Edmonton Immigrant and Refugee Communities Grant Program

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Application Intake Closed

Applications are now closed for the Edmonton Immigrant and Refugee Communities Grant program.

Program Overview

The EIRC Grant Program contributes to the City of Edmonton’s value “I want to BELONG and contribute”. It supports grassroots immigrant and refugee communities who are in the process of settling and integrating. For newcomers, immigrants and refugees, the barriers to full inclusion in the community are often significant and tend to be complex, intersectional, and almost always systemic. The total EIRC budget is $426,250. For 2024, $75,000 will continue to fund Out of School (OST) programming through the REACH Edmonton OST Collaborative. The remaining $351,250 will be allocated through the four funding streams below.

If you have any questions or need help please contact grants@edmonton.ca.

View Grant Guide

Grant Priorities

Support immigrant and refugee community groups and organizations in creating and delivering projects that address the needs and opportunities identified within their communities
Strengthen the feeling of belonging, foster connections and support communities
Increase ethnocultural communities participation in political, social, economic and cultural life in Edmonton
Support the growth and development of community groups to best serve their communities

Grant Principles

Interculturalism
An exchange of knowledge and mutual learning for transformation
Empowerment
Focus on developing growth and confidence
Community Input
Inviting community members to be a part of the conversation
Relationship-Building
Building trust amongst ethnocultural organizations and between these organizations and COE, authentically engaging to build trust

Grant Funding Streams

In order to ensure that as many eligible organizations and projects receive funding through EIRC, an organization that applies to more than one of the Grant Streams and meets the eligibility criteria may receive funding for the Space Subsidy and one other grant stream. If funds are available after August 1 of each year, then an organization may receive funding for additional projects. This means that an organization should consider which project is most aligned to the grant priorities and principles.

Space Subsidy

Grant Amount
If renting a not-for-profit or public facility (such as a community league, school or cultural hall), groups are eligible for an 80% subsidy up to a maximum of $6,000. When renting commercial space, groups are eligible for a 60% subsidy up to a maximum of $5,000 / year. The space subsidy is open throughout the calendar year until the funding runs out.

Intended Use
The EIRC Space Subsidy Grant assists immigrant and refugee communities with the cost of renting space for their programs and/or organization based on a calendar year of January to December.

Final Reporting
A final report must be submitted no later than February 1, of the year following funding.

Seed

Grant Amount
Up to $4,000

Intended Use
Support community groups or organizations to identify community needs and test innovative and/or experimental approaches to address these need(s). The funds will support projects/programs that are short-term/one-off and focused on activating a community for a positive impact.

Community Impact

Grant Amount
Between $4,001 - $7,000

Intended Use
To scale up successful projects/programs that address a broader community need.

Community Special Projects

Grant Amount
Between $7,001 - $20,000

There are 2 intake periods for this grant:

First intake deadline is the third Thursday of March
If there are remaining funds the second intake will be the third Thursday of September

Intended Use
To support projects/programs that attempt to address/respond to or challenge systemic level barriers to inclusion. These projects/programs are larger in scale and scope and aim to address more complex settlement and integration challenges.

Grant Eligibility

To be eligible for the EIRC Grant, the applicant is 1 of the following:

Not-for-profit organization registered for at least 1 year and in good standing with the incorporating body: Alberta Society, Non-profit Private Company, Non-Profit Public Company, Extra-Provincial Non-profit Company.
Local grassroots group or interested individual that has a fiscal agent that meets 1 of the above eligible categories. (If the applicant is awarded funding through this grant program, the fiscal agent must agree to act on the applicant’s behalf to sign a funding agreement with the City and to receive, administer and report on the grant).

Organizations must have a Total Operating Budget that is $200,000 or less.

Organizations/fiscal agents must be based in Edmonton and serve Edmontonians.

Applicants currently receiving other City grants or funding must be in good standing with the City in terms of reporting requirements.

A project/program already receiving City funding is not eligible for this grant.

Please note that events are no longer eligible for application. All event applications should apply under the Festival and Event Micro Grants Program.

Eligible/Ineligible Expenses

Eligible Expenses

Examples of eligible expenses may include, but are not limited to:

Salaries for staff
Honorariums for programs and projects
Program/project material and supplies
Food expenses, maximum of 25% of budget
Printing and communications
Training expenses
Travel expenses, within Edmonton
Evaluation expenses
Insurance
Other administrative costs associated with the project/program, maximum 15% of budget
Short-term rental of space for projects/programs: if space rental needs are ongoing, please apply to the Space Subsidy Grant

Ineligible Expenses

Program funding cannot be used for expenses related to:

Time and labour provided towards preparation of funding applications, fundraising including costs for fundraising campaigns and websites for fundraising purposes
Endowments, charitable donations, bursaries, developing business cases or proposals for funding, donor recognition, gifts, with the exception of gifts for Indigenous protocols
Project expenses that are incurred before the application has been received
Capital and facility upgrades, renovations and construction
Debt reduction, financing charges and/or interest payments on loans
Direct government lobbying or partisan political activities, such as activities related to advocacy must demonstrate non-partisan approaches

Application Process

Required Documents

Completed Program Budget Form
Most recent audited year-end financial statements, signed by 2 Board members, or
Most recent internally generated financial statements (those that are not presented either as a notice to reader, a review or an audit) signed by 2 Board members and must include a bank reconciliation and bank statement as at the fiscal year-end
Organizational operational budget for your last completed fiscal year
Copy of meeting minutes where the financial statements were approved or annual general meeting minutes

Grant Application Assessment

All applications are assessed based on the following:

Project Description
Does the project description describe the project, align with priorities and principles and impact the targeted community?
Demonstrate Community Need
Does the group describe the community need, tell us why it is important and how they determined the need?
Project Timeline
Are there clear timeframes for the project?
Budget
Is the budget detailed, clear and realistic?

An application will take approximately 6-8 weeks for review and processing. Please ensure that you consider this in your project plans. If you have not heard from the Grants Office in 8 weeks, please contact them at grants@edmonton.ca.

Final Reporting

A final project/program report is required approximately 3 months after the project is complete and can be provided in any number of formats including:

A written submission using the EIRC Final Project Report form
A video submission using the following EIRC Video submission form
A conversation with a City of Edmonton team member
Before you submit the form, please carefully review the Final Report Practice Form

The final report must include:

Description of the project/program
Number of program participants
Number of partners, if applicable
Number of volunteers, if applicable
Description of who participated, this could include age, gender, socioeconomic status, cultural heritage and the like
Outcome reporting; outcomes measured, how, and responses
Project/program lessons learned
Final financial reporting, with receipts

Contact Us

Title	Community Grants Office
Email	grants@edmonton.ca
Phone	780-496-4933

Edmonton Immigrant and Refugee Communities Grant Program

Application Intake Closed

Program Overview

Grant Priorities

Grant Principles

Space Subsidy

Seed

Community Impact

Community Special Projects

Eligible/Ineligible Expenses

Required Documents

Grant Application Assessment

Final Reporting

Related Links

Shared Space - Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (ECVO)

Related Documents

Emerging Immigrant and Refugee Community (EIRC) Grant 2023 Update Report and Summary

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