REFBC Grants Support Indigenous Land Governance and Food Sovereignty

At their June and July 2023 meetings, the Real Estate Foundation of BC’s Board of Governors approved 44 grants totalling $4,685,247.

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. It is important for us to prioritize Indigenous-led projects and projects that support 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 Summer 2023 grants are listed alphabetically by recipient organization below.

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Aboriginal Coalition to End Homelessness Society

Implementing Equitable, Healthy, and Culturally Supportive Housing

To implement a five-year strategy to provide culturally appropriate and safe housing for unhoused Indigenous people on Vancouver Island.

$49,743

Climate Caucus Council

Supporting BC Locally Elected Climate Leaders

To provide training and resources to support elected representatives pursuing climate solutions, affordable housing, and smart growth at the local government level, in partnership with the BC Non-Profit Housing Association, Hlimoo Sustainable Solutions, and Renewable Cities.

$120,000

Create Climate Equity

Engaging BC’s Diverse Homeowners and Residents in Climate Action

To provide workshops in multiple languages to support newcomers and immigrants in taking climate action by reducing carbon pollution, as well as energy costs, from homes in the Lower Mainland.

$100,000

David Suzuki Institute

The Fair Shares Project: Organizing Diasporic Communities for the Climate Crisis

For the Climate Emergency Unit to bring together leaders of South Asian and other diasporic communities to deepen understanding of climate equity and Indigenous sovereignty, and determine and advocate for climate policy goals.

$40,000

Home Performance Stakeholder Council Association

Enhancing Residential Retrofit Capacity in Indigenous and Underserved Communities

To build relationships with Indigenous and marginalized communities and undertake learning on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion with a view to achieving better representation in the Home Performance Contractor Network.

$45,000

Kanaka Bar Indian Band (T’eqt’aqtn’mux)

Crossing Place Food Self-Sufficiency Expansion

To establish food production infrastructure and increase food security for residents of new homes at The Crossing Place.

$50,000

Kitasoo/Xai’xais Nation

Progressing the Kitasoo/Xai’xais Stewardship Vision

To establish Indigenous protected and conserved areas in key watersheds, conduct cultural resource surveys, and monitor stream health.

$450,000

Klinse-za Cultural Society

Miyopimâtisowin

To provide experiential, land-based learning opportunities for Indigenous youth in Treaty 8 territory to participate in traditional food harvesting, growing, and preservation activities and assert Indigenous rights to hunt and fish.

$50,000

Ktunaxa Nation Council Society

Protecting Indigenous Cultural Values and Fish and Wildlife Habitat on Kootenay Lake

To conduct a cultural value study around Kootenay Lake, which will inform the incorporation of traditional ecological knowledge and values in the Kootenay Lake Partnership’s Shoreline Guidance Document for decision-makers and development proponents.

$54,023

Laichwiltach Family Life Society

Strathcona Community Food Hub

To employ a coordinator for an Indigenous-led community food network and support food sovereignty initiatives in the Strathcona region.

$40,200

Lhtako Dené Nation

Lhtako Dené Fisheries Summer Student Program

To train youth from the Lhtako Dené and Nazko First Nations in watershed monitoring, stewardship, and management, as well as cumulative effects assessment, in line with cultural values.

$177,450

Lillooet Tribal Council

St’át’imc Warrior Program

For St’át’imc Outreach Health Services to bring together young men to develop leadership skills, learn ancestral teachings, receive mentorship, and heal on the land.

$50,000

Líl̓wat Nation

Supporting Land Stewardship and Connection by Líl̓wat Nation Skél7awlh (Stewards)

To provide training and acquire equipment for Skél7awlh (stewards) of Líl̓wat lands, share knowledge with partners, and develop culturally appropriate interpretative signage at Háwint (Tenquille Lake).

$50,000

Little Shuswap Lake Band (Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw)

Secwepemcúĺecw Heritage Centre Planning Project

To conduct research and community engagement toward the creation of a Secwépemc cultural heritage centre.

$20,000

Lower Fraser Fisheries Alliance

Revitalizing Indigenous Law for Land, Air, and Water With the LFFA

To advance First Nations watershed and fisheries governance on the Lower Fraser River (Stó:lō/sq̓ʷa·nƛ ̓ íləł stáləw) — by incorporating Indigenous knowledge and legal principles in the work, identifying Canada’s obligations under the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and supporting the training of water guardians — in collaboration with West Coast Environmental Law’s RELAW program.

$50,000

Malahat Nation (MÁLEXEL)

Malahat Nation Community Garden

To staff a food garden and medicinal plant garden, provide workshops during the growing season, and distribute starter kits to community members.

$30,000

Nawalakw Culture Project (MakeWay Charitable Society)

Nawalakw Food Security Program

To promote food security and sovereignty in Kwakwa̱ka̱ʼwakw communities through mentorship for youth on traditional harvesting, gardening and cooking workshops, building knowledge-sharing partnerships, and growing food on a demonstration farm.

$225,000

Okanagan Indian Band

Food Security: Growing and Harvesting Food on Indigenous Land

To build a food garden, which will help the community become more self-sufficient, provide skills training, and empower young farmers.

$50,000

Okanagan Nation Alliance

snpintktn (Penticton) Oxbow Restoration Project

To engage local schools in the restoration of an oxbow wetland ecosystem using native plants and traditional Syilx planting practices.

$21,743

Okanagan Nation Alliance

Weaving Together Syilx Knowledge and Science to Restore and Protect KiɁlawnaɁ Populations

To conduct monitoring and mapping of kiɁlawnaɁ (grizzly bears) in the Okanagan Highland, develop a plan for cultural burning, and identify priorities for habitat restoration and stewardship using a two-eyed seeing approach.

$44,950

Organizing for Change (MakeWay Charitable Society)

Opportunities for Transformational Old Growth and Conservation Policies

To advance the prioritization of biodiversity and Indigenous cultural values in BC forest management through policy reform.

$30,000

Pelltiq’t First Nation (Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band)

Planting for Independence

To support food sovereignty and reduce grocery expenses in a Secwépemc community through planting, harvesting, and preserving activities and workshops.

$50,000

POLIS Water Sustainability Project (University of Victoria)

Realizing a Secure Future for BC Watersheds: Leadership, Law, and Governance Reform

To support robust implementation of BC’s Water Sustainability Act and Watershed Security Strategy through reports, briefings, and webinars.

$360,000

Qqs (Eyes) Projects Society

Youth Leading on the Land

For camps supporting Haíłzaqv (Heiltsuk) youth leaders, who are taking on roles as land and water stewards, with mentorship from community leaders and knowledge holders.

$30,000

Reel Youth (MakeWay Charitable Society)

Fresh Connections 3.0

For an online program bringing together Indigenous and non-Indigenous BC residents to create video poems reflecting on their relationship to the land, in the context of the Indigenous territories they live on.

$20,000

Resilient Waters (MakeWay Charitable Society)

Advancing Principled Flood Resilience for the Lower Mainland

To support the Lower Fraser Floodplains Coalition in convening regional forums, hosting workshops, and reviewing policies and making recommendations to advance a co-governance approach to flood planning and management with First Nations, as well as climate-resilient and fish-friendly floodplain solutions.

$75,000

Rise Up Indigenous Wellness Society

Land Is Medicine

To cultivate the next generation of land guardians and water stewards through inclusive day camps that immerse urban Indigenous children and families in cultural teachings.

$19,500

Savage Production Society

Fire Stories of Interior Salish People

To record and share Nlaka’pamux fire stories in collaboration with the Interior Salish Firekeepers Society.

$35,000

Seabird Island Band (Sq’éwqel)

Indigenous Real Estate Educational Initiative

To host a workshop providing Indigenous people in and around the Fraser Valley an opportunity to learn about the real estate industry and the process of becoming a realtor, and network with professionals.

$20,000

Secwepemcul’ecw Restoration and Stewardship Society

Indigenous Seed Collection Training Program

To establish a Secwépemc seed collection program to preserve culturally significant plants for future generations, support watershed restoration, help species at risk recover, and enhance climate resilience.

$50,000

Skidegate Band

Skidegate Band Youth Mentorship

For Chiefs, Elders, and knowledge keepers to teach Haida youth about traditional food harvesting and values on the land and sea.

$20,000

Smart Prosperity Institute

Advancing an Indigenous-Led Conservation and Climate Facility in Southwest BC

To conduct research and build capacity for conservation finance mechanisms that will support the Stein-Nahatlatch Indigenous protected and conserved area and local economic development.

$200,000

Social Planning Cowichan

Quw’utsun’ Legacy Trust: Protecting Xpey’ (Cedar) and Other Cultural Values

To support the Quw’utsun’ Cultural Connections Society in taking steps toward to the establishment of an Indigenous-led land trust, as well as in engaging schools and the public on the importance of protecting and restoring xpey’ (cedar) forests.

$450,000

St’át’imc Government Services

Post-Wildfire Food Sovereignty in St’át’imc Territory

To research the ecological impacts of wildfires and document traditional knowledge to inform land management and sustain access to culturally significant plant foods in a changing climate.

$50,000

Stein-Nahatlatch IPCA Initiative (MakeWay Charitable Society)

Stein-Nahatlatch Initiative

To develop a land and water use plan, design a guardian program, and ultimately establish an Indigenous protected and conserved area in the Stein-Nahatlatch region.

$300,000

Taku River Tlingit First Nation

Áa Tlein Matriarchs Garden: Weaving Traditional Foodways and Climate Innovation

To establish a hydroponic container farm to grow traditional and non-traditional foods year-round and promote food security in a remote community.

$40,000

The Only Animal Theatre Society

Etuaptmumk/Two-Eyed Seeing: Ways of Being and Seeing

To bring Indigenous knowledge and Western perspectives into dialogue about the climate emergency through performing arts collaborations, including work with the Downtown Eastside Heart of the City Festival.

$20,000

The T’akhu  Tlèn Conservancy

Lingít Kustiyixh: Revitalizing Taku River Tlingit Law for Land and Wildlife

To create a map of legal principles based on community engagement and research, hold land-based learning sessions, and revitalize the laws of the Taku River Tlingit First Nation.

$200,000

Tŝilhqot’in National Government

If We Work Together, We Will Be Strong: Increasing Tŝilhqot’in Self-Determination and Capacity

To conduct collaborative nen (land) planning processes in six communities and at the Tŝilhqot’in Nation level, provide skills training for nen planners, and strengthen Tŝilhqot’in governance throughout the territory.

$450,000

Watershed Watch Salmon Society

Connected Waters: Safe, Resilient, and Healthy Floodplains for All

To support the Lower Fraser Floodplains Coalition, promote nature-based and fish-friendly flood infrastructure to local governments, host public education events, and collaborate with First Nations on water stewardship.

$300,000

World Wildlife Fund Canada

Upper Pitt: A Katzie-Led Watershed Approach to Conserving Pacific Salmon

To support the Katzie First Nation (q̓ic̓əy̓) in leading watershed governance, undertaking salmon ecosystem monitoring and restoration, and analyzing carbon sequestration along the Upper Pitt River (sq̓ə́yc̓əyaʔɬ státləw).

$100,000

Yinka Dene Economic Development Limited Partnership

Indigenizing Land Management: Place-Based Tools for Wet’suwet’en First Nation

To develop interactive tools to help ensure land-use decision-making is informed by Wet’suwet’en rights, title, and traditional knowledge.

$47,639

Youth Climate Corps

Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw Revitalization Project

To support the Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw Revitalization Project in hosting summer camps for Kwakwa̱ka̱’wakw youth to learn from Elders, strength connections to the land, and gain construction skills and experience.

$50,000

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Looking for project funding?

Our upcoming Real Estate Industry Grants intake will open in November and close in December 2023.

Our next General Grants intake is expected to open in January and close in February 2024.

For information on eligibility and funding priorities, visit our REFBC Grants page or contact us via grants@refbc.ca to discuss your project idea.

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