89 Total 2023–2024 Projects
28 Coastal Region Projects
33 Columbia Region Projects
28 Peace Region Projects
Our annual grant intake is now open!
The first step is to review the regional guidance documents for our Coastal, Columbia and Peace regions. Then read our regional action plans and develop a project idea that aligns with one or more priority actions.
Apply online by Monday, October 30, 2023 at 4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT.
Contact us if you have questions.
In our Columbia and Peace regions, all grant applicants needed to submit a mandatory notice of intent by Monday, September 11. This deadline has now passed. Coastal Region grant applicants are not required to submit a notice of intent. The notice of intent supports First Nations engagement in the projects we fund and allows us to provide additional guidance ahead of submitting a grant application.
If you have an existing grant, use our online grant management system to manage your project. Login here. Contact Melissa if you have any problems logging in.
See our user guides for grant recipients:
User Guide for Submitting a Change Request
User Guide for Submitting a Progress Report
User Guide for Submitting a Progress or Final Statement of Account Task
User Guide for Submitting a Draft Final Report
Contact us if you have questions.
Manage your grant
To apply for a fish or wildlife grant for 2024-2025, start by reviewing our regional guidance documents. Develop a project idea that meets a priority in our action plans.
Apply by Monday, October 30, 2023 at 4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT. In our Columbia and Peace regions, all grant applicants needed to submit a mandatory notice of intent by Monday, September 11. This deadline has now passed. Coastal Region grant applicants are not required to submit a notice of intent.
Apply now
In our regional guidance documents, you’ll find guidance to help you put together a grant application. The documents have information about the types of grants available, what we’re looking for in an application, and how applications are evaluated.
Our regional action plans identify priority actions eligible for a grant. Review the action tables in each action plan.
Regional GuidanceApply anytime for a community engagement grant up to $1,000. These grants can help stewardship groups and others take tangible actions to benefit fish and wildlife in any of our regions.
Apply
All grant applications go through a three-stage review process that ends with a decision by our three regional boards.
Fish and wildlife technical committees in each region review each grant application for technical merit. In our Columbia and Peace regions, First Nations Working Groups also evaluate grant applications.
Results from the technical committees (all regions) and First Nations Working Groups (Columbia and Peace regions) reviews are provided to each board to assist in their review and decision-making in stage 3.
During this stage, our technical committees (all regions) will be evaluating grant applications for:
During this stage, our First Nations Working Groups (Columbia and Peace regions) will be evaluating grant applications for:
The three regional boards review each grant application for projects proposed in their region. The boards consider the results of all stage 1 and stage 2 evaluations and make decisions on which grant applications will be approved with conditions. The regional boards evaluate the grant applications and are responsible for all project and funding decisions in each region.
During this stage, our regional boards will be evaluating grant applications for:
We fund projects that align with our Action Plans, which reflect regional conservation priorities and priority actions. An independent Board in each region reviews all grant applications and project funding decisions. Our Boards include representatives from BC Hydro, the Province of B.C., Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations and public stakeholders.
To learn more about our grants and projects we fund, sign up for our newsletter at fwcp.ca/subscribe.
In our Columbia and Peace regions, all grant applicants needed to submit a mandatory notice of intent by Monday, September 11. This deadline has now passed. Coastal Region grant applicants are not required to submit a notice of intent.
All applications are due by Monday, October 30, 2023 at 4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT.
Our regional action plans identify the priority actions eligible for FWCP grants (see the action tables in each action plan). Your proposed project must align with one or more priority action(s) in any of our regional action plans.
Our regional managers can help you align your project idea with a priority action(s) in our action plans.
Develop a project idea that aligns with one or more priority action(s) in any action plan(s) that will achieve the intended outcome(s). Be sure you have selected an OPEN or OPEN/DIRECTED priority action.
Review relevant project reports and outcomes
Before developing your grant application, review our project report list for relevant work already completed. If there is a relevant project report, consider how, or if, the work you propose in your grant application will build on past work. The FWCP has posted more than 500 final reports on provincial databases, making our project results and data available to anyone. A searchable spreadsheet for all final project reports is available at http://fwcp.ca/results/.
You may also wish to review relevant provincial databases for projects not funded by the FWCP to identify recommendations or reports that could support your grant application.
Species Inventory Database
EIRS: Environmental Information Resource System
EcoCat: Ecological Reports Catalogue
CLIR: Cross-Linked Information Resources
Each of our three regions—Coastal, Columbia, and Peace—are unique, and the requirements for grant applicants vary by region. To help with your grant application, we prepare updated guidance documents annually for each region.
Start a grant application online and be sure to complete all sections, fulfill all mandatory requirements and submit by 4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT on Monday, October 30, 2023.
You’ll find lots of tips and instructions built into the online grant application.
Click on the question mark icon next to each question in the grant application to reveal instructions and more information.
Submit your questions to us from your draft grant application. Click on the “Notes/Questions” tab to submit your question.
Contact our Environmental Project Coordinator, Melissa Fiel de Sousa, at Melissa.FieldeSousa@bchydro.com or 604-528-8136.
Be sure to complete all sections of the online grant application and fulfil all mandatory requirements. These requirements vary by region.
Our grant management system will validate your grant application entries immediately after you submit your application and indicate right away if any required information is missing.
We suggest you avoid submitting your application immediately before the deadline in case you need to make corrections or additions. Grant intake closes on Monday, October 30, 2023 at 4 p.m. PT / 5 p.m. MT. We only review grant applications received by the deadline.
Eligible grant applicants include: First Nations, communities, and businesses; consultants, agencies, non-government organizations, individuals, and academic institutions.
All successful grant applicants must be able to provide:
This section provides an overview of our grant applications and what information you’ll be asked to provide.
Project summary: Project title, project summary statement, and project urgency
Project details: Species that will benefit, detailed project description
Applicant information: Organization, project contact, signing authority, collaborators, project supporters, and project volunteers
Project location information: Map, location description, project coordinates (latitude and longitude)
Alignment with action plan(s): Primary action plan, sub objective, action type, alignment with priority action and intended outcome(s), and optional alignment with secondary action plan
Single or multi-year project: Project duration, provide overview of project achievements and challenges for ongoing multi-year projects
Project phases: Start-up, field work, data entry and analysis, community engagement, draft reporting, and final reporting
Benefits: Benefits to fish and/or wildlife
Ongoing maintenance: Is ongoing maintenance required to sustain benefits?
Community engagement: What are your plans to share results and engage with First Nations, stakeholders, and others?
Permits and approval: BC Hydro-owned lands, proximity to BC Hydro facility, landowners, required permits, and approvals
Funding: Is this a resubmission of a previously “not approved” application?
Budget:
Notes:
Per diem meal rates: breakfast = $18; lunch = $20; dinner = $34
Mileage: highway = $0.68/km; 4×4 (when mode required) = $0.95/km
A six-page (maximum) project proposal is required for all Large Grant applications only. A proposal is not required for Seed Grant applications.
Letters of support for your project are optional in our Columbia Region, but they can be used to strengthen your grant application. If you choose to submit letters of support along with your grant application, please ensure the letter author(s) clearly indicate their support for your proposed project and specify their involvement (i.e., actively involved, engaged in project planning and/or delivery, providing in-kind and/or cash support, or supporting the project in principle). A letter of support should come from an organization, First Nation, or government agency, and it should demonstrate how the support is relevant to your project.
Project contact experience: It is mandatory to include the experience and credentials of the project contact. We encourage you to provide the credentials and experience of key team members so we can properly evaluate your grant application.
Our action plans guide FWCP investments in fish and wildlife projects, and are referenced annually by our regional Boards to track progress toward implementation, set annual priorities, and guide decision-making in setting out and approving the annual operating plan for each region. Actions in our action plans are eligible for FWCP funding and align with our vision, mission, and geographic scope.
Use our Seed Grant to grow your idea. Seed Grants are aimed at helping you explore the feasibility of your project idea and could be the first step towards developing a larger project. Up to a maximum of $5,000 is available from the FWCP for project ideas that align with our regional action plans.
Seed Grants are intended to offset costs to fill information gaps, explore project feasibility, and prepare technical information to support a Large Grant application in a subsequent year.
If you are ready to implement a proposed project that aligns with our regional action plans, apply for a Large Grant.
You will be asked to submit a written project proposal (maximum six pages) with a budget as part of your online grant application.
Each FWCP region has a set of action plans that identify the priority actions eligible for FWCP grants (see the action tables in each action plan).
We fund five types of projects and our action plan tables identify priority actions by project type:
Your proposed project must align with one or more priority action(s) in any of our regional action plans.
Each priority action is identified as OPEN, OPEN/DIRECTED, or DIRECTED.
DELIVERY METHOD
OPEN Eligible for a grant. Go ahead and apply!
OPEN/DIRECTED Eligible for a grant. Go ahead and apply!
DIRECTED Not eligible for a grant. Do not apply for a grant for this action. Our regional boards will address DIRECTED projects through other funding mechanisms.
We fund and support the following types of actions, which are consistent with our mandate:
We do not fund or support the following activities, which are beyond our mandate:
The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) is a partnership between BC Hydro, the Province of B.C, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, First Nations, and public stakeholders to conserve and enhance fish and wildlife in watersheds impacted by existing BC Hydro dams.
The FWCP was established to compensate for impacts to fish, wildlife, and their supporting habitat, resulting from the construction of existing BC Hydro dams.
BC Hydro has water licence obligations in the Columbia and Peace regions, and has made voluntary commitments to address the impacts of dams in the Coastal Region. BC Hydro fulfils the applicable obligations through the work of the FWCP.
The FWCP is funded annually by BC Hydro. The FWCP directs those funds towards projects that address priority actions across its three regions to fulfil its mission, and work towards its vision of thriving fish and wildlife populations in watersheds that are functioning and sustainable.
The Fish & Wildlife Compensation Program (FWCP) conserves and enhances fish and wildlife in watersheds impacted by BC Hydro dams. The FWCP is funded annually by BC Hydro. The FWCP directs those funds towards priority actions across its three regions to fulfil its mission and work towards its vision of thriving fish and wildlife populations in watersheds that are functioning and sustainable.
By funding projects to support fish and wildlife populations in our Coastal, Columbia and Peace Regions, the FWCP is fulfilling BC Hydro’s applicable water licence obligations and voluntary commitments to compensate for fish and wildlife impacts.
In 2023–2024, our regional boards approved ~$10.2 million for 89 fish and wildlife projects. Our Coastal Region board approved 28 projects, our Columbia Region approved 33 projects, and our Peace Region approved 28 projects.
A wide range of species and ecosystems will benefit from the projects approved in our Coastal, Columbia and Peace regions. Some projects will result in immediate benefits to species, others will fill important data gaps that will help define future conservation actions, and some are multi-year projects that build on work and results year-over-year. Regardless, all projects support our vision of thriving fish and wildlife in watersheds that are functioning and sustainable.
Learn more about the projects we’re funding in our Coastal, Columbia, and Peace regions. Read our project lists. Visit our Coastal, Columbia and Peace region interactive project maps. See our project map.