BC Community Climate Funding Guide

With more than $64,000 in support from UBCM’s $369-million Community Emergency Preparedness Fund, the Alberni-Clayoquot Regional District, in partnership with the Huu-ay-aht First Nations, Toquaht Nation and the Uchucklesaht Tribe, are working to develop an evacuation route plan for the west coast of the region. The route breaks up the Alberni Valley into manageable geographic zones, each with muster points and reception centres, to help ensure the safety of residents – even those in remote communities – in the event of a large-scale emergency such as a tsunami, an earthquake, a wildfire or flooding.   

With a $269,799 boost from the UBCM Community Works Fund, the City of Richmond is continuing its mission to replace its worn-out high-pressure sodium streetlights with more energy-efficient LEDs. By the end of this year, approximately 1,200 fixtures throughout Richmond will have been converted, reducing energy consumption by 350,000 kilowatt hours and rewarding the city with $30,000 in annual savings. 

Thanks to the largest infrastructure grant the community has ever received, the Town of Golden has massively boosted its resilience to climate change. The $5.9 million provided by the Canada Community-Building Fund through the UBCM Community Works Fund allowed Golden to take on the Kicking Horse River Dike Improvement Project, constructing a flood protection wall along the river and heightening dikes throughout the town to protect against rising water levels. 

Through a combination of federal and provincial support, the City of Kamloops completed a $13.5 million project to upgrade the energy efficiency of its Canada Games Aquatic Centre. The project started with a need to replace the centre’s critical ageing infrastructure. But – thanks to provincial and federal funding – it turned into an opportunity to simultaneously improve the environmental performance of the building. Bolstered by more than $1.1 million from the provincial government through the CleanBC Communities Fund and $1.37 million from the federal government, the city was able to install a heat-recovery system that uses the heat that evaporates off the pool to warm the new air entering the building. This reduces the centre’s reliance on natural gas and lowers its greenhouse gas emissions – taking Kamloops one important step closer to meeting its climate goals.

A $500,000 grant from Forestry Innovation Investment’s Mass Timber Demonstration Program is helping build one of the first zero-emissions mass timber buildings in Canada. The District of Saanich’s new fire station – slated for completion in 2023 – will feature a steel and timber post-and-beam system with a cross-laminated timber roof, all topped off with solar panels. The station will showcase innovative uses of B.C. wood and serve as a template for how mass timber can be used in a building designed to withstand emergencies – all while meeting ambitious environmental targets.