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Funding opportunity returns! GICB program opening new intake for retrofits and new builds

July 18, 2024 – Sean Fraser, Minister of Housing, Infrastructure and Communities, announced the dates for a new intake of applications through the Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program.

The online application portal will open:

August 1, 2024, for small and medium retrofit projects whose eligible costs range from $100,000 to $2,999,999.

September 4, 2024, for large retrofit projects and new builds whose eligible costs range from $3 million to $25 million.

To be eligible for funding consideration, all retrofit projects are encouraged to achieve at least 25% in energy efficiency improvements compared to the building’s baseline energy consumption.

(The GICB program also helps fund the construction of new publicly accessible buildings in underserved communities.)

Projects with greater energy efficiency improvements will receive a higher score and are more likely to be selected for funding. Projects that demonstrate the ability to achieve greater GHG emission reductions relative to the building’s baseline will receive a higher score.

Retrofit measures that increase an eligible building’s accessibility and/or safety are eligible under the GICB Program provided the project “also meets the program’s green retrofit measures criteria” (i.e. ambitious energy efficiency improvements).

The following community buildings/assets are eligible for retrofit projects:

• Community, culture and recreation facilities (e.g. community centres, public sports and recreation facilities, cultural buildings, libraries; child and youth centres, community adult learning centres, seniors activity centres).
• Community health and wellness facilities (e.g. food safety and security, community food storage facilities, greenhouses and food banks, community health centres, addictions and mental health centres, rehabilitation centres).
• Indigenous health and social infrastructure facilities (e.g. short-term medical recovery facilities, long-term care facilities/elders lodges, family violence and homeless shelters).
• Indigenous education facilities (e.g. schools, universities and colleges, early childhood and daycares)

Eligible applicants include provincial, territorial, and local governments, not-for-profit and Indigenous organizations, as well as applicants who were unsuccessful under previous intakes.

Both intake streams will close October 16, 2024, at 3 pm EDT.

DOWNLOAD THE Applicant Guide (PDF): GICB-Applicant-Guide-BCVI-Guide-du-demandeur-EN

This will be the third intake under the GICB program, which sees the federal government help fund retrofits, repairs, and upgrades to existing community buildings to increase their energy efficiency and reduce emissions, and to make them more accessible.

The Green and Inclusive Community Buildings program launched in 2021 with an initial investment of $1.5 billion over five years. Budget 2024 committed an additional $500 million to support more projects until March 2029.

The program aims to have at least 10% of funding allocated to projects serving First Nations, Inuit, and Métis communities, including Indigenous populations in urban centres.