Grant-in-Aid

Grant-in-aid categories

• Tourism
• Economic development
• Social/environmental services
• Sports groups (including associated travel for events)
• Arts and culture

Grants can be used for capital, operating or one-off special event purposes. 

Eligibility

Applicants must meet the following mandatory eligibility criteria:

• be located in the Municipality of North Cowichan, or alternatively, provide a service which primarily benefits the residents of the Municipality of North Cowichan;
• can demonstrate sound financial and administrative management;
• can demonstrate a financial need;
• are in compliance with all relevant Municipality of North Cowichan bylaws; and
• are registered as a society under the BC Society Act, or as an association under the Cooperative Association Act.

Only applicants that meet the mandatory eligibility criteria will be advanced to the evaluation stage.

In some instances, assistance in cost-sharing capital improvements to facilities that are not located in North Cowichan may be considered if these organizations primarily serve North Cowichan residents.

Assistance towards travel expenses for youth individuals or teams may be considered if they are representing North Cowichan at a provincial and/or national championship level.

Grant requests from organizations that provide a regional service will be referred to the Cowichan Valley Regional District (CVRD).

Application process

Grants-in-aid must be applied for each year using the fillable and printable Grant-in-Aid application. All applications are considered on a year-to-year basis and organizations should not expect to receive continuing grants every year.

Completed applications must be received by October 15 of each year, or the next business day if this falls on a weekend.

Applications must include the following:

• the name and address of the organization;
• the name of the primary contact person;
• the amount of financial assistance being requested;
• a clear description of the project or event for which funding is requested;
• financial statements;
• project budget (if applicable);
• disclosure of all sources of assistance previously received from the Municipality such as, but not limited to, cash grants, assistance in-kind, building or rental accommodation or permissive tax exemption; and
• a description of how the previous year’s grant money was spent (if a grant was received).

Late applications

Council may allocate grant-in-aid funding in the budget for extraordinary requests received during the calendar year (e.g. one-time grant applications).

Evaluation

Applications that meet the mandatory eligibility criteria will be further evaluated for:

• Program/project quality & merit
• Organizational effectiveness & capacity
• Community engagement & impact

The detailed criteria and scoring weights in each category are outlined in Appendix A of the Grant-in-Aid Policy.

Budget

North Cowichan's grant budget is established through its Financial Plan. The Committee of the Whole meets in October of each year to discuss grant applications and make recommendations to Council regarding which grants should be approved and the amount to be approved, prior to the adoption of the annual budget. All applicants will be notified of the meeting at which their applications will be considered and the outcome of their request.

Payment

No grants-in-aid will be disbursed until after the adoption of the Financial Plan (after May 15 yearly). 

Council may place conditions on grants, including the requirement for appropriate evidence (e.g. submission of receipts) to be submitted before grant funs are disbursed. Representatives of organizations may also be requested to attend a Council meeting to provide a summary of how grant funds were used.