WHEREAS the Province invites applications for grant opportunities to local governments on a regular basis; AND WHEREAS these applications are often requested on very short notice, with program parameters often changing, involving considerable costs and time challenges for local governments: THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Union of BC Municipalities lobby the Province to consider resource and timing challenges as part of the grant application process, and ensure that submittal times are reflective of communities with limited resources.
Ministry of Community Services The time from program announcement to grants being awarded is typically 18 months for capital grant programs and 6 months for planning grants. In order to provide a fair assessment of all applications, the window for applications is typically two to three months from the date of invitation. Ministry staff work closely with local governments to ensure that they understand the requirements, and can provide the necessary materials within the established timeframes. The Ministry considers applications as a whole, in order to rank them fairly according to program priorities. While application deadlines could be extended, this would increase total time from program announcements to funding commitments.