Pilot project: Brownfield site redevelopment
Evaluate solutions to transform a remediated brownfield site back into economic use. Develop a smaller-scale version of your project in real-life conditions with a pilot project grant.
LAND USE
Funding Snapshot
Grant: Up to $500,000 to cover up to 50% of eligible costs
Municipalities and municipal partners with a population of 20,000 or under may qualify for a grant of up to 80 per cent of eligible project costs under certain conditions. Contact us to find out if your municipality is eligible.
We fund pilot projects for initiatives that have potential to bring a brownfield site back into economically productive use. You can access brownfield-specific funding if your initiative will be constructed on a remediated brownfield site and it meets the requirements of a pilot project listed in our funding library under energy, transportation, waste or water. This funding helps Canadian cities and communities of all sizes revitalize their brownfield sites.
Pilot projects assess solutions in real-life conditions. They evaluate either a small-scale version of a project or a full-scale, replicable version.
What is a brownfield?
A brownfield is an abandoned, vacant, derelict or underutilized commercial, institutional or industrial property where past actions have resulted in actual or perceived contamination or a threat to public health and safety, and where there is an active potential for redevelopment.
If your initiative is built on a remediated brownfield, it must have the potential to reduce design energy consumption by at least 45% compared to the National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) 2011. It must also conform with provincial soil quality standards.
Your pilot should assess whether the project meets the necessary requirements (e.g., financial, technical), has a solid business case and the ability to deliver strong environmental, financial and social benefits directly to your community or through replication in other municipalities. Your project’s outcomes should help you decide whether to scale up the use of the solution you are piloting.
Examples of what you might pilot:
- A new, energy-efficient recreational centre built on a remediated brownfield
- A waste diversion facility constructed on a remediated brownfield
- A district energy system constructed on a brownfield
Target
The targets in our water, waste and energy sector funding products apply to projects built on brownfields, with one exception: new buildings. A new building must reduce design energy consumption by at least 45% compared to the National Energy Code for Buildings (NECB) 2011. This is different from the net zero target listed in our regular energy sector funding products.
What we’re looking to fund
FCM funds pilot projects that demonstrate most of the following characteristics:
- Transformative potential: The pilot project test solutions (e.g., knowledge, practices, technologies) that are beyond business-as-usual. The pilot project:
- Is likely to result in a project that demonstrates 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, at full scale, 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 and resourcing.
How to apply
- Download and review the application guide.
- Review the list of prerequisites and required supporting documents.
- Review eligible and ineligible costs.
- 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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