Capacity development partner grants

What we fund

GMF’s Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation initiative funds partners to design and deliver training that will help local governments advance their climate adaptation knowledge and skills.

Funded training is for two key areas: 

• Climate-Ready Plans and Processes: Increasing local governments’ technical skills to improve readiness for climate change impacts and equitably address them
• Adaptation in Action: Enhancing local governments’ ability to design, implement and assess projects that equitably reduce climate risks while supporting nature-positive solutions 

Benefits 

GMF partners will help local governments to:  

• Accelerate their resilience to climate change impacts 
• Support their understanding and adoption of best practices 
• Develop and implement projects funded through GMF 
• Improve the quality of the projects they undertake, realizing greater social, economic and environmental benefits for communities 

Who is this training for? 

This training is for individuals who work for local governments and organizations that support those communities, including: 

• Local governments  
  • Municipal staff 
  • Elected officials 
• Indigenous communities 
  • Staff and band members 
  • Elected and hereditary Chiefs and councillors  
• Not-for-profit organizations that support and deliver services to communities (e.g., utilities; health, conservation or transit authorities; GMF partners) 

What your project needs to achieve 

We aim to fund deliverables that support municipal sector transformation and address the following:  

• Climate risk integration into municipal plans, processes, systems and projects 
• Equity considerations in climate adaptation 
• Reconciliation and climate adaptation: Indigenous knowledge and collaboration 
• Nature-based solutions, including natural assets and biodiversity 
• Low-carbon resilience 
• Project engagement and collaboration 

Funded activities 

We fund three types of capacity development training activities:  

1. Basic technical assistance training 
2. In-depth technical assistance training 
3. Collaborative training  

Eligible activities

Activity	Overarching learning outcome
Basic technical assistance (plans, processes and systems)	Identify and prioritize   Goal: Increase participant understanding of equity-informed climate considerations and their integration into plans, processes and systems.
In-depth technical assistance (plans, processes and systems)	Integrate equity-informed climate considerations into plans and processes  Goal: Increase participant skills and deep understanding of integrating equity-informed climate considerations into plans, processes and systems.
Collaborative training (plans, processes and systems)	Scale, convene and connect   Goals: Strengthen the sector through collaboration and peer learning. Accelerate equity-informed climate adaptation practices by convening groups of local government staff.
In-depth technical assistance (projects)	a) Adaptation project identification and development   Goal: Turn plans into action. Capacity development is intended to support communities to identify climate adaptation priorities from their risk assessments and adaptation plans, then to design high-impact and equity-informed risk-reduction projects and to develop implementation plans.     b) Adaptation project implementation support   Goal: Support communities in the implementation of climate adaptation initiatives.   c) Adaptation project impact and analysis   Goal: Support communities in evaluation, monitoring, maintenance and reporting of climate adaptation projects.
Collaborative training (projects)	Connect, convene and deploy  Goals: Strengthen the sector by supporting collaboration among local governments and guiding them through the design, delivery, coordination and assessment of climate adaptation initiatives.   Strengthen the sector through collaboration and peer learning. Accelerate equity-informed climate adaptation projects by convening groups of local government staff.

Eligibility requirements 

Eligibility requirements 

Eligible lead applicants for partner grants are defined as registered and incorporated Canadian not-for-profit organizations with a mandate or proven experience with supporting Canadian local governments. Qualified local governments can also be eligible recipients of partner grants. 

Eligible lead applicants must have experience delivering capacity building activities. Preference will be given to those with experience delivering activities relevant to the objectives of this initiative. Examples of eligible lead partner organizations include:  

• Provincial and territorial municipal associations 
• Not-for-profit organizations operating in the municipal sector 
• Professional and industry associations 
• Educational institutions 
• Qualified local governments (i.e., municipal governments that have demonstrated a high level of proficiency and effectiveness in delivering capacity development) 
• Indigenous organizations

The following organizations are not eligible to become a recipient of partner grants: 

• Federal or provincial/territorial governments 
• Private-sector, for-profit organizations (firms or consultants)*  

*Private sector firms or consultants can be subcontracted to provide technical expertise, project delivery and support.

Application process  

To apply for this grant, please complete the Call for Application Request Form. You will receive the Call for Application package with instructions and timelines via email. The Call for Application will not be posted online.  

Once you request the Call for Applications you will be invited to a live information session on June 18, 2024 where GMF will answer questions you may have about the process, eligible projects.  

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