Indigenous Food Sovereignty Association at Tea Creek, Gitxsan Laxyip. Photo: Stephen Hui
REFBC Grants Support Housing Solutions and Indigenous-Led Conservation
At their September 2023 meeting, the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s Board of Governors approved 20 grants totalling $3,179,436.
REFBC grants support law and policy reform, applied research, community engagement, and professional and public education to advance sustainable, equitable, and socially just land use and real estate practices across BC.
In our work, we are committed to upholding and advancing implementation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). It is important for us to prioritize Indigenous-led projects and work that supports justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Since 1988, REFBC has awarded more than $100 million to non-profit organizations working to strengthen BC communities and protect our shared land and water.
The Fall 2023 grants are listed alphabetically by recipient organization below.
Fall 2023 Grants
BC Non-Profit Housing Association
Transforming Energy Use in the Non-Profit Housing Sector
To support reducing the energy consumption and environmental impact of non-profit housing through the development of a building life-cycle assessment tool, a municipal education program, and other resources.
$300,000
Cheakamus Foundation for Environmental Learning
We Are One: Building a Greener, Cleaner Future With Indigenous Youth
To offer high-performance building workshops to Indigenous youth, in partnership with the Aboriginal Housing Management Association, through the Cheakamus Centre.
$40,000
Community Energy Association
Climate Leaders Implementation Network: Relationship-Based Collaboration
To build stronger regional networks of local government staff and elected officials dedicated to climate action, and to help local governments and First Nations build relationships and explore possibilities for collaboration.
$300,000
Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society
Building Operations Led by Tenants in SROs
To scale up BOLTS, a peer-led repair and maintenance program for tenants of single room occupancy buildings, to help maintain safe and affordable housing in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.
$30,000
FarmFolk CityFolk Society
Climate Solutions Through Food Systems: Elevating Indigenous Agriculture and Food
To build relationships with Indigenous farmers, ranchers, and food sovereignty leaders, develop resources, create mentorship opportunities, and facilitate knowledge sharing.
$300,000
First Nations Technology Council
Indigenous Digital Equity Strategy: Movement Building
To engage First Nations communities in the development of the Indigenous Digital Equity Strategy, which will offer a vision for Indigenous ownership, creation, and usage of digital technologies with respect for Indigenous rights and worldviews.
$200,000
Gathering Voices Society
Bringing Fire Back to the Land: Building Resilience Through Carbon Financing
To explore the potential use of carbon credits to finance Yuneŝit’in fire stewardship activities, which mitigate wildfire risk and are an expression of Tŝilhqot’in sovereignty, title, and culture.
$240,000
Harmony Foundation of Canada
Great Caribou Rainforest Indigenous Protected and Conserved Area
To establish the Great Caribou Rainforest Alliance in partnership with the Canim Lake Band (Tsq’escenemc), Simpcw First Nation, Williams Lake First Nation (T’exelcemc), and Xatśūll First Nation, and support planning and implementation of an Indigenous protected and conserved area.
$60,000
IISAAK OLAM Foundation
Evaluating the IPCA Planning Certificate and Ensuring Its Long-Term Success
To redesign the world’s first postsecondary program specializing in planning for Indigenous protected and conserved areas to strengthen its impact, in partnership with Vancouver Island University.
$85,000
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Association
Indigenous Food Sovereignty Networking and Capacity Building
To establish an Indigenous Food Sovereignty Network to support capacity building, collaboration, education, and funding for food sovereignty projects in Indigenous communities.
$375,000
Peace and Unity Program (Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition)
Peace and Unity Summit
To bring Indigenous and non-Indigenous people together to build relationships, share knowledge, and work together to improve collective stewardship of the Upper Skeena watershed.
$49,340
Pembina Institute
Moving CleanBC Forward Through Equity and Accountability
To develop a roadmap for scaling up deep retrofits of affordable housing and to advance equitable access to renewable energy for remote and Indigenous communities.
$150,000
Shuswap Band (Kenpesq’t)
Strategic Kekuli Mapping and Carbon Dating
To identify and catalogue kekuli (pithouse) sites to preserve Secwépemc heritage, assert Indigenous rights and title, and support land stewardship.
$50,000
Sierra Club of BC Foundation
Building Capacity for Indigenous-led Forest Conservation
To support Indigenous-led visions for land use and objectives for forest conservation through an online toolkit, technical support, and strategic analysis.
$150,000
Simon Fraser University (Morris J. Wosk Centre for Dialogue)
Moving in a Livable Region
For Moving in a Livable Region to engage the public in reimagining a Metro Vancouver transit system that’s accessible, climate resilient, and financially stable.
$75,000
Small Housing BC Society
A Two-Eyed Seeing Approach to Gentle Density Housing in BC
To collaborate with Indigenous communities on the creation of culturally appropriate solutions for gentle density housing (e.g. houseplexes, laneway homes, lock-off suites, pocket neighborhoods, etc.).
$200,000
Thompson Okanagan Tourism Association
Transforming Land Use Planning Through Indigenous Partnerships
To support the Okanagan Collaborative Conservation Program in working, in partnership with the Okanagan Nation Alliance, on collaborative planning for kɬúsx̌nítkw (Okanagan Lake) and the Okanagan Mountain-k’nmalka wildlife corridor, as well as on a cumulative impacts tool for land use planning.
$100,000
West Coast Environmental Law Association
Land Relationships for Healing and Revitalization in the Lower Fraser
To continue co-chairing the Boundary Bay Living Dike Roundtable and supporting the Lower Fraser Floodplains Coalition in partnership with the Emergency Planning Secretariat, and collaborating with the Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance through the RELAW (Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air, and Water) program.
$240,000
Wild Bird Trust of BC
Repairing Relations: Land-Based Learning, Place-Based Healing
To repair and strengthen relations with the Tsleil-Waututh Nation (səlilwətaɬ) by collaborating on a land-based education program for Tsleil-Waututh youth at Maplewood Flats, as well as to support a community of practice for settler-led organizations learning how to work in right relations with Indigenous Peoples.
$225,000
Yuneŝit’in Government
Tŝilhqot’in Wildfire Prototype House Communications
To produce a short film about a Yuneŝit’in-led project to build a prototype home suited to Tŝilhqot’in cultural values and increasing wildfire risk, while building capacity for healthy housing design and construction in the community.
$10,096
Funding Opportunities
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