Growing Canada’s Community Canopies: plan your community’s forests and trees
Grants up to CAD 175,000 for plans and studies that prepare future community tree planting and strengthen forest resilience. The current intake is for Quebec municipalities until 15 September 2026.
Această oportunitate este disponibilă momentan în limba engleză.
Develop a forest-management or planting plan, tree-protection policies, a community-engagement strategy, or an assessment such as a tree inventory, planting-site analysis or climate-vulnerability study. Growing Canada’s Community Canopies funds planning that helps Canadian communities expand and protect their trees. The current window accepts Quebec municipal governments, alone or with other eligible municipalities.
The grant covers up to 80% of eligible costs, capped at CAD 175,000. The cost share rises to 90% for municipalities with fewer than 10,000 people, Northern communities or remote communities, and to 100% for municipalities applying in partnership with an Indigenous community. These higher shares do not remove the current Quebec restriction. The official page defines Northern communities using the three territories and Statistics Canada’s northern portions of seven provinces; remote communities are places on the Canada Revenue Agency’s prescribed-zones list, linked there.
Eligibility
Each lead or participating municipality can receive only one Urban Forestry Plans and Studies grant. Previous participation in an Indigenous-led project does not use up that municipality’s opportunity to apply again. Complete the funded plan or study within two years of funding approval.
The main focus must be forests or trees within your community. Broad biodiversity or sustainability plans, or plans managing natural features beyond urban forests and trees, are ineligible. The work must prepare future tree planting, but need not be tied to an already identified planting project. Include a clear route to implementing the results and achieving measurable change; research alone or a theoretical plan without actions does not qualify.
Explain how the project fits municipal forest-management or sustainability priorities, who will carry out its recommendations, and how the final plan will measure progress and support future improvements. Consider social and economic benefits, the community’s ability to withstand climate change, biodiversity and the health of ecosystems. Address relevant delivery risks. Identify at least one member of the lead applicant’s project-management team and anyone responsible for training that will help complete the project. Team members must have suitable qualifications and experience; if a consultant is not yet appointed, describe the intended role and required expertise.
Describe how you will engage relevant Indigenous groups and other affected groups, and make benefits accessible to people facing systemic barriers or exclusion. Explain how reconciliation with Indigenous communities—incorporating their knowledge, rights and cultural values—along with anti-racism, equity and inclusion will inform the plan, including fair access to trees and green spaces. Attach any engagement strategy already prepared.
Forestry software purchases needed for the project’s scale and duration can qualify; purchases beyond those needs and general operating software, such as Microsoft Office, are excluded. GMF’s contribution to eligible software cannot exceed 50% of GMF’s total contribution to the project. Tools and equipment can be rented, or purchased when purchase costs are comparable to renting. Donations and other non-cash contributions are not eligible expenditure; eligible paid staff time actually spent on the project may be budgeted as staff costs.
How to apply
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- Quebec municipal governments only, alone or with other eligible municipalities. The call may close earlier when funds are fully allocated. Enhanced cost shares do not broaden this intake eligibility.
Apply between 27 May and 15 September 2026; GMF may close the call sooner if funds are fully allocated. Start with the official readiness check, then prepare the pre-application. Quebec municipalities submit it through the ministère des Affaires municipales et de l’Habitation (MAMH) portal and upload a copy to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) funding portal at the same time. MAMH reviews the project before GMF evaluation and may take up to 20 working days. Obtain applicable provincial authorizations before starting work.
If invited, submit the full application and GMF’s supplied Excel project workbook for your budget and workplan. Include team résumés, applicable partner letters and municipal support signed by the mayor, chief administrative officer or authority designated by council. Confirmed funding needs supporting letters, but every funding source need not be confirmed at submission. Only the authorized application contact from the lead organization can submit either application; consultants cannot sign or submit them. An invitation does not guarantee funding; FCM’s Board decides the award.
Eligible expenses generally begin after FCM receives the application. Up to CAD 5,000 for writing it in the preceding 90 days can qualify; other earlier engagement or research costs do not. Costs must be essential, reasonable and invoiced to your organization. Keep financial records for at least seven years and consult the linked cost table for budget categories and exclusions.
For completion and payment, submit the final plan or study, a completion report, an updated workbook with expense claim and confirmed funding sources, and a payment request. Allow time and budget for these reports.