Testing solutions, scaling-up proven technologies and raising the bar on innovation
Since GMF’s inception, our core funding offer has been foundational to everything we do: delivering financial support, creating tailored products and providing skills development to help municipalities design, launch and follow through on a broad range of sustainability projects. Last year, we supported 52 projects, approving more than $71 million for projects in our five key sectors: energy, transportation, waste, water, and land use.
Over the past three years, we completed the development of individual sub-sector strategies for energy, waste, transportation, and land use. Work continued last year on a strategy for the water sub-sector, which is expected to be completed in 2023–24. These targeted strategies help identify the key challenges and barriers in sustainability and climate action municipalities face related to these sub-sectors, along with the solutions they will need to deploy to address those challenges.
KEY RESULTS:
Core funding 2022–23
- 9,685 tonnes CO2e/year in GHG emissions avoided
- 24,400 tonnes/year of waste diverted
- 469,300 m3/year reduction in water use
Renewing our core offer, doubling down on net-zero targets
Last year, we began the process of renewing and redesigning our core funding offer to further improve the way we help communities achieve their climate objectives and support a net-zero Canada by 2050. By applying the lessons learned from our other programs and collaborations, we’re developing an even more impactful funding offer that can amplify project outcomes, advance proven solutions and support sector transformation.
2022–23 was largely a research year for the renewed design. As a starting point, we reviewed the replication potential of GMF-supported projects, as well as strategies used by other climate funds. Our findings clearly underscored the importance of capacity development and knowledge sharing, as well as better integrating municipalities’ financing decision-making options and limitations into our own processes. We also engaged several municipal partners to better understand how we can help them unlock the business case for sustainability and prioritize sustainability initiatives in their communities.
Additionally, in alignment with the commitments made in our 2023–26 Three-year Plan to embed multi-solving benefits throughout our work, we drafted a set of community benefits indicators to improve the way the economic and social impacts of GMF-supported projects are measured, including indicators of anti-racism, equity, and inclusion. These indicators will be formalized and embedded into all current and future funding offers, beginning in the 2023–24 fiscal year.
This year we also launched a new online grants and loans management system, enabling municipalities to submit, monitor and revise their funding applications through a digital portal. The software also provides increased measurement and data-tracking opportunities and improves our investment forecasting and funding application pipeline overview.
HOW WE WORK TOGETHER:
Partners for Climate Protection (PCP)
For more than 25 years, the Partners for Climate Protection (PCP) program, a collaboration between ICLEI—Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI Canada) and FCM, has been committed to providing communities with the support they need to reduce local GHG emissions and take action on climate change.
A network of more than 510 Canadian municipalities across Canada, PCP provides one-on-one advice, peer learning activities, technical support tools, assistance in accessing funding opportunities, and workshops and training to help communities implement lasting and environmentally sustainable changes.
In 2022–2023, PCP hosted six virtual workshops, six drop-in calls and two webinars on topics such as climate targets and increasing ambition, financing a climate action plan, and community building retrofits. When surveyed, 94 percent of participants reported an increase in awareness of the need to reduce GHGs.
The program also released Integrating Equity, Diversity and Inclusion into Municipal Climate Action, a guide full of definitions, key concepts and case studies to help local governments better understand how to develop climate action plans that consider and represent the needs of all residents. Intended to inspire collaboration and learning, this resource can help municipalities take the first steps on their EDI journey.