Study to assess a local climate adaptation project
Grants of up to CAD 70,000 help Canadian municipalities and eligible partners assess whether a proposed climate adaptation project is feasible. Standard funding covers up to 80% of eligible study costs, with higher shares for qualifying communities.
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The Green Municipal Fund’s (GMF) Adaptation in Action grant pays for a feasibility study of a project that would reduce local climate risks, such as resilient infrastructure or improved municipal services. It examines whether the proposal is practical before implementation. The eventual project must fit the implementation stream, with expected eligible costs no higher than CAD 1 million; the study should include a cost estimate and detailed design where required.
The study grant is capped at CAD 70,000. Funding covers up to 80% of eligible costs, rising to 90% for small, rural or remote communities and 100% for eligible Indigenous communities or local governments applying with an Indigenous community. Small means fewer than 10,000 people in the latest census; rural means no population centre above 5,000; remote means a municipality in the Canada Revenue Agency’s prescribed northern Zone A.
Complete the study within two years of funding approval. Before the final payment, at least one project-team member must complete two hours or more of coaching on fair community benefits and participation. Topics include Indigenous knowledge and engagement, anti-racism and inclusion, or involving diverse community members in decisions. Up to ten hours of support are available; hours beyond the required minimum are optional. Communities that completed this coaching during a previous Local Leadership for Climate Adaptation (LLCA) feasibility study are exempt for subsequent projects.
The future implementation project must be new, phased or add climate resilience beyond existing work, and be deliverable within three years. Like-for-like replacement alone does not qualify. This study offer does not fund community-wide risk assessments or adaptation plans, emergency response or disaster recovery. A project must provide broader community risk reduction, rather than benefits solely for an individual, household or business.
Eligibility
Canadian municipal governments and eligible municipal partners can apply, including municipally owned corporations, municipal-service organizations, nonprofits, research institutes and Indigenous communities. For-profit entities are excluded. Municipal corporations, municipal-service organizations, nonprofits and research institutes need a municipal partner, its main project contact and a council resolution confirming the partnership before funding approval. For nonmunicipal leads, the municipality must also contribute money or non-cash resources, recorded in the project workbook’s funding sources. For Indigenous applicants, the guide recognizes communities with municipal status under provincial or territorial law, those undertaking an eligible project with a municipality, or those with a municipal shared-service agreement relating to infrastructure, climate change or adaptation.
The lead municipality needs an assessment or plan covering the whole community, multiple local systems or services and multiple climate hazards. A risk assessment must use future climate projections and a defensible method to prioritize risks, such as likelihood and consequences. Alternatively, an adaptation plan must identify concrete strategies, activities, investments or actions to reduce vulnerability. Regional documents qualify if they identify community-level priorities and meet the same requirements.
The study must address a priority risk or action, examine technical, financial, legal and operational feasibility, and assess ways to reduce project-related greenhouse-gas emissions. The study must also assess whether nature-based options, such as wetland restoration, urban forests or green roofs, could meet or enhance its objectives, considering where they are feasible, effective or affordable. The final project design need not incorporate them. Assess effects on marginalized groups and engage diverse community voices before and/or during the study. For new permanent infrastructure, assess flood exposure using the latest available floodplain map. New assets should be outside the 100-year floodplain or demonstrate flood resilience through internal or external protection, features limiting damage and allowing rapid return to service, or an explanation that the project itself mitigates flooding. The new-asset requirement does not apply to retrofits.
Over the initiative’s lifetime, a lead municipality may receive one study grant below 50,000 people, two at 50,000–500,000 and three above 500,000, using the latest census. When an Indigenous community applies with a lead municipality, the limit applies to the Indigenous community and preserves the municipality’s allowance. GMF currently prioritizes regions that have received less of the available funding.
How to apply
- Stato
- chiude 15 dic 2026
- Apre
- Chiude
- Restrizioni del bando
- Quebec municipal applicants; simultaneous MAMH and FCM submissions.
The general 2026 application period runs from 6 October to 15 December. Quebec municipal applicants have an earlier opening, from 27 May to 15 December 2026. A final funding round is scheduled for 30 March–29 June 2027.
Complete the official readiness check and contact GMF at gmfinfo@fcm.ca. Register in the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) funding portal and submit the required pre-application. If invited, submit the full application, project workbook and supporting documents, including the climate risk assessment or adaptation plan. Moving beyond pre-application does not guarantee funding. Only a submitted full application is considered in a funding round. Municipal-partner organizations must include support from their chief executive or chief financial officer and incorporation documents, and provide the municipal council resolution by funding approval. Indigenous lead applicants provide the relevant municipal shared-service agreement where applicable. You may submit before all financing is confirmed, but must confirm all funding sources before the first payment.
Eligible costs must be approved, direct, reasonable and paid by the applicant, and generally incurred from application submission until the final report. The exception permits up to CAD 5,000 for application writing incurred within 90 days before application receipt; other earlier costs are excluded.
Quebec municipalities must submit to the Ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH) and FCM portals simultaneously; provincial review precedes GMF evaluation. Coastal erosion or flooding projects require prior consultation with the Bureau de projets en érosion et submersion côtières and written proof. Quebec projects must obtain necessary authorizations before work, follow provincial standards, and use the climate-plan guide’s indicators and projections specified by Quebec’s environment ministry (MELCCFP) throughout the project’s lifespan. Nonmunicipal organizations in Quebec must confirm that public or municipal funds do not exceed 50% of their organizational funding.
To claim study funding, submit the completed study, completion report, updated project workbook with an expense claim and confirmed funding sources, and a payment request. Updated funding confirmation letters are required for the final payment.