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.

• Coastal Region Board and Committee List
• Columbia Region Board and Committee List
• Peace Region Board and Committee List

To learn more about our grants and projects we fund, sign up for our newsletter at fwcp.ca/subscribe.

Follow these steps:

1.    Review our regional action plans

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.

1. • Coastal Region action plans
   • Columbia Region action plans
   • Peace Region action plans

Our regional managers can help you align your project idea with a priority action(s) in our action plans.

2.    Develop a project idea to fulfil an action

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.

REMINDER!

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

3.    Review our regional guidance documents

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.

4.    Start your online grant application

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.

Get help online

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.

We’re here to help

Contact our Environmental Project Coordinator, Melissa Fiel de Sousa, at Melissa.FieldeSousa@bchydro.com or 604-528-8136.

5.    Complete all mandatory sections of the grant application

Be sure to complete all sections of the online grant application and fulfil all mandatory requirements. These requirements vary by region.

6.    Submit your online grant application by the application deadline

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.

Tips for completing grant applications

• You can save your grant application and return to it anytime.
• The grant application is organized by key sections (see tabs in the online grant application), and you can complete the grant application in any order.

Tips for multi-year grant applications

• If your project spans multiple years, you must apply for funding annually. Approval of annual FWCP funding for a multi-year project does not guarantee FWCP funding in future years.
• If you are in year two or more of a multi-year project, you can save time by contacting our Environmental Project Coordinator, Melissa Fiel de Sousa (Melissa.FieldeSousa@bchydro.com or 604-528-8136), to request a copy of your previous application. This copy can be used to start the current year’s grant application.
• If you are beyond year one of your multi-year project, your grant application must identify achievements and challenges encountered in previous year(s).

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:

1. a WorkSafe BC clearance letter; and
2. proof of commercial general liability.

This section provides an overview of our grant applications and what information you’ll be asked to provide.

Description

Project summary: Project title, project summary statement, and project urgency

Project details: Species that will benefit, detailed project description

Applicant information

Applicant information: Organization, project contact, signing authority, collaborators, project supporters, and project volunteers

Project information

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?

Project budget

Budget:

• Labour expenses, materials, equipment, transportation, and field expenses
• Project administration costs
• GST section
• Additional revenue (i.e., other funding sources, in-kind and volunteer contributions)

Notes:

• For materials and equipment, the FWCP does not provide funding to purchase non-consumable items (e.g., GPS units, cameras, electronics, boats, tents, etc.). Rental rates for non-consumable items are acceptable.
• How GST is claimed depends on your organization type. There are three options:

1. Not-for-profit, government, and CHUMS (charities, hospitals, universities, municipalities, and schools) organizations would be expected to incur some GST on their inputs. The FWCP can be responsible for the net amount of GST after the organization’s rebate percentage (i.e., if you get a rebate of 75% of your GST, FWCP can cover the remaining 25%). The remaining GST needs to be entered as part of the project cost and within the line items.
2. Consultants and registered businesses (which don’t receive a GST rebate) would be expected to incur GST and claim a full input tax credit on their inputs. The estimated GST that would apply to the total FWCP contribution needs to be split out from the project cost and line items and entered in the GST section of the budget along with the organization’s GST number.
3. If you don’t have a GST number or prefer to use FWCP funding to pay for the GST portion of your project, estimate the cost(s) with GST and enter it as part of the project cost and within the line items.

• Travel expenses (meals and mileage) need to align with accepted standardized rates:

Per diem meal rates: breakfast = $18; lunch = $20; dinner = $34

Mileage: highway = $0.68/km; 4×4 (when mode required) = $0.95/km

• Total FWCP contribution towards administration costs (telephone charges, photocopies, printing, mailing/courier, etc.) is not to exceed 5% of the total FWCP contribution for project expenses for government and 10% for non-government. Administration costs should not be specified for consultants whose rates normally include administration costs.
• The total project cost includes funding from all sources, including, but not limited to, the FWCP, other funders (if any), the total value of all in-kind contributions (if any), and applicable taxes.
• For the additional revenue section, in-kind and volunteer contributions should be expressed as $250/day for skilled labour and $100/day for unskilled labour for a standard day of eight hours. For professionals, use standard charge-out rates.

Proposals

A six-page (maximum) project proposal is required for all Large Grant applications only. A proposal is not required for Seed Grant applications.

Optional letters of support

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.

Experience

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.

Coastal Region Watershed Action Plans

Columbia Region Action Plans

Peace Region Action Plans

We fund and support the following types of actions, which are consistent with our mandate:

• Fund actions to create, restore, or otherwise improve the function of ecosystems that have been impacted by BC Hydro activities.
• Fund actions to create, restore, or otherwise improve the function of alternate ecosystems that provide a better opportunity for investment.
• Participate as a team member in species of interest planning.
• Fund specific management actions for species of interest as identified by recovery teams and action/implementation groups.
• Fund baseline inventory that contributes to the development of habitat- or species-based actions within action plans.
• Fund monitoring programs designed to measure the effectiveness of FWCP-funded habitat- and species-based actions.
• Contribute to all aspects of managing co-operatively managed conservation lands.

We do not fund or support the following activities, which are beyond our mandate:

• Fund core activities of government or non-government agencies or programs.
• Lead the development of species recovery goals.
• Fund, co-ordinate, or lead national recovery teams for species at risk.
• Develop policy related to land or wildlife management.
• Administer government regulations.
• Engage in enforcement and compliance activities, except in relation to co-operatively managed conservation lands.
• Fund programs designed exclusively to address government objectives.

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.