Funding for preventing toxic and nuisance algae – Lake Erie Precision Conservation Sub-Stream

Nutrient pollution remains a challenge in the Great Lakes, with excess nutrients resulting in toxic and nuisance algae, with the issue most severe in Lake Erie. In February 2016, Canada and the United States adopted binational phosphorus load reduction targets for Lake Erie to combat this issue. Together with the United States, Canada committed to reduce annual phosphorus loadings to the western and central basins by 40% compared to 2008 baseline levels (212 tonnes) and to develop and implement a domestic action plan. The Lake Erie Action Plan to reduce phosphorus to Lake Erie (LEAP) was approved in 2018. Implementation is ongoing.

There are two sub-streams under the Toxic and Nuisance Algae funding opportunity.

The Lake Erie Precision Conservation sub-stream is a Letter of Intent (LOI) process focused on the implementation of projects/programs to reduce phosphorus losses from the landscape to Lake Erie by targeting (i.e., precision conservation) high priority watersheds and implementing the most effective measure(s) in areas of highest risk.

The evaluation process for this sub-stream will include two steps. Initially,  Letters of Intent (LOI), which broadly describe the applicant’s expertise and experience as well as proposed project/program design to achieve the stated goal, will be solicited. LOIs submitted by the January 29, 2024 deadline will be evaluated by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and projects/programs which are successful through the LOIs process will then be further developed through contribution agreement negotiations between ECCC and the applicant.

The Lake Erie Innovation sub-stream is an application-based call for proposals that would demonstrate innovative approaches and technologies to reduce phosphorus loads to Lake Erie, and/or fill knowledge gaps through strategic science and monitoring. Please refer to the separate application guidance details for this sub-stream for more information. 

An objective of the Great Lakes FEI is to decrease loadings of phosphorus to Lake Erie from Canadian sources. To assist in achieving this objective, ECCC is making funding available to increase participation in the implementation of phosphorus load reduction approaches and best management practices in priority watersheds and areas of highest risk (i.e., Precision Conservation); determine the effectiveness of practices being implemented and tracking load reductions through the use of strategic science and monitoring; and, undertake outreach and engagement to share results and promote the sustained uptake and application of best management practices by others.

Funding will support projects within the Lake Erie Canadian watershed. While project submissions situated anywhere within the Lake Erie Canadian watershed will be considered for funding, priority will be given to projects located within regions that have been identified as high contributing watersheds and areas for phosphorus loads to Lake Erie, including the Thames River and Sydenham River watersheds and Leamington tributaries watersheds. Priority will be given to projects focused on reducing phosphorus loads from agricultural and non-point sources.

Applicants may include: (Canadian organizations only) 

• Conservation Authorities
• Indigenous organizations, governments, individuals, boards, commissions, communities, associations, and authorities
• municipalities
• Not-for-profit organizations, such as charitable and volunteer organizations, professional associations (such as industry associations), and non-governmental organizations

Provincial government agencies are not eligible for funding.

Project proposals focused on the following project type and project elements will be eligible for funding.

Types of projects

1. Reduce phosphorus loads to Lake Erie

Project elements:

• Implementing suites of approaches and/or Best Management Practices (BMPs) known to mitigate phosphorus losses (e.g., stacking of BMPs to maximize effectiveness at reducing phosphorus) at targeted locations.
• Increasing the extent of natural cover on private lands to remove/reduce phosphorus before it discharges into Lake Erie and its tributaries using the most effective features determined for the targeted locations (e.g., wetland restoration, riparian buffers/filter strips, etc.).
• Using strategic science and monitoring at selected locations in order to evaluate and report on the effectiveness of the project in reducing phosphorus, and related co-benefits (e.g., soil health, carbon sequestration).
• Implementing outreach and engagement activities to encourage broader uptake in the wider community and sustain phosphorus reductions over the longer term.

The following project types are not eligible for funding:

• projects that are focused on water quantity issues
• projects which are located outside of the defined geographical area
• projects which are focused on increasing production or replacing equipment
• projects which are not in compliance with applicable legislation, including environmental legislation (for example: requirements under the Lakes and Rivers Improvement Act, Fisheries Act)
• activities that are deemed to be part of normal operations of an organization/business or for commercial expansion purposes
• activities that are intended to directly influence and/or lobby any level of government
• wastewater infrastructure projects

• the maximum amount available for any one project is $5 million / year; however, proposals over $5 million / year may be considered
• projects may be multiyear in nature (up to 4 years with possible extension)
• applicants are strongly encouraged to seek other sources of funding and/or in-kind project support

Only costs which can be directly attributed to carrying out the project will be eligible for funding, including:

• human resource costs, including salaries and benefits
• management and professional service costs, such as accounting, monitoring, communications, official languages translation, audit and legal charges
• travel
• material and supplies costs
• printing, production and distribution costs
• equipment and capital assets purchase or rental for the purpose of implementing actions
• vehicle rental and operation costs
• contractors required to perform activities related to the project
• a reasonable share of overhead and/or administrative costs
• any GST/HST that is not reimbursable by Canada Revenue Agency and any PST not reimbursable by the provinces
• other incremental expenditures directly related to the project (as pre-approved by ECCC)

Costs, other than those herein allowed, are ineligible unless specifically approved in writing by the Minister of the Environment or his/her representatives at the time of project approval. For all costs, only those deemed to be a reasonable share for completing the project shall be considered eligible.

Letters of Intent will undergo a two-stage review process:

• Administrative review by ECCC to ensure LOI forms are complete and proposed projects/programs meet eligibility requirements.
• Project evaluation by ECCC against evaluation criteria. ECCC may seek advice on proposal submissions from external advisors with knowledge and expertise relevant to the proposal; however, approval decisions will be made by ECCC. Details beyond those provided in the LOI will be negotiated with the successful applicants through contribution agreement negotiations. 

To be considered eligible for funding, project proposals must meet the following requirements:

• all Letter of Intent sections are complete
• proposal falls under eligible funding categories (refer to Types of projects eligible for funding)
• actions described in the proposal result in the reduction of phosphorus loads to Lake Erie
• proposal falls within the Lake Erie Canadian watershed

Full project details are not required for the LOI; however, the applicant should provide sufficient information to demonstrate that they have the expertise, experience and knowledge to contribute to the goal of reducing phosphorus loads to Lake Erie.

Eligible projects will be assessed on the extent to which proposals meet the following evaluation criteria:  

Results:

• The actions described lead to increased rates of BMP adoption resulting in reductions of phosphorus to Lake Erie.
• The applicant has, or will be pursuing, information which will allow them to focus programming on areas where phosphorus losses are the highest at the sub-watershed scale.
• Through the use of strategic science or monitoring and other project metrics (e.g., type of project, hectares influenced, number of years in place), the applicant will collect and provide data on the project’s agreed upon performance metrics, allowing for the measurement of effectiveness of practices; estimates of phosphorus loss reductions by sub-watershed; and, the integration of data into models to track implementation metrics across the Lake Erie Basin.
• The project will have an outreach and engagement plan (e.g., audience, tools and measures) to share results, lessons learned, and promote uptake and sustained actions needed to reduce phosphorus loads.  
• The applicant has, or will pursue, an approach, mechanism or plan for involving Indigenous communities. 

Project feasibility/likelihood of success:

• The project’s work plan identifies when and how the project activities will be undertaken to ensure the project is completed effectively and on time, including the techniques involved, performance measures and the goals and timelines for each activity.
• The project work plan clearly demonstrates relevant, clear and appropriate methods of achieving project results.
• The project work plan includes a clear and realistic approach to enable the calculation of phosphorus reductions.
• The project work plan indicates whether any permits are required.
• The applicant has project experience in:
  • Implementing programs focused on working with communities, organizations and individuals to implement actions to reduce phosphorus losses from the landscape.
  • Developing and implementing engagement and outreach plans to encourage broader uptake of phosphorus reduction actions and sustain reductions achieved.
  • Administrative capacity to manage the financial and human resources required by the project.
• The applicant has access (or plans) to pursue the information, expertise, and relationships with land operators required to target the type and location of actions to maximize effectiveness.
• The project will lead to co-benefits (e.g., biodiversity, soil heath, habitat, reduced costs to farmers, carbon sequestration).

Value for money:

• The project represents good value for dollars invested.
• The project includes cash and/or in-kind contributions from other sources.

Environment and Climate Change Canada requires that Letters of Intent to the Great Lakes FEI be submitted online via the Grants and Contributions Enterprise Management System (GCEMS). The GCEMS is accessed through the department’s Single Window system.  For additional information on accessing the GCEMS through ECCC’s Single Window system, please see Appendix A.

The Letter of Intent form for the Great Lakes FEI: Preventing Toxic and Nuisance Algae Lake Erie Precision Conservation funding sub-stream includes 9 sections:

• Section 1: Tombstone Data
• Section 2: Project Summary
• Section 3: Project Overview
• Section 4: Project Activity Details
• Section 5: Project Budget
• Section 6: Evaluation Plan and Performance Measures
• Section 7: Other Supporting Information
• Section 8: Official Languages
• Section 9: Certification

In Section 1: Tombstone Data, provide basic information about your group as well as contact information for the individual leading the application.

In Section 2: Project Summary, provide basic information about the proposed project, including the name and location of the project, the project start and end date, the project goals/objectives, a brief general description of the proposed project, the experience of project team members and the financial and management capacity of the organization submitting the project proposal. If your project is approved for funding, the summary description you provide in your application may be made available to the public.

In Section 3: Project Overview, please provide a description of the various aspects of your project including the implementation of on the ground actions through targeted approaches, approach to outreach and engagement, methods for evaluation of success, project co-benefits and any other features of the project that may be relevant.

In Section 4: Project Activity Details, provide information about various aspects of the proposed project, including confirmation that it meets the eligibility requirements as well as details related to results, uptake and engagement, the project approach, commitment to data collection and reporting, and project co-benefits.

When providing your Outreach Plan, please ensure it includes sufficient details on how the plan will encourage the maintenance of phosphorus reductions already achieved and promote uptake of BMPs to a wider community in order to sustain and accelerate benefits into the future. Outreach Plans should also outline communities and/or networks that will be targeted and how they will be reached and identify any partner organizations that may be involved. Detailed descriptions of outreach activities, products and timelines will be developed if your LOI is successful.

Where warranted, describe any co-benefits that may be related to the project (e.g., biodiversity and habitat improvements, soil health improvements, carbon sequestration, reduced costs to farmers).

The project approach must:

• describe how the project is relevant to achieving the goal of reducing phosphorus loads to Lake Erie.
• identify relevant, clear and appropriate methods of achieving project results, including the applicant’s approach to targeting the implementation to maximize the effectiveness of on the ground actions.
• explain how the project will be completed effectively and on time, including:
  • project goals and activities.
  • Project partners.
  • techniques involved.
  • milestones and timelines for each activity.

In Section 5: Project Budget, provide the total amount of ECCC funding that is being requested for the proposed project, broadly outline the project’s budget and give an estimation of its forecasted expenses organized according to a set of pre-defined cost categories (e.g., Salaries and Wages; Management and professional services; Contractors; Travel; Material & supplies costs; Purchase of Capital Assets; Equipment rentals; Land acquisition – leases - easement, covenants – servitudes; Overhead; Communications and printing production and distribution costs; Vehicle rental and operation costs; or, Other expenditures). The estimated cost of all project expenditures should reflect fair market values at the standard rate for that product or service in your area. Budget details will need to be further refined if your LOI is successful.

In this Section, you are also required to broadly provide details regarding the project's fiscal year breakdown. Determine the number of years of support from ECCC that your project requires (up to a maximum of 4 years) and indicate how the total amount of support requested (up to $5million/year) will be allocated on an annual basis.

In Section 6: Evaluation Plan and Performance Measures, provide details on how the expected results and successes of the project will be measured.

In Section 7: Other Supporting Information, provide further information relevant to the project that was not captured elsewhere in the application if needed. Please ensure any letters of financial/in-kind support are provided here.

In Section 8: Official Languages provide information related to the need to accommodate official language minority communities with respect to the proposed project’s activities.

In Section 9: Certification, certify that information provided in the Application Form is accurate and that you, as the applicant, have authorization to sign on behalf of the group.

Applicants are encouraged to provide the details necessary to give a full response to each section of the Letter of Intent Form but should be as concise as possible.

Please ensure that all sections of the Form are complete prior to submission. Incomplete Letters of Intent will not be reviewed.

Applicants may include additional information or documents with their application (such as examples of possible products, photographs, maps, etc.). If submitting additional material, it must be clearly marked and referenced accordingly in the relevant section of the application. All such material must be submitted in accordance with the instructions found on the GCEMS portal.

Applicants are encouraged to identify any additional partner funding and/or in-kind project support that has been obtained and/or that is being sought. Please note that while this is not a requirement, applications demonstrating other sources of financial and/or in-kind support will be scored favourably when evaluated on value for money.

Note: if you are unable to complete and submit your application via the online application portal and wish to discuss options, please contact greatlakes-grandlacs@ec.gc.ca.

Closed for applications.

Environment and Climate Change Canada requires that applications to the Great Lakes Freshwater Ecosystem Initiative: Preventing toxic and nuisance algae funding stream be submitted online via the Grants and Contributions Enterprise Management System (GCEMS). The GCEMS is accessed through the department’s Single Window system.

To sign in to the department’s Single Window system select your language preference on the welcome page and when prompted to choose a sign-in method, select the GCKey sign-in option. If you already have a GCKey username and password enter them in the appropriate spaces.

If you do not have a GCKey username and password proceed through the sign-up process to obtain your username and password.

New users to the Single Window system will then be prompted to enter their email address and guided through a process to create a user profile.

In order to gain access to the link that will allow you to navigate to the GCEMS, you must add an organization to your profile. On the menu select “Organizations” and follow the instructions on the web page that opens. Note that when entering the organization’s business number you may use one of the following; business number; GST number; charitable number/non-profit organization registration number; or First Nations Band number. Once you have added your organization, select “Home” on the menu to navigate to the webpage that contains the link to the GCEMS.

Once you have accessed the GCEMS site, click on the link “View funding opportunities” on the left hand side of the GCEMS “My applications” webpage. On the “View funding opportunities” webpage, locate the Great Lakes FEI: Preventing toxic and nuisance algae in the “List of opportunities” table and view the funding opportunity information by clicking on the associated link in the “Action(s)” column. On the “View funding opportunity information” webpage, click on “Apply” to open the online application process for the Great Lakes FEI: Preventing toxic and nuisance algae funding stream.

Information on how to access and use ECCC’s Single Window system.

For technical assistance with ECCC’s Single Window system, please contact gigu-swim@ec.gc.ca.

Information on how to access the GCEMS.

For technical assistance with the GCEMS, please contact sgesc-gcems-sgesc-gcems@ec.gc.ca.