Capital project: Water conservation, community project
Reduce potable water use in a neighbourhood, facility, or group of facilities with a retrofit. Finance a water conservation project with capital funding.
WATER
Funding Snapshot
High-ranking project loans and grants: These qualify for a low-interest loan of up to $10 million and a grant worth up to 15% of the loan; cover up to 80% of your eligible costs.
Initial Review Form: Complete and submit year-round.
Potential applicants may submit initial review forms at any time. Application forms will be provided to eligible recipients.
We fund capital projects of retrofit initiatives that reduce potable water use by at least 20% in a neighbourhood, facility or group of facilities. This funding helps Canadian cities and communities of all sizes promote water conservation.
This funding is for retrofit initiatives only. Your capital project must reduce potable water use by at least 20% in a neighbourhood, facility or group of facilities. We do not fund the purchase, installation, replacement or repair of water mains as a stand-alone initiative. We will fund those activities if they are part of a broader, more innovative initiative.
Examples of what you might implement:
- Grey water systems
- Rainwater collection and reuse
Target
Reduce residential potable water use by at least 20%. The baseline for neighbourhoods is the average consumption over the previous three years (m3) on a per capita basis. For a facility or group of facilities, the baseline is the average overall consumption in the past three years.
What we’re looking to fund
FCM funds capital projects that demonstrate most of the following characteristics:
- Transformative potential: The project incorporates solutions (e.g., knowledge, practices, technologies) that are well beyond business-as-usual. The project:
- is likely to result in significant performance improvements (e.g., improved levels of service, cost savings, energy efficiency, increased resiliency, environmental protection, improved human health)
- is audacious in that it requires a municipality to take on uncertainty over known best practices to achieve greater environmental benefits
- is designed to build the capacity of key stakeholders (e.g., municipal staff, elected officials, local trades)
- has the potential to generate new knowledge for the sector
- has a high likelihood of being replicated if successful
- Significant impacts: The project has the potential to generate significant measurable environmental results as well as economic and social benefits.
- Strong implementation framework: The project plan is robust and includes appropriate stakeholder engagement, planning, risk management, resourcing and monitoring.
How to apply
- Download and review the application guide.
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Review the prerequisites and required supporting documents.
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Review eligible and ineligible costs.
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Ensure you have a detailed project budget in place.
- Confirm that you’re securing other funding sources for your project:
- Sample Letter Confirming Consultation with Provincial/Territorial Government (a prerequisite for all applicants, except municipal governments in Quebec)
- Sample Letter from Confirmed Funding Sources (required for each contributing organization, including the lead municipality)
- Visit the FCM funding portal to create your profile and request a PIN to access the system. Already have an FCM funding portal profile? Skip to Step 7.
- Complete the pre-application form available on the platform.
Quebec municipalities
FCM has an agreement with Quebec's ministère des Affaires municipales et de l'Habitation (MAMH) that allows the ministry to review applications to GMF before they are submitted to FCM. Quebec municipalities applying for funding from GMF must follow the process below to submit their application to MAMH.
Once you have completed all the steps in the ‘How to apply’ section, submit your application by following the steps below. Note that the content of the links is available in French only.
- Save your application form using the appropriate file name.
- Save the application form to your local device with the following filename: FMV_ "your municipality's name"_ "date" (YYMMDD). For example: FMV_TownofABC_180228.pdf
- Log in to the Portail gouvernemental des affaires municipales et régionales using your username and password.
- To submit your form click on “File Transfer”.
- In the “Recipient” drop-down list, select the applicable program.
- Upload your files and press “Transfer” once your request is complete.
- Receive confirmation from MAMH.
- MAMH assesses the applications to ensure that the projects submitted do not conflict with Quebec's government policies and directives. Once the assessment has been completed, MAMH informs the applicant of their decision and sends compliant applications to GMF for review.
- MAMH requires up to 15 working days to review the application and forward it to GMF.
- Receive approval from GMF.
- GMF will inform the applicant once they receive the application from MAMH and review the submission. If the application is approved for funding, an agreement between FCM and the applicant is prepared.
Sign up for alerts whenever a new funding opportunity is added.
Get alerted anytime a new funding opportunity is added to see if you could be eligible for more funding on your projects.
Need help to see if this is the right funding for you?
Contact our Outreach team who can answer any questions you have relating to this funding opportunity.
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