Funding for Great Lakes protection

The Great Lakes Protection Initiative is accepting project applications under the Areas of Concern funding priority. Funding under other priorities is currently fully subscribed. Application submissions are due by 11:59 p.m. (Eastern Time) on February 8, 2023.

Great Lakes Protection Initiative

Through the Great Lakes Protection Initiative, the Government of Canada takes action to address the most significant environmental challenges affecting Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health by delivering on Canada’s commitments under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. It focuses on 8 priority areas for action:

working with others to protect the Great Lakes
restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs)
preventing toxic and nuisance algae
assessing and enhancing the resilience of Great Lakes coastal wetlands
evaluating and identifying at risk nearshore waters
reducing releases of harmful chemicals
engaging Indigenous Peoples in addressing Great Lakes issues
increasing public engagement through citizen science

Funding

To assist in achieving this goal, we fund actions by others to:

restore AOCs by supporting action at the local level to restore water quality and aquatic ecosystem health through projects identified in AOC remedial action plans
prevent toxic and nuisance algae by increasing participation in the application of phosphorus load reduction measures and by demonstrating innovative approaches and best practices and promoting broad uptake and application
reduce releases of harmful chemicals by increasing participation in the application of beyond-compliance measures to reduce releases of chemicals of mutual concern by developing, implementing, assessing and promoting use of innovative approaches
engage Indigenous Peoples in addressing Great Lakes issues by enhancing Indigenous capacity to address Great Lakes issues through projects that engage Indigenous Peoples at the community level
increase public engagement through citizen science by enhancing Canadians’ knowledge of and engagement in addressing Great Lakes issues through participation in citizen science

Application guides for funding streams

Funding for restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Funding for preventing toxic and nuisance algae (closed for applications)
Funding for reducing releases of harmful chemicals (closed for applications)
Funding for engaging Indigenous Peoples in addressing Great Lakes issues (closed for applications)
Funding for increasing public engagement through citizen science (closed for applications)

Overview of funding streams

Preventing toxic and nuisance algae*	Reducing releases of harmful chemicals*	Engaging Indigenous Peoples in addressing Great Lakes issues*	Increasing public engagement through citizen science*	Restoring Areas of Concern
Program goal
To decrease loadings of phosphorus to Lake Erie from Canadian sources	To reduce releases of Chemicals of Mutual Concern (CMCs) to the Great Lakes from Canadian sources	To increase Indigenous participation in decision making processes and actions to restore and protect Great Lakes water quality	To increase Canadians’ knowledge of and engagement in addressing Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health issues	To restore water quality and ecosystem health in Canadian Great Lakes Areas of Concern (AOCs)
Strategic objective for application-based funding
Increase participation in the application of phosphorus load reduction measures by demonstrating innovative approaches and best management practices and promoting their broad uptake and application	Increase participation in the application of beyond-compliance measures to reduce releases of CMCs by developing, implementing, assessing and promoting use of innovative approaches	Enhance Indigenous capacity to address Great Lakes issues by implementing projects that engage Indigenous Peoples at the community level	Enhance Canadians’ knowledge of and engagement in addressing Great Lakes issues through participation in citizen science	Support action at the local level to restore water quality and aquatic ecosystem health by implementing projects identified in AOC Remedial Action Plans
Eligible recipients
Conservation Authorities Indigenous communities or their governments Indigenous organizations or associations Industry associations Municipalities Non-governmental organizations Not for profit organizations For profit organization Research, academic and educational institutions	Conservation Authorities Indigenous communities or their governments Indigenous organizations or associations Industry associations Municipalities Non-governmental organizations Not for profit organizations For profit organizations Research, academic and educational institution	Indigenous communities or their governments Indigenous organizations, associations, boards, commissions or authorities Indigenous individuals	Conservation Authorities Indigenous communities or their governments Indigenous organizations or associations Non-governmental organizations Not for profit organizations For profit organizations Research, academic and educational institutions	Conservation Authorities Indigenous communities or their governments Indigenous organizations or associations Municipalities Non-governmental organizations Not for profit organizations For profit organization Research, academic and educational institutions
Eligible project types
Implementing and evaluating innovative approaches or technologies to reduce phosphorus loads Implementing and evaluating the effectiveness of Best Management Practices to reduce phosphorus loads Increasing the extent of natural features (for example, wetlands) and/or enhancing their effectiveness in reducing phosphorus loads All projects must contain an outreach plan detailing how the project will promote broad uptake and application of the phosphorus reduction measures demonstrated	Demonstration and assessment of approaches that reduce releases of CMCs in the Great Lakes basin from Canadian sources, such as: Enhanced life-cycle / end of life management	Great Lakes restoration, conservation or protection projects Science related to Great Lakes issues Creation of networks for Indigenous experts to share knowledge/experience Projects building awareness of Great Lakes issues	Projects that: Increase the number of people participating in Great Lakes citizen science Engage citizens in a manner that increases their knowledge of Great Lakes issues Collect and make available useful scientific in-formation	Projects that contribute to directly eliminating identified “beneficial use impairments” through Action, Engagement and/or Science: Action Implement remedial actions that result in environmental improvement in AOCs, including habitat rehabilitation, rural non-point source control, contaminated sediment remediation, municipal wastewater treatment, urban storm water/combined sewer overflow control Engagement Support strategic engagement with local communities for Remedial Action Plan work planning, implementation and decision-making towards restoring beneficial use impairments Science Conduct science and monitoring to assess the status of beneficial use impairments against delisting targets and inform remedial action planning and implementation
Funding details
Projects up to $300K Multi-year projects eligible – up to 2 years While not a requirement, applications demonstrating other sources of financial and/or in-kind support will be scored favourably when evaluated on value for money	Projects up to $100K Multi-year projects eligible – up to 2 years While not a requirement, applications demonstrating other sources of financial and/or in-kind support will be scored favourably when evaluated on value for money	Projects up to $100K Multi-year projects eligible – up to 2 years While not a requirement, applications demonstrating other sources of financial and/or in-kind support will be scored favourably when evaluated on value for money	Projects up to $1.8M. $40K mini-mum fund-ing request. While not a requirement, applications demonstrating other sources of financial and/or in-kind support will be scored favourably when evaluated on value for money	Projects as low as $7,000 and as high as $1 million are possible. Multi-year projects eligible While not a requirement, applications demonstrating other sources of financial and/or in-kind support will be scored favourably when evaluated on value for money
Geographic scope
Lake Erie drainage basin	Great Lakes drainage basin	Great Lakes drainage basin	Great Lakes shorelines, near-shore and/or offshore areas	14 Canadian Great Lakes AOCs

*The preventing toxic and nuisance algae, reducing releases of harmful chemicals, engaging Indigenous Peoples in Great Lakes issues, and increasing public engagement through citizen science funding streams are fully subscribed.

Overview of Great Lakes application-based funding opportunities
[PDF - 166 KB]

Contact us

Please contact us by email at greatlakes-grandlacs@ec.gc.ca for more information.

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Date modified:: 2022-12-08

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Funding for Great Lakes protection

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