Net-Zero Transformation: test emissions-cutting solutions
Grants up to CAD 500,000 for Canadian municipalities and their partners to test innovative solutions in real conditions, measure emissions reductions and decide whether to implement them at a larger scale.
Esta oportunidad está disponible actualmente en inglés.
Run a small-scale test with limited duration and resource commitment before committing to full-scale implementation. You can compare options, test one option, trial a material, technique or process within a larger project, or test an approach new to Canada or a particular market. Explain what needs testing, the assumptions you will test, how results will be measured, what wider deployment would look like and how you will share and use the lessons.
The grant covers up to 50% of eligible costs, capped at CAD 500,000. Up to 80% may be available for municipalities of 10,000 people or fewer and their partners; regional governments or municipal groups whose members average 10,000 people or fewer; eligible Indigenous communities; or Northern communities. Northern or eligible Indigenous communities applying to GMF for the first time may qualify for up to 100%. The North means the three territories and Statistics Canada’s designated northern parts of seven provinces, as defined on the official offer page.
Eligibility
Canadian municipalities and municipal partners can apply, including companies, municipal corporations, regional/provincial/territorial organizations delivering municipal services, nonprofits, NGOs and research institutes. An Indigenous community can lead through a Canadian municipal partnership or a shared-service agreement concerning municipal infrastructure, climate change or adaptation.
The pilot must achieve quantifiable greenhouse-gas reductions and assess the benefits actually achieved using verifiable evaluation methods. There is no fixed percentage target. The wider solution must also have significant long-term reduction potential, directly or by enabling other reductions; indirect effects need a strong explanation and clear assumptions for the short, medium and/or long term. That broader alternative does not remove the pilot’s own measurement requirement. GMF considers both the scale of potential reductions and whether other municipalities could adopt the solution, supported by measurable performance, a widespread municipal need and strong reasons for adoption.
Innovation means a significant performance improvement beyond best practice through developing or applying new knowledge, policy, practice, business models or advanced technology; or applying an existing technology or practice in a new way that substantially changes operations or performance. Advanced technology must meet government readiness level 7 or above: at least a prototype ready for demonstration in an appropriate operating environment.
Provide a feasibility study or equivalent that supports the pilot and quantifies the greenhouse-gas benefits of eventual full-scale implementation. It assesses technical and financial feasibility and environmental, social and economic effects, comparing expected performance with a baseline. For an operating facility’s baseline year, use the latest 12 consecutive months of reliable data representing normal operations without significant changes; the first month must be within five years before the full application.
New infrastructure must be outside the 100-year floodplain on the latest map unless protection is demonstrated. This refers to a flood level with a 1% chance of occurring or being exceeded in any year. Below CAD 2 million, provide a signed flood-exposure attestation if outside the floodplain or behind permanent structural protection; an engineer must attest to flood-resilient design where inside the floodplain or an outside-location attestation cannot be provided. Above CAD 2 million, submit a completed climate-risk assessment with the pre-application and address identified risks, using Climate Lens, ISO 14091, PIEVC screening or equivalent guidance. The assessment must use future conditions for the 30-year climate period at the end of the infrastructure’s planned life. The guide recommends that infrastructure design specialists analyze the climate data. Apply the guide’s Appendix F requirements for high flood, wildfire or permafrost risks. If the assessment cannot be provided at that stage, the guide allows discussing the procedure with the GMF advisor. These new-infrastructure requirements exclude retrofits and projects consisting only of mobile assets, including vehicles and charging stations.
Describe engagement already undertaken or planned with relevant stakeholders and rights holders, including Indigenous groups and people facing systemic barriers or exclusion. GMF assesses the distribution of benefits and burdens. Broader inclusive engagement, anti-racism, reconciliation and social/environmental benefits strengthen an application; the offer page treats these broader measures as preferences, not an absolute eligibility condition.
How to apply
- Estado
- Abierto continuamente
- Restricciones de la ronda
- Year-round subject to available funds; approval may be deferred to the next fiscal year. Enhanced funding shares have applicant-specific conditions.
Applications are accepted year-round until funds are allocated; approval may be deferred to the next fiscal year starting 1 April. Discuss the pilot with GMF at gmfinfo@fcm.ca or 1-877-417-0550, create a Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) portal profile and submit a pre-application. If invited, complete the full application and GMF’s Excel project workbook, the template for your budget, workplan and funding sources, with the required supporting documents. Consultants cannot sign or submit on your behalf, and invitation does not guarantee funding.
Prepare the feasibility evidence, engineering or detailed cost estimate and an environmental-assessment summary if federal or provincial law requires one. Nonmunicipal applicants also need three years of audited financial statements. Provide municipal support, a team chart and résumés, and letters for confirmed funding. A nonmunicipal lead needs a municipal contact and partnership resolution with the pre-application, incorporation documents and CEO or CFO support. Municipal corporations document their municipal relationship and mandate. Indigenous applicants provide the partnership resolution or relevant shared-service agreement according to their eligibility route. All financing must be confirmed before the first payment, but need not be confirmed before submission.
Quebec municipalities and municipal corporations must have their pre-application approved by the ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH). Submit through its municipal portal; MAMH checks compliance and forwards compliant applications to GMF.
Describe your monitoring method: objectives, success criteria, performance measures, data collection and analysis, the process for deciding whether to proceed at full scale, and internal and external sharing of findings. These answers are required; a separate monitoring-plan attachment is optional if available.
Costs generally qualify after GMF receives the full application. Up to CAD 5,000 for writing it in the preceding 90 days may qualify. Equipment, software, construction or installation must be essential to the small-scale test. Purchasing assets that could be rented or leased to achieve the pilot’s objectives, costs exceeding its scale or duration, major capital costs and buying or leasing real property are excluded. Expenses must be reasonable, essential and invoiced to the applicant; follow the cost table’s expense-statement and external-audit requirements and retain records for seven years after final payment.
Payment reporting includes a completion report, updated workbook with expense claim and confirmed funding, and a payment request. Progress reports apply for multiple payments or when requested. A results report based on one year of operation after completion covers environmental results, lessons and stated social/economic benefits. There is no penalty for missing anticipated environmental performance if the project was implemented as described in the application.