Grant Program FAQs

Applicants can include registered charities or other qualified recipients such as incorporated non-profit organizations with audited financial statements, municipalities, First Nations and Indigenous communities, and conservation authorities.

Organizations can apply individually or in collaboration with others. Lead applicants must be a registered charity or non-profit organization.

The Foundation does not fund individuals.

Yes, the Foundation does fund municipal governments to undertake innovative and leading-edge projects that benefit the Greenbelt.

A list of eligible/ineligible costs and activities can be found in Appendix A and Appendix B of the Grant Guidelines.

Typically, the Foundation does not consider requests for:

• Buildings and infrastructure (i.e. bricks, mortar)
• Deficit financing
• Land claim disputes
• Establishment of new farmers’ markets
• Projects occurring outside the Greenbelt and Greater Golden Horseshoe region
• Projects that are solely sponsorships, festivals, and events
• General management costs for the recipient or grantees, including board and committee meetings that are not specific to the Project
• Legal costs not necessary for the Project
• Costs of alcohol
• Costs of travel outside Ontario
• Costs associated with preparing and submitting grant proposals and letters of intent, unless funding is given for a planning grant or feasibility study
• Refundable expenses

It is essential that each project has an obvious relation to, and direct impact on the Greenbelt.
Please review our maps of the Greenbelt for reference.

Typically, the Greenbelt Foundation will consider funding proposals (in each of the three streams) between $10,00-$100,000.  

Yes, the Foundation funds salary and administration costs for hiring new staff or extending the existing hours of current staff required to carry out the project. A reasonable proportion of management staff time for supervision will also be considered.

No, staff and consultants are not considered overhead. There are separate budget lines for those two expenditures in the budget template. Overhead is a portion of rent, utilities etc.

Matching funds are strongly encouraged but not required. The Foundation tracks the amount of funds leveraged through grantmaking and leveraged funds will garner favourability for approvals.

For larger funding requests, the Greenbelt Foundation strongly encourages grantees to seek funding beyond just the Greenbelt Foundation. Larger funding requests with confirmed funding from other sources, will be viewed more favourably than those without confirmed and/or anticipated funding.