The Real Estate Foundation approved a total of 29 grants totalling $1,135,074 at the April 2013 meeting. This includes $375,000 for seven Real Estate Industry Grants (located at the end of the list). The projects are listed in alphabetical order, by recipient organization.

Affordable Housing Education Awareness and Development to support planning, delivery and follow up actions for a one-day forum on food security and social housing in BC. $9,500

BC Conservation Foundation, on behalf of the South Coast Conservation Program, for a pilot to implement recommendations and develop a provincial vision for species and ecosystems at risk protection on private land. $48,200

BC Land Summit Society for the 2014 BC Land Summit, a comprehensive interdisciplinary conference, networking and learning event for land related professionals. $120,000

BC Wildlife Federation to deliver workshops, working group sessions, and wetland mapping in selected regions of south-central and south-east BC. $16,200

Bird Studies Canada to enhance local conservation of birds and biodiversity in coastal areas of eastern Vancouver Island and the Lower Mainland. $35,275

City of Campbell River to develop an interactive online food map showing where local food is grown, sold, served and land is available for small scale farming. $12,900

Cultivate Canada for a Sole Food Farms toolkit to help other communities turn urban land into viable farms and to create a movable orchard in Vancouver. $96,000

District of Tumbler Ridge to support the development of a sustainability plan, which will integrate the District’s existing community plan and zoning bylaws. $53,655

Evergreen to engage community members in a monitoring and restoration program for creeks and wetlands in Burnaby, North Vancouver and Vancouver. $10,000

Invasive Species Council of BC to provide guidelines to assist governments, property owners, and other residents to reduce invasive species impacts. $20,000

Light House Sustainable Building Centre Society for a plan to transform the False Creek Flats industrial area into a “green”  hub to recover value from waste materials, water and energy. $14,163

Light House Sustainable Building Centre Society to create a framework  that will increase energy efficiency in retrofits of residential buildings, across several climates and building types. $78,617

Nature Trust of BC to expand the former East Kootenay Conservation Program to the West Kootenays and create the Kootenay Conservation Program. $30,000

Okanagan Nation Alliance to involve ONA youth in implementing indigenous collaborative watershed planning in Okanagan, Fraser and Columbia basins. $25,400

Penticton Urban Agriculture Association to establish urban farms on underutilized business properties; and distribute the produce to low income residents in Penticton. $2,250

Savary Island Land Trust Society to research and produce an online and print map of the island’s old growth forest and sensitive ecosystems and increase public awareness. $4,400

University of BC – Collaborative for Advanced Landscape Planning to transform the CALP Guide to Community Energy into an interactive Web-interface tool and share information with local government. $70,000

University of BC – Centre for Sustainable Food Systems to conduct research to characterize the potential of cooperative and public farmland protection initiatives and community farms in BC. $14,569

Waterlution to hold a month-long program on discussion and problem solving around issues of natural gas production and transportation. $40,000

Wildsight to deliver the first year of a public engagement and education outreach program in five lake communities across the Columbia Basin. $20,000

Wildsight to implement a community based groundwater monitoring pilot project in the Upper Columbia region of BC. $9,000

Windermere District Farmers Institute to research the viability of a program to help offset the cost of on-farm measures that enhance the ecological services on the property. $29,945

The Real Estate Foundation earmarks a percentage of its yearly grants budget to help fund projects put forward by the BC Real Estate Association, the Real Estate Council of BC, the Real Estate Institute of BC and the regional real estate boards and associations. These are the organizations that participated in the Foundation’s creation and through the work of whose members the Foundation’s revenue stream is generated. Below are the successful grant applications for 2013.

BC Northern Real Estate Board to assist with the travel and accommodation costs of instructors delivering continuing professional education to BCNREB member REALTORS®. $6,700

BC Real Estate Association to support new course offerings for the Professional Development Program, as part of BCREA’s three-year Transformative Education Plan. $100,000

BC Real Estate Association for research and consultation with managing brokers and real estate franchisors to create better alignment with REALTOR® education. $25,000

Fraser Valley Real Estate Board to conduct member segmentation research for a strategic alignment of programs and services to better serve their members and the public. $75,000

Kootenay Real Estate Board to assist with the travel and accommodation costs of instructors delivering continuing professional education to KREB member REALTORS®. $6,300

Real Estate Council of BC for development of a Strata Dispute Online Self-help Tool, which will assist strata owners, renters, council members, and property managers. $150,000

Real Estate Institute of BC to conduct a study on options for improving the cost-effectiveness and time efficiency of modular housing construction. $12,000