid-Vancouver Island Habitat Enhancement Society for groundwater mapping in the Englishman River watershed.

 

$15,000 - United We Can to support the purchase and installation of new sorting bins and equipment for the social enterprise in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

 

$16,000 - Wildsight to support the fourth year of water quality testing and analysis as part of the Healthy Water, Healthy Communities - Lake Windermere Project.

 

$17,450 - Fraser Valley Conservancy to support creation of the Fraser Valley Regional Biodiversity Strategy.

 

$20,000 - City of Campbell River to undertake collaborative land use planning with neighbouring First Nations.

 

$20,000 - Simon Fraser University Centre for Dialogue for two conferences on the topic, “planning cities as if food matters,” to be held in Vancouver in 2010.

 

$20,000 - Tides Canada Initiatives Society for the Give Green Canada project: education for BC environmental, stewardship and conservation organizations on how to become more financially secure through gift planning (2 grants).

 

$20,000 - Your Local Farmers Market Society for a community visioning session as part of a larger planning, policy, and design process to establish a food precinct/hub in Vancouver.

 

$25,000 - Arrow and Slocan Lakes Community Services Agency for construction costs associated with Monashee Apartments, ten units of affordable rental housing for vulnerable citizens in Nakusp. 

 

$25,000 - Arrowtarian Senior Citizens Society for construction costs associated with Phase IV of the Arrowtarian Rotary Villa, 14 units of affordable rental housing for seniors in Nakusp.

 

$25,000 - City of Abbotsford to assist with the Harmony Flex Housing Project.

 

$25,000 - Fernie Family Housing Society to assist with the purchase of six units in the Parastone affordable housing project.

 

$25,000 - Naramata Seniors Housing Society to assist with four units in the second phase of the Society’s seniors’ housing development.

 

$25,000 - Vancouver Resource Society to help offset an operating shortfall associated with a mortgage held by the Real Estate Foundation.

 

$25,000 - Simon Fraser University Adaptation to Climate Change Team for research, policy development, and conferences on water security issues in Canada.

 

$25,000 - Vernon and District Community Land Trust Society to assist with development of the Under One Roof six-plex.

 

$27,000 - Green Bricks Education Society to deliver green building education for BC students in grades 9-12.

 

$30,000 - The Pembina Institute for outreach and legal analysis as part of the Municipal Green Building Leadership project.

 

$33,000 - West Coast Environmental Law for law reform research in support of a proposal for a new “carbon forest” land designation to enable conservation of forest ecosystems in the face of climate change.

 

$35,000 - Regional District of Okanagan-Similkameen on behalf of the South Okanagan Similkameen Conservation Program to create tools, share resources, and provide environmental planning expertise to the municipalities of Penticton, Summerland, Oliver, Osoyoos, and Keremeos.

 

$40,000 - The City Program, Simon Fraser University to augment the existing endowment fund and support curriculum development for the Certificate in Sustainable Community Development.

 

$40,000 - Real Estate Foundation of BC to support programming activities of the 2010 Gaining Ground conference, held in Vancouver.

 

$50,000 - BC Water and Waste Association for the 2010 activities of Convening for Action on Vancouver Island (CAVI), an initiative focused on leadership in green infrastructure and water sustainability.

 

$50,000 - Pacific Parklands Foundation to conduct a natural capital review of the Lower Mainland, measuring and valuing the non-market ecosystem services of terrestrial and freshwater ecosystems in the region.

 

$50,000 - Salt Spring Island Land Bank Society to assist with house moving, site services, and renovations associated with the Brackett Spring Family Housing Project.

 

$50,000 - Simon Fraser University as a contribution to an endowment fund in memory of P. Dermot Murphy, former Real Estate Foundation Governor and long-time Executive Officer of the Real Estate Council of BC.

 

$58,610 - Real Estate Institute of BC in support of four research projects to be carried out in 2009/10.

 

$60,000 - Land Trust Alliance of BC to support public and professional education and research projects during the 2009/10 fiscal year (2 grants).

 

$75,000 - Kwantlen Polytechnic University as a contribution to the endowment fund for the BC Regional Innovation Chair in Sustainable Horticulture.

 

$75,000 - Victoria Real Estate Board to support the 2009 conference, Gaining Ground: Resilient Cities, held in Vancouver.

 

$100,000 - Real Estate Council of BC to produce and distribute the seventh edition of the Licensee Practice Manual.

 

$100,000 - Real Estate Foundation of BC for grants awarded to recipients of the 2009 Vancity/Real Estate Foundation Green Building Grant Program.

 

$117,000 - Real Estate Foundation of BC for the Communities in Transition program in 2009/10.

 

Four organizations received two grants each for the same initiative. The “top up” grants were awarded in December, after it became apparent that the Foundation would exceed projected income for 2009. In many cases, organizations received considerably less than requested, even when the Board of Governors supported their projects, because of the Foundation’s financial constraints. We were pleased to be able to offer additional assistance to a few organizations.