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REFBC Grants Support Indigenous Land Use Planning and Youth Mentorship
Qqs (Eyes) Projects Society’s K̓vi’aí (Koeye) camp, Haíɫzaqv territory. Photo: Stephen Hui
REFBC Grants Support Indigenous Land Use Planning and Youth Mentorship
The Real Estate Foundation of BC is pleased to announce 46 new grants totalling $4,239,292.
REFBC’s Board of Governors approved the grants at their June 2025 meeting in Parksville.
Our grants support law and policy reform, applied research, community engagement, and professional and public education to advance sustainability, equity, and social justice in land use and real estate practices across BC.
In our work, we are committed to upholding the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP). We prioritize grants to Indigenous-led organizations, as well as projects that support justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion.
Since 1988, REFBC has awarded more than $100 million in grants to strengthen BC communities and protect our shared land and water. The projects we support are led by First Nations, nonprofits, and other organizations.
Grants are listed alphabetically by recipient organization below.
Summer 2025 Grants
221A Artist Run Centre Society
Indigenous Reciprocity Research Initiative
$49,000
BC Marine Trails Network Association
Marine Recreation Management with Haida Nation Directives
$40,000
“Anything we do, we do in concurrence with First Nations. They took care of the land for thousands of years. Respect and interrelationship with everything around them is so central to their worldview, and it’s why we have this gorgeous place.”
Peter Englander
Chair, First Nations Engagement Committee
BC Marine Trails Network Association
Chawathil First Nation (Chowéthel)
Growing Wisdom: Empowering Food Sovereignty Through Community Gardens
$40,000
City in Colour Urban Consultancy Cooperative
Growing Roots: Refugee-centric Housing Solutions in Metro Vancouver — Phase 2
$50,000
Clarke Lake Geothermal LP (Fort Nelson First Nation)
Fort Nelson Food Security and Economic Opportunity Training and Education Initiative
$49,000
Coastal Indigenous Leadership Alliance Society
Continuing the Archives
$200,000
Downtown Eastside SRO Collaborative Society
Building Operations Led by Tenants in SROs
$45,276
DUDES Club Society
Re-Awakening the Grease Trail
$75,000
Esk’etemc (Alkali Enterprises)
Back on the Land
$50,000
Halalt First Nation (xeláltxw)
Chemainus Watershed Initiative: Exploring Watershed Protection and Conservation
$50,000
Hamámt ÍWest — To Give Away Knowledge/To Teach (West Coast Youth Collective Society)
Nurturing Our Roots: Coast Salish Land, Water, and Food Sovereignty
$175,000
Heiltsuk Tribal Council (Heiltsuk Integrated Resource Management Department)
Heiltsuk Land Use Plan Renewal and Implementation
$69,000
Hulitun Suli Cultural Society
Echoes of the Land
$50,000
Indigenous Life School (Cedars RISE Society: Revitalizing Indigenous Systems of Empowerment)
Sustainable Futures: ILS
$50,000
Klinse-za Cultural Society
Klinse-za Cultural Society Land-Based Learning
$300,000
Ktunaxa/Kinbasket Child and Family Service Society
T̓ikxawiȼikimik: Foundry East Kootenay Outdoor Wellness Space
$15,000
Kw’umut Lelum Foundation
Respecting the Harvest: Traditional Harvesting Program
$31,135
Lytton First Nation (Tl’kemtsin)
Lytton First Nation Agricultural Development
$25,000
Movement: Metro Vancouver Transit Riders Association
Mobilizing for Better Transit in Surrey
$50,000
Nak’azdli Whut’en
Nak’azdli Whut’en Farm Food Sovereignty Project
$50,000
Nazko First Nation
Nazko Greenhouse and Native Plant Nursery
$50,000
Nuxalk Nation
Nuxalk Sputc Stewardship Planning
$49,898
Pellt’iq’t First Nation (Whispering Pines/Clinton Indian Band)
Land and Development Policy and Procedures
$48,000
PEPAKEṈ HÁUTW̱ Foundation
PEPAKEṈ TE TEṈEW̱ (Blossoming With the Land): Growing Restoration and Resilience
$50,000
Qqs (Eyes) Projects Society
Youth Leading on the Land
$100,000
Qwelmínte Secwépemc
Knowledge Builders Program
$100,000
Raincoast Conservation Foundation
Land Healing Stewards Initiative
$50,000
Redd Fish Restoration Society
Restoration and Recovery Planning for ʕaaḥuusʔatḥ (Ahousaht) Nation
$63,250
Rise Up Indigenous Wellness Society
Stewards of Resilience
$49,700
Salish Sea Indigenous Guardians Association
Revitalizing the Traditional Shellfish Harvest in Semiahmoo Bay
$200,000
Sik-E-Dakh (Glen Vowell) First Nations
Nox Ts’edelx: Growing Together — A Path for Food Security for Sik-E-Dakh
$200,000
Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition
Skeena Stewardship: Engaging Youth in the Skeena Watershed in Land/River-Based Learning
$136,163
Skidegate First Nation
Skidegate Band Youth Mentorship
$50,000
Skwlāx te Secwepemcúl̓ecw
Our Ways of Life Come From Our Land: Skwlāx Food Systems Revitalization
$50,000
sn̓ʕay̓čkstx (Sinixt) Confederacy
Healing Sinixt Connections in the Forested Heart of Our Traditional Territory
$50,000
Stellat’en First Nation
Shun K’et Ti Food Sovereignty and Training Program
$200,000
Tahltan Band
Empowering Futures: A Vision for Tahltan Youth
$50,000
Tsartlip First Nation (W̱JOȽEȽP)
Restoring Aquatic Habitats and WSÁNEĆ Cultural Practices in the KÉNNES Watershed
$200,000
Tsawwassen First Nation (scəw̓aθən)
ʔi ct x̌éʔx̌e təməxʷ Our Sacred Land: TFN Land Use Plan Update
$49,900
Tsay Keh Dene Nation
Johanson Special Management Area: Community-Led Land and Freshwater Management
$210,000
Tsleil-Waututh Nation (səlilwətaɬ)
səlilwətaɬ Roots to Resilience
$78,000
Ulkatcho First Nation
UFN Pine Mushroom Strategy and Ground Truthing Initiative
$110,970
Unist’ot’en (Dark House)
Articulate Unist’ot’en Governance Rights Relating to Third-Party Interests
$270,000
Wuikinuxv Nation
Cisalagilakv Quskas: Restoring Ancestral Rights and Responsibilities
$115,000
Xwéwenaqw Xwexwilmexw Cultural Reclamation Society (Whonnock Society)
Xwéwenaqw Land Guardianship Initiative
$45,000
Xwísten (Bridge River Indian Band)
Ancestral Food System Revisitation Project
$200,000
Funding Opportunities
Published on: July 2, 2025
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