Funding Opportunity – Infrastructure Canada – Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB)

December 14, 2022

Applications for Infrastructure Canada’s Green and Inclusive Community Buildings (GICB) Program are now open.

• Funding Amount: For small ($100k-$250k) and medium retrofit projects ($250k to just under $3 million)
• Matching funds: The GICB program will provide funding up to 80% of the total eligible project costs.
• Duration: Eligible costs covered include those incurred between April 1, 2021 and March 31, 2026.
• Statement of Interest (SOI) due:  no later than January 17, 2023

The Government of Canada announced up to $1.5 billion in federal funding over five years to the establish the GICB program. The Program supports retrofits, repairs and upgrades of existing publicly-accessible community buildings  that serve underserved and high-needs communities across Canada. Funding through this Program will build and adapt community buildings to reduce carbon emissions, advance best practices to implement GHG mitigation measures, foster awareness and alignment to green building standards nationally and internationally, and encourage best practices in building design for climate change resilience.

Retrofit projects that meet all mandatory eligibility criteria are evaluated based on the strength of the application and will receive a merit score in relation to the following criteria:

• Located in and demonstrate the ability to serve one or more communities with high needs: Projects that provide greater benefits to high need communities will receive a higher score.

• Increased accessibility: Projects that increase accessibility and projects that commit to including accessibility elements that meet the highest standards for accessibility will receive a higher score.

• GHG Reductions: Projects that demonstrate the ability to achieve greater GHG emission reductions relative to the buildings baseline will receive a higher score.

• Energy Savings: Projects that will achieve at least 25% in energy efficiency improvements compared to the building’s baseline energy consumption, as calculated with the RETScreen Expert software, will receive a higher score.
  (Note: All retrofit projects are required to submit a RETScreen profile including building characteristics, current energy consumption, proposed measures, project costs, etc.)

• Climate resiliency and adoption of best practices: Projects that demonstrate strong climate resiliency considerations and measures will receive a higher score. Applicants must consult climate data to identify climate risks relevant to their project/building location. Projects that provide clear, reasonable and accurate detail for why climate resiliency is already addressed/ not within the scope of the project will not be subject to this criterion and will be assessed relative to other project merits.

• Confidence in delivery/risk: Applicants who can demonstrate strong project risk identification and propose practical mitigation measures will receive a higher score. Other factors considered under this criterion include outcomes of community consultation(s) undertaken, permits identified/obtained, phase of the project’s design.

Please review the GICB Applicant Guide (Dec. 2022) and the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) for additional information.

If you are interested in applying, please contact the Funding and Grants Coordinators: Max Smith (max.smith@trca.ca) or Samuel Hale (samuel.hale@trca.ca) to discuss your project’s eligibility.