Community Grants

Community organizations and not-for-profit events and societies that promote a circular economy, a sense of belonging, community affordability, and equity, inclusion, and diversity are eligible for funding.

Applications will be considered eligible if: 

• The application adheres to the Town of Canmore Community Grants Policy
• Application documentation is submitted before the posted deadline
• The applicant is a community organization or not-for-profit event/society that promotes a circular economy, a sense of belonging, community affordability, and equity, inclusion, and diversity
• The community organization includes four or more committee members (or project volunteers)
• The event is not considered a major event
• The organization has met the responsibilities of a previously provided grant
• Organizations must demonstrate good financial standing

Local and Regional events are eligible for funding.

Regional Events are defined as events that draw provincial and/or national participants and audiences. These events typically increase economic activity and community vibrancy during the event. Regional events have limited international participation and limited international and national media coverage.

Local Events are defined as events that are organized by local community members, for local community members. Local events increase community vibrancy and create a sense of belonging.

To be eligible for funding organizations must demonstrate that the initiative or event promotes circular economy principles by incorporating waste-limiting activities. Examples of circular economy activities include:

Product Life Extension – extending the life of products through repair, upcycling, re-selling, redistributing, or repurposing. Examples may include product repair workshops and services, thrift or consignment stores, clothing swaps, construction and demolition re-use centres, food rescue or recovery programs. 

Sharing Platforms – sharing of goods and spaces rather than individuals owning their own items. Examples may include libraries, car sharing, bike sharing, tool or household item lending libraries, ​game and toy lending libraries, re-usable coffee cup or take-out container share programs, shared work or studio spaces.

Product as a Service – offering a service rather than ownership of a material or item. Examples may include laundromats, high-end clothing rental, outdoor gear rental​, bear spray rental, reusable dish rentals.

Resource Recovery - obtaining additional uses and value from resources. Examples may include diverting food waste to produce compost, spent grain from breweries used for animal feed, ​reusing recovered building supplies, or upcycled clothing.

Yes. A group of individuals with a shared interest who come together to further a mission are eligible to apply for funding. Community organizations are not societies, non-profit or for-profit organizations. To be considered a community organization, the group must contain at least four community members and/or project volunteers.

Applications will be reviewed and ranked by the Community Grant Selection Committee. 

Successful projects or initiatives are eligible for up to $5,000 in funding. 

Applications that incorporate circular economy activities, that create a sense of belonging, that increase community affordability, and that promote equity, diversity, and inclusion will be ranked higher.

Successful applications

• Illustrate how the proposed project/initiative will impact community. Connecting the project/initiative with Council's strategic goals of livability, environment, and relationships is an asset;
• Demonstrate how the project will promote equity, diversity, and inclusion; sense of belonging; community affordability; and components of a circular economy.

Note: In kind contributions can include volunteer hours reimbursed at $32.75/hour.

To understand how your application will be evaluated, we recommend that you review the eligibility criteria below. Scoring for each criteria will be evaluated upon the following:

• 0 Points Disagree: Applicant has provided no evidence of activities that will meet the eligibility criteria
• 1 Point Neutral: Applicant's current activities align with eligibility criteria but provide no additional actions to further promote the eligibility criteria
• 2 Points Agree: Applicant has incorporated activities that will promote eligibility criteria, and they have planted the seed for additional work in this specific criteria area

• Description of grant allocation
• Statement of impact: a brief synopsis of how the organization served community (500 words or less)
• Picture describing initiative/event that can be publicly shared
• Approximate number of community members who participated in, or benefitted from, the event/initiative 

If you require more information on the community grant program, please email: fcssadmin@canmore.ca and include Community Grant in the subject header. Please allow two business days for a response.