On May 15, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) launched a $300 million fund to support sustainable affordable housing. This fund will help pay for the planning and delivery of retrofits and new construction for higher energy performance.
Here’s what we know so far from FCM….
The Green Municipal Fund (GMF) includes five funding options that offer support throughout the lifecycle of a construction project for affordable housing.
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Planning – grants of up to $25,000 to cover as much as 80% of your eligible costs. |
This grant supports the initial planning phase of projects in a variety of ways, according to the applicant’s needs. |
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Studies – grants of up to $175,000 to cover as much as 50% of your eligible costs. |
This grant can be used to determine in detail what is needed to implement an eligible pilot or capital project including
These assessments must demonstrate and validate the project’s environmental, social and economic benefits, in line with GMF’s environmental and affordability thresholds for capital projects under the Sustainable Affordable Housing (SAH) initiative (as outlined in the application guide). |
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Pilot projects – grants of up to $500,000 to cover as much as 80% of your eligible costs. |
Housing providers will be considered if they are planning a pilot project that demonstrates new, innovative energy-efficiency measures on a subset of units or buildings before full-scale implementation. |
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Retrofit capital projects – Retrofits to existing units can be financed for 80% of the eligible costs up to $10 million. |
The grants for retrofits are structured with performance incentives to encourage projects with aggressive targets and innovative approaches to reducing overall energy costs. A minimum grant of 25 % will be awarded for a reduction of 25 % in overall consumption. The share granted will increase in line with the percentage by which consumption is reduced. For example, a 35 % overall reduction in energy use will be awarded a 35 % grant, up to a maximum grant of 50 % of the total funded amount. See application guide for details. *Northern providers are eligible for additional funding. |
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New-built capital projects – Providers interested in building new units may apply for financing of 20 % of total eligible costs, again to a maximum of $10 million, including a grant of up to 50 % of the FCM-funded amount. |
New buildings must target net zero energy, or be net zero ready, in order to be eligible. The turnaround time is four to six months for all applications for capital projects. |
FCM’s Sustainable Affordable Housing: Application Guide includes more detailed information and eligibility requirements for providers of housing.
Click here for details and to apply. Contact FCM at gmfinfo@fcm.ca or 1-877-417-0550 for answers to any questions you may have.