To be eligible for funding, applicants must be:  

• Part of the Acting for Climate Together Program  
• An individual, school, formal or informal group or service club, unincorporated local community association or register not-for-profit society 
• Located within an Electoral Area in the RDN or clearly demonstrate a direct impact, benefit or connection to an Electoral Area  

Ineligible applicants include:  

• For-profit businesses or ventures 
• Religious organizations that cannot show a clear separation between religious and community service functions 
• Political parties 
• Grant-making organizations 
• Industry or trade associations 
• Organizations with mandates from other levels of government (universities, schools, hospitals, etc.) 
• Landlord/tenant and condominium corporation 

Eligible projects include those that help reduce greenhouse gas emissions or enhance awareness and action on climate change. Projects eligible for funding under DWWP Stewardship Seed Funding are not eligible for Climate Action Seed Funding. Examples of eligible project types are listed below.  

Emission Reduction  

These projects could involve: 

• Increasing the uptake of energy efficiency retrofits in homes 
• Reducing the amount of waste directed to landfill 
• Decreasing neighbourhood reliance on personal vehicles 
• Increasing neighbourhood use of active transportation (walking/cycling) or public transportation 
• Exploring neighbourhood renewable energy sources 

Examples of emission reduction projects include:  

• Repair-a-thon or swap events 
• Bike repair or cycling clinics 
• Nature-based solutions such as carbon sequestration 
• Feasibility study for neighbourhood renewable energy sources 
• Programs that support walking, rolling, and cycling 
• Vehicle anti-idling school campaigns 
• Establishing sharing libraries 

Climate Adaptation and Resilience  

These projects could involve: 

• Extreme weather preparedness 
• Emergency response planning 
• Climate resilient agriculture 
• Ecosystem restoration 

Examples of climate adaptation and resilience projects include:  

• Initiatives to support vulnerable community members during extreme heat 
• Develop or maintain community or sharing gardens 
• Plant native plants or pollinator gardens that are resilient to future climate impacts 
• Community Emergency Preparedness Programs for Heat Waves 
• Home weatherization programs 

Educational Initiatives  

These projects could involve: 

• Hosting local climate focused workshops, information sessions or events 
• Creating interpretive art, activities or signage that engage the public about climate change 
• Leading citizen science projects and community research on climate action 
• Developing a neighbourhood communications and engagement campaign to promote climate action 

Examples of educational projects include:  

• Energy conservation education and outreach programs 
• Interactive workshops, project / concept demonstrations, or neighbourhood education events 
• Lobby displays 
• Zero-waste neighbourhood events 
• Interpretive art that engages and informs the public about climate action 
• Toolkits, guides, interpretive signage, walking tours 
• Citizen science projects and community research 
• Home energy efficiency workshops or training 

Up to $1,000 per project is available to cover the costs of: 

• Workshop expenses, facilitation / speaker fees 
• Communications and promotion (e.g. flyers, posters, printing) 
• Honoraria for Elders and Knowledge Keepers 
• Honoraria, food expenses, transit and personal protective gear for volunteers 
• Consultant and staffing fees 
• Volunteer recognition, volunteer food expenses at event/activity 
• Training and training expenses 
• Local travel expenses, taxi receipts, bus transportation 
• Equipment rentals 
• Small equipment purchases (any equipment purchased must remain within the community after the life of the project) 
• Permit fees, space rental, virtual meeting software, liability insurance for your event/activity 
• Interpretation and translation 
• Other expenses on a case-by-case basis 

Ineligible costs include:  

• Ongoing program costs: costs to run your current programs/services 
• Costs associated with the regular operation of your organization such as current staff salaries (unrelated to project) office rental, utilities, computer equipment, phones, fax, internet, accounting services, insurance, etc. 
• Income-generating activities for staff, group members (unrelated to project) 
• Costs to maintain activities beyond the funding term 
• Award ceremonies, banquets, receptions, annual general meetings, sport tournaments 
• Religious activities/services 
• Political activities 
• Alcohol 
• Land acquisition, lease or rental 
• Purchase of gasoline or diesel vehicles (cars/trucks/farming equipment) 
• Lobbying or advocacy on behalf of for-profit entities 
• Disbursement of funds to provide additional grants to other parties 
• Conference registration and travel fees 
• Personal vehicles and parking 
• Travel outside of the Regional District of Nanaimo 
• Reserve funds, debt repayment, deficit funding 
• Capital costs (i.e. building repairs, renovations, water service, etc.) 
• Core operating staff salaries and core operating costs of an organization 
• Projects funded from other sources for the same purpose or duplicate work done by other program funding sources 
• Retroactive requests (e.g. for expenses incurred prior to your application) 

Organizations and individuals applying for funding must be proposing a project that primarily serves RDN residents and is located within its boundaries. 

To be considered for funding, projects must be located within an Electoral Area in the Regional District of Nanaimo (RDN) or clearly demonstrate a direct impact, benefit, or connection with an Electoral Area.

Climate Action Seed Funding is different from regular grants because it follows a pre-approval and reimbursement process.  

Steps of the process:  

1. Read the info sections below to make sure your proposed project and expenses align with the Seed Funding requirements 

2. Submit a Pre-Approval Application: Start the process by submitting a pre-approval application if you're interested in the funding 

3. Review by the Regional District of Nanaimo: the RDN will evaluate the pre-approval application to determine if it qualifies for funding 

4. Complete Qualifying Work: once your application is approved, you'll need to carry out and finish the qualifying work related to your project 

5. Submit a Claim Form with valid receipts: after successfully completing the qualifying work, you'll be required to submit a formal Claim Form along with valid receipts for the expenses incurred, initiating the reimbursement process. 

Permission from the landowner is necessary if the proposed project is on land not owned by the applicant. This requirement extends to property owned by the RDN and its member municipalities. 

No, seed funding can be allocated to a project under the condition that the required permits, permissions, and/or notifications will be submitted to the RDN before work begins. 

No, but all pre-approved seed funding must be expended prior to December 31, 2025, to be eligible for reimbursement. Applicants must submit a Claim Form by December 31, 2025, to receive reimbursement for their pre-approved project expenses, but the overall project may extend beyond this timeframe. 

Yes, projects that take place within the Regional District of Nanaimo, including all four member municipalities (Nanaimo, Lantzville, Parksville, Qualicum Beach), can apply for seed funding, but the project must also directly clearly demonstrate a direct impact, benefit, or connection to an Electoral Area. 

Seed funding is based on an annual RDN Board-approved budget and cannot be allocated beyond the current calendar year. If you have multi-year or ongoing projects, you may apply for new funding in the following year for the same project.

Please note - this Seed Funding is meant to kick-start initiatives or help existing initiatives occur in new areas or try something else new - it is not intended to support repeated initiatives or regular programming. 

Yes. You need to complete the Claim Form and provide supporting receipts to receive funds. This Claim Form requires a project summary, including how RDN funding was spent, and what the results of the project were (e.g. number of program participants, estimated amount of greenhouse gas emissions reduced, amount of greenspace enhanced, or residents engaged). The Claim Form and supporting receipts must be received by the RDN by December 31, 2025, for pre-approved project expenses to be reimbursed.