Emerging Immigrant and Refugee Communities Grant Program

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Funding for new immigrant and refugee communities in the process of settling and integrating.

EIRC Grant Program Purpose and Objective

The EIRC Grant Program contributes to the City of Edmonton’s goal of being more welcoming, equitable and inclusive to all Edmontonians and to supporting 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 objectives of this grant program are to:

Promote meaningful opportunities for ethnocultural immigrant/refugee community groups and organizations to develop and implement projects that address their community-identified needs and opportunities.
Actively engage community members, building upon existing cultural wealth.
Enhance social inclusion, foster connections and support communities.
Develop relationships with other communities through collaborations.
Increase participation in community and/or civic life (political, economic, social, and cultural) in Edmonton.
Create a positive community impact that may influence social and/or system change.
Identification of systemic gaps and barriers to participation.
Support the growth and development of community groups and organizations so that they are better able to respond to their communities' needs.

Applicants are encouraged to apply for the grant most appropriate for their initiative based on the intended outcomes of the project.

Seed Grant

Seed Grants of up to $2,000 will 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.

Apply Online for the EIRC Seed Grant

To Apply, You Must

Be a registered not-for-profit* (and in good standing) under any of the provincial/federal acts for at least 1 year
Be an Edmonton-based immigrant or refugee community organization supporting community members in their settling or integrating
Be in good standing with the City of Edmonton (up to date financial and program reporting, no outstanding invoices from the City of Edmonton)

*For groups that are not registered, a referral to the EIRC Capacity Building Collaborative can provide you with access to a fiscal agent.

Are Your Expenses Eligible?

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

Application Attachments

The following items are required with your application:

Completed budget template

If you are a registered organization you must also provide:

Certificate of incorporation and/or Annual Proof of Filing
Objects and Bylaws date stamped and registered, first-time applicants only
Copy of most recent Annual Reports
Copy of most recent AGM minutes
Most recent year-end financial statements (see Financial Statement Example)
Year-end Bank Statement and Bank Reconciliation (required if your financial statements are internally reviewed)

Community Impact Grant

The Community Impact Grant ($2,001 up to $5,000) has a broader community impact. These funds may scale up successful projects/programs through the Seed Grants or may be projects/programs that address a broader community need.

Apply Online for the EIRC Community Impact Grant

To Apply, You Must

Be a registered not-for-profit* (and in good standing) under any of the provincial/federal acts for at least 1 year
Be an Edmonton-based immigrant or refugee community organization supporting community members in their settling or integrating
Be in good standing with the City of Edmonton (up to date financial and program reporting, no outstanding invoices from the City of Edmonton)

*For groups that are not registered, a referral to the EIRC Capacity Building Collaborative can provide you with access to a fiscal agent.

Are Your Expenses Eligible?

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

Application Attachments

The following items are required with your application:

Completed budget template

If you are a registered organization you must also provide:

Certificate of incorporation and/or Annual Proof of Filing
Objects and Bylaws date stamped and registered, first-time applicants only
Copy of most recent Annual Reports
Copy of most recent AGM minutes
Most recent year-end financial statements (see Financial Statement Example)
Year-end Bank Statement and Bank Reconciliation (required if your financial statements are internally reviewed)

Community Special Project Grants

The Community Special Project Grants (from $5,001 to $25,000)
are designed 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.

Apply Online for the EIRC Community Special Project Grant

To Apply, You Must

Be a registered not-for-profit* (and in good standing) under any of the provincial/federal acts for at least 1 year
Be an Edmonton-based immigrant or refugee community organization supporting community members in their settling or integrating
Be in good standing with the City of Edmonton (up to date financial and program reporting, no outstanding invoices from the City of Edmonton)

*For groups that are not registered, a referral to the EIRC Capacity Building Collaborative can provide you with access to a fiscal agent.

Are Your Expenses Eligible?

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

Application Attachments

The following items are required with your application:

Completed budget template

If you are a registered organization you must also provide:

Certificate of incorporation and/or Annual Proof of Filing
Objects and Bylaws date stamped and registered, first-time applicants only
Copy of most recent Annual Reports
Copy of most recent AGM minutes
Most recent year-end financial statements (see Financial Statement Example)
Year-end Bank Statement and Bank Reconciliation (required if your financial statements are internally reviewed)

Final Reporting

All recipients of an EIRC grant are required to complete both a financial report and a project report.

Financial Reporting

Financial reporting must be completed and submitted to the Program staff within the time frames specified in the funding agreement/letter.
Grant recipients must complete their project’s financial accounting using the financial reporting template provided and signed by an authorized representative of the organization who has signing authority. The financial reporting template will be provided to the organization when they are notified of the success of their application and is also available on the EIRC Grant Program’s website.

Project Reporting

A final project/program report is required and can be in any number of formats including a written submission using the EIRC Final Project Report form, video recording, pictures, and/or a 30-minute conversation with a City of Edmonton staff person:

Description of the project/program
Number of program participants
Number of partners
Number of volunteers
Demographics related to participants
Outcome reporting (outcomes measured, how, and responses)
Project/program lessons learned

EIRC Space Subsidy Grant

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.

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.

Apply Online

To Apply, You Must

Be an Edmonton-based immigrant or refugee community organization supporting community members in their initial stages of settling or integrating
Be registered as a not-for-profit organization for at least 1 year
Be up-to-date with reports from previous grants received from the City of Edmonton
Be able to pay the rent not covered by the subsidy
Have a bank account in the organization’s name

You do not Qualify if?

Space for activities of a religious or political purpose
Sublease of space that already gets a space subsidy under this grant program
Insurance, damage deposits, storage units
Residential property used by an organization
Space rental outside of the City of Edmonton
Event space (may apply for a Community Event Grant and include the cost of renting space for the event)

Guidelines

Subsidies help with rental costs in the calendar year (January to December)
60% subsidy for commercial space up to a maximum of $5,000 a year
80% subsidy of not-for-profit or public facilities such as community leagues, schools, or cultural halls up to a maximum of $6,000 a year
Applications are accepted anytime and can take 4-6 weeks to process

Application Attachments

Please attach the following items to your online application:

Copy of signed rental agreement or lease
Most recent bank statement
Proof of annual filing with Corporate Registries
Most recent year-end financial statement approved at an Annual General Meeting
Minutes of the most recent Annual General Meeting

Apply Online

Before You Apply

Ensure you have your Account ID and registered organization email with the City of Edmonton Grants Office

Do you know your Grant Account ID?

With our online grant applications, you will need two pieces of information to apply to any grant program:

Your City of Edmonton grants assigned account ID
Your organization or applicant email that is registered with the City of Edmonton Grants Office

To create or retrieve your City of Edmonton account ID:

Fill out the Account ID Request Form and a city employee will get back to you within 2 business days with your account information

If you have any issues with the online application form, please call the Grants Office for assistance at 780-496-4933.

Start Your Application

Have you already started an application?

Search for your application

Do you need to start a new application?

Start a new application

Need to update your account information?

Once you enter your Account ID and Organization email, your account information will automatically populate on the application. If you noticed that your information is not correct in our system (for example, an address change or main contact change), please contact our office as soon as possible to update your account. Incorrect information can result in a delay or inability to process your grant request.

To update your account:

Fill out the following form: City of Edmonton Grants Account Update Form
Call: 780-496-4933
Email grants@edmonton.ca

Are you an Edmonton-based immigrant or refugee grassroots organization looking for organizational support that builds your capacity and strengthens your structure so you can run more effectively?

If so, we are pleased to share that we are supporting a newly established Ethno-Cultural Capacity Building Collaborative.

The Collaborative intends to offer support in areas such as:

Governance
Financial Management and Grant Applications
Program Planning, Implementation and Evaluation
Strategic Planning
Support, and much more.

To receive support in any of these areas, please contact Karis Nsofor at karis@ecvo.ca and include in the Subject: EIRC Support.

For More Information

Title	Community Grants Office
Telephone	780-496-4933
Fax	780-577-3525
Email	grants@edmonton.ca