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BC Water Funders Priorities & Programs

Click here to download a table of the BC Water Funders' priorities, grantee requirements, grant size and other information. 

The information below also provides a quick reference guide for each Collaborative members' funding programs. This list is not comprehensive and will be updated on a regular basis as funders provide and/or update their information (last updated: July 6, 2022). Click on the funders' logos to link to funder webpages.

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Aquahacking

  • Investing in innovative technological solutions for water challenges.

Funder Interests:

  • Leveraging the AquaHacking program in regions

Details:

  • Grantees must speak with Foundation staff before applying, apply by invitation only  

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $5 000 - $25 000

ECCC

Water Quality and Ecosystem Partnerships Program - Fraser River Basin

  • Supporting Indigenous and other collaborative watershed organizations to effectively engage in water governance. Support will target the development of policy, technical, and organizational tools and resources which could include

    • Efforts to identify water governance priorities, policies, plans, and actions with a basis in local and Indigenous knowledge and natural laws; 

    • Defining culturally and ecologically relevant water objectives and codifying these in terms that may be implemented through BC’s WSA or through other Indigenous-led approaches to water governance; and

    • Opportunities for Indigenous Peoples in the Fraser River Basin to engage in water governance discussions that enhance coordination and cooperation across Indigenous communities and other orders of government. 

  • Opportunities that also support other ECCC priorities for sharing water quality information and increased coordination with decision-making will be considered. 

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ECCC’s Funding Program webpage

Funder Interests:

  • Research

  • Public Policy

  • Capacity Building & Convening (in between “advocacy/organizing” and “capacity building")

  • Communications & Media

Details:

  • Grantees must be registered organizations or charities 

  • Water Quality and Ecosystem Partnerships Program - Fraser River Basin is invitation only

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $25 000- $100 000 (varies by fund type)

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Fisheries and Aquatic Habitat

  • Investing in projects that improve conditions for native freshwater fish in BC.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research

Details:

  • Open granting process, grantees can be individuals, groups, organizations or charities

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $25 000 - $50 000

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Water Life Fund

  • The Mustang Survival Waterlife Fund supports local and regional community water projects and initiatives in British Columbia. British Columbia has thousands of lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands and kilometres of ocean shoreline and tidal regions. Many of these bodies of water require our immediate assistance to become and remain healthy. The Mustang Survival Waterlife Fund is a grant initiative open to individuals, organizations and not-for-profits working on projects to address the major threats to the health of our waterways. Mustang Survival is proud to support individuals or groups from the active salt and freshwater communities in their efforts to restore and manage our waters. The Mustang Survival Waterlife Fund recognizes that, collectively, we can accomplish more by supporting each other, than we can alone. Our Waterlife Fund provides a grant for working on projects that aim to conserve, protect or restore salt and freshwater habitats and the species living within them. The Mustang Survival Waterlife Fund is a new initiative that will support action-oriented projects that take specific steps toward ecosystem restoration and/or the collection of data for long-term monitoring initiatives. The Mustang Survival Waterlife Fund grant is made possible through partial proceeds from the sale of Mustang Survival products.

Funder Interests:

  • Research

  • Direct Action

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Details:

  • Open granting process, open individuals and organization.

  • Multi-year is NOT funding available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $25,000

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Water Conservation and Quality Improvement Grants

  • Small grants to local governments and nonprofits for projects that conserve water or improve water quality, with a valley-wide focus.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research & Data Management

  • Direct Action

  • Communications & Media

Details:

  • Open granting process, grantees can be local governments, First Nations, irrigation districts, and non-profit organizations working within the Okanagan Basin.

  • Multi-year funding is not available

  • Funding range: $3000 - $30,000

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Community Salmon Program

  • Supports community and volunteer-driven projects that support salmon conservation.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research

  • Capacity Building

Details:

  • Open granting process 

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $500 - $25,000

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RBC Environmental Program

  • Investing in projects that address Sustainable Development Goals 6 & 13:

    • ensure availability and sustainable management of water; and

    • take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research & Data Management

  • Capacity Building

  • Communications & Media

Details:

  • Open granting process, grantees must be registered charities

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $50,000

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General Grants

  • Supporting work to:

    • Revitalize freshwater policies, implement policy and financial tools, and build community capacity for watershed management, planning, and governance. 

    • Pool and expand freshwater knowledge through coordinated, robust, and credible community-based monitoring and reporting;

    • Build the freshwater movement through education and public engagement; and

    • Support Indigenous communities’ capacity for freshwater management, planning, and governance.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research, Data Management & Public Policy

  • Direct Action & Capacity Building

  • Communications & Media

Details:

  • Open granting process, grantees must be registered non-profits or charities

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $250,000 +

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Protecting BC's Coastlines

  • Increased awareness, cleanliness and protection of rare coastal ecosystems (marine and freshwater) with five areas of focus:

  • People - focus on meaningful relationships fostered in Indigenous water-based communities, capacity building for community-based stewardship

  • Science - Robust science and meaningful measurement for assessing the health of BC's water sources and coastal ecosystems are supported with broad information sharing

  • Place - places of key ecological significance are conserved which include communities at risk and sites and species that inhabit them. 

  • Policy -  development and implementation (ie Fisheries Act, Species at Risk Act, Water Sustainability Act).

Changemakers - organizations in this space who are communicating water conservation and water health messages and engaging communities, businesses, government and other stakeholders. Collaboration between water groups.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Research, Data Management & Public Policy

  • Direct Action & Capacity Building

  • Advocacy 

Details:

  • Invitation only, grantees must be qualified donees 

  • Funding range: $1000- $1, 000, 000

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Pacific Salmon Watersheds Fund

  • Funding supports the protection and sustainable use of wild salmon ecosystem watersheds in British Columbia

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Full Circle Small Grants Fund

  • Supports conservation and stewardship activities in northwestern Canada.

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Indigenous Authority and Leadership Fund

  • Supports Indigenous authority and leadership activities in BC

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BC Freshwater Legacy Initiative

  • Supports innovative watershed governance and capacity building

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research & Public Policy

  • Capacity Building & Advocacy

  • Communications & Media

Details:

  • By invitation, grantees must be registered charities or qualified donees 

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $50,000

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Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research, Data Management & Public Policy

  • Direct Action, Capacity Building & Advocacy

  • Communications & Media

  • Market Transformation and Litigation

Systems Change

  • Supporting projects that focus on social innovation.

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Participatory Action Research

Donor-Advised Funds

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Previously funded projects include: Water for Fish: Supporting BC First Nations Engagement in Fresh Water Governance and Stewardship, B.C. Water Leaders: consolidating a strategic core and expanding the network to advance freshwater sustainability, ReFRESH Water Lab - Exploring the Future of the Columbia River Treaty, Our Water BC, Connected Waters: Reconnecting lower Fraser Valley waterways for healthy salmon and communities, Wildsight Citizen Science Series.

Details:

  • Open, grantees must be registered charities or qualified donees 

  • Multi-year funding available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $250,000+

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Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research, Data Management & Public Policy

  • Direct Action, Capacity Building & Advocacy

  • Communications & Media

  • Market Transformation and Litigation

Community Grants

  • Supporting projects that address one or more Vital Signs, and contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals within the Capital Regional District.

Details:

  • Open, grantees must be registered charities or qualified donees 

  • Multi-year funding is not available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $50,000

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Community Grants

  • Support a wide range of community programs and projects that create connection and belonging for the community of West Vancouver.

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Major Grants

  • Support community initiatives that focus on systems-level change and transformation for current and emerging issues for the benefit of the community of West Vancouver.

Funder Interests:

  • Stewardship Acquisition Preservation

  • Public Education & Awareness

  • Research, Data Management & Public Policy

  • Direct Action, Capacity Building & Advocacy

  • Communications & Media

  • Market Transformation and Litigation

Details:

  • Open, grantees must be registered charities or qualified donees 

  • Multi-year funding is not available

  • Funding range: $5000 - $25,000

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