Conditions of Participation

Any charitable or non-profit organization registered in Canada that can show that its project is not personal or lucrative in nature but serves the interests of the communities involved is eligible for a grant from the Foundation. Included are municipalities involved in projects that preserve and enhance natural environments (see the Grant Agreement section).

Any project that is in line with the Foundation's mission and principles and contributes to the achievement of its objectives is eligible for grants from the Foundation.

A project (or component of a project) must be carried out in Québec to qualify for financial assistance from the Foundation.

From the time the Foundation began operation in 2001 until 2005, it accepted applications for programs that promoted projects dealing primarily with animal and plant species that are at risk, and with habitat acquisition.

Since 2006, the Foundation has put more emphasis on projects that reflect local communities' willingness to undertake the stewardship of the natural environments where they are likely to have an impact.

Projects whose main objective is not strictly environmental may be submitted to the Foundation if they have a significant and relevant environmental component and do not involve any risk for sensitive environmental elements in the area concerned. Only the environmental component will be eligible for grants from the Foundation

The Foundation does not accept the following types of projects:

• Projects that enhance general environmental awareness (climate change, pollution, resource overharvesting, greenhouse gases, water quality, energy efficiency, etc.)
• Fund-raising campaigns or any other type of financing or sponsorship projects
• Projects to create or contribute to an endowment fund
• Projects that are solely for embellishment or comfort (e.g., noise or odor barriers)
• Project to reduce air pollution (e.g., car pooling)
• Greening of schoolyards, alleys or community gardens, green roofs or simplification of environmentally friendly horticultural or agricultural practices
• Waste collection, recycling or recovery
• Projects aimed solely at recreation, tourism or the economy, with no environmental component
• Knowledge acquisition, inventories, or feasibility or other exploratory studies
• Experimental, scientific, university or fundamental research or R&D projects or technology demonstrations
• Recurring activities (e.g., clean-up crew, repeated dissemination of a training or awareness program)
• Projects consisting of activities that are already in progress or have been completed
• Creating or updating data banks
• Projects resulting from legal obligations (e.g., environmental impact assessment, decontamination of industrial or commercial sites, dam rehabilitation)
• Projects that interfere with the primary function of Hydro-Québec's facilities

The Foundation generally does not accept the following types of projects:

• Direct action to increase wildlife or plant populations for harvesting (e.g., fish stocking) or reintroduce extirpated species. However, if the projects have habitat enhancement, awareness-raising or education components, these components are eligible.
• Museum and interpretation centre projects that are not related to the natural environment or are aimed solely at acquiring, building or developing infrastructure. The Foundation is specifically interested in themes that encourage behavioral change regarding a local environmental issue
• Organization of or attendance at workshops, seminars, conferences, etc.
• Voluntary conservation projects (private stewardship)
• Conservation through land acquisition, except projects that will directly or indirectly protect a habitat that is rich in biodiversity and that are part of a broader conservation and development plan which clearly establishes the various functions and uses for the land acquired

The project must clearly demonstrate the uniqueness and sustainability of the site. The project proponent must supply two credible property assessments for the land in question.

Priority will be given to projects with an educational or public awareness component that explains the conservation issues associated with the acquisition. Ideally, 50% of the Foundation's grant would be allocated to the "education" or "development" component of the project and 50% to acquisition of the land. In principle, the site should also be open to the general public, but with controlled access.

The Foundation does not fund the following expenses:

• Annual meetings, rent, maintenance or any other general administration or operating expenses that are not directly related to the project

  Depending on the type of project, directly related project management fees may be accepted, up to 10% of the total amount granted by the Foundation. These fees may include file management, office supplies and equipment, telephone, fax, photocopies, messenger service, Internet, computer and digital equipment, and accounting

• Preliminary activities (feasibility study, methodology, fund-raising, legal fees, fact-finding, inventory, land characterization, property appraisal, etc.)
• Communication, promotion or marketing activities not specifically related to the project (e.g., lobbying, building organization Web sites)
• Costs associated with legal obligations (e.g., property taxes, permits)

The project schedule must be realistic and suitable for the project objectives and scale. In general, since the Foundation operates on a one-year cycle, the projects it funds usually last twelve months.

The project may, however, be part of a broader plan, since many organizations take a long-term perspective. In this instance, and if the organization so requests, a grant may be awarded for a maximum of two consecutive years, on the condition that it applies to successive phases of the same project.

To provide the Foundation with an overview, the proponent must clearly specify the phases of the project to which the Foundation would contribute and briefly describe previous phases completed and future phases planned. An interim report must be submitted to the Foundation at the end of the first year and the grant for the second year would be conditional on achieving the objectives of the phases completed in Year 1.

The Foundation will not commit to granting funds for all phases of such a project; however, the sustainability of phases funded by the Foundation must be clearly demonstrated, even if the Foundation does not award a grant for subsequent phases at a later date.

• Sources of funding, other than the Foundation, must be specified with the amounts provided by every partner. An itemized budget (salaries and employee benefits, professional fees, management, communications, equipment, materials, supplies, specialized services, etc.) must be provided, specifying those items for which the amount requested from the Foundation will be used. If any partners provide contributions in kind (loan of personnel, equipment, premises, etc.), these should be listed along with their monetary value.
• A chartered accountant must prepare an independent audit of the financial statements of any project for which more than $25,000 is requested.
• Financing for the project must comply with the following conditions:

* Any type of external funding will be favorably viewed in the project evaluation.

** No funds will be paid unless letters of confirmation from the other funding sources are supplied, specifying the cash amounts or fair market value of the contributions. Examples:

• If you apply for $60,000 from the Foundation, you must obtain other funding of at least $20,000 and provide confirmation.
• If you apply for $120,000 from the Foundation, you must obtain other funding of at least $120,000 and provide confirmation.

*** The cost of the independent audit, to be conducted by a chartered accountant and incorporated into the final project report, must be included in the budget submitted.

These ceilings apply to the entire project if it is solely environmental. For any other kind of project, the ceilings only apply to the environmental component.

The Foundation often receives grant requests from a variety of national organizations or other environmental donors for large-scale initiatives. To meet this growing demand, the Foundation intends to participate in concerted efforts with these organizations to ensure their initiative generates high-quality projects. The Foundation could then choose which projects it wants to support and fund.

The Foundation would thus work with capacity-building organizations that have recognized environmental expertise and that wish and are able to design and implement strategic plans to address multiregional or large-scale environmental issues.

This approach will enable us to extend the scope of solutions designed and implemented at the local level and transform them into sustainable social innovations by generating a series of projects with significant benefits for the environment and for the communities involved.

The Foundation would become involved in such concerted efforts on a multiyear basis with a commitment that would not exceed three years but could possibly be renewable. The resulting projects must meet the same evaluation criteria and grant conditions as those submitted individually. For each project selected, funds will be paid directly to the proponent, with whom the Foundation will sign a grant agreement as it would for any other project. There are four different grant agreements and their terms vary depending on the type of project. This is why it is very important to identify the type of agreement that applies to your project.

Organizations and other environmental donors seeking to develop a large-scale project that could be part of a concerted effort are invited to submit a letter of intent to the Foundation. The letter, which may be sent at any time, should briefly describe (in a few pages) the issue, proposed initiative, desired results, target communities and other anticipated sources of funding.

The Foundation therefore awards grants for two types of projects:

• Those involving a concerted effort that is compatible with its mission, objectives and principles
• Those for which a grant application is submitted individually