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Using the Government of Canada’s Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat’s Proactive Disclosure of Grants

and Contributions, PSD has conducted a formal analysis of all federal grant and direct contribution

funding that was issued to municipalities across Canada for the 2018 year. This analysis excludes

passthrough funding that was allocated to organizations for redistribution purposes or secondary grants

– such as through the Federation of Canadian Municipalities – as well as passthrough funding allocated

to provincial governments for municipal initiatives. Instead, this analysis only focuses on direct funding

interactions between the federal government and municipal governments and local municipal

government associations. In total, the Government of Canada issued 703 grants and direct contributions

in 2018. The total amount of funding issued was $323.5 million.

Top Insights from 2018

• 703 direct federal grants to local governments

• $323.5 million disbursed

• 75% of funds went to Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba totaling $242.7m

• Average number of transfers per province/territory was 41

• 55 grant funding types in 11 categories

• Infrastructure projects received the highest amount of funding at $228.9m with an

average of $4.6m per grant

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Funding Allocation by Province/Territory

The total allocation of funding in 2018 was heavily concentrated in Alberta (33.5%), Ontario (26.4%),

and Manitoba (15.1%). These three provinces accounted for 75 percent, or $242.7 million of federal

transfers to local governments in 2018 (see Figure 1).

Figure 1: Distribution of Federal funding to local governments in 2018, by province/territory

The distribution of the number of transfers across all provinces was relatively normal. Ontario had

substantially more approved transfers than any other province, more than doubling the next closest

province of Alberta. The remaining provinces and territories had an average number of transfers of 41

with only Alberta, Newfoundland, Yukon, and PEI receiving a significantly different amount of transfers

from the average (see Figures 2 and 3).

However, the average allocation amount of federal transfers was heavily influenced by outliers. 29 of the

703 approved transfers were for amounts greater than $1 million dollars and made up 91% of total

funding allocated to municipalities. Figure 4 visualizes the average transfer amount per province/territory

and indicates that Alberta, Ontario, Manitoba, Quebec and Prince Edward Island were all above the

unadjusted Canadian average of $389,318 per transfer. When transfers above $1 million were removed

from the analysis, Quebec, British Columbia, Yukon, Nunavut, and Northwest Territories are shown to

have received transfers on average larger than the adjusted Canadian average transfer amount of

$52,862 (see Figure 5).

AB33.5%

ON26.4%

MB15.1%

QC6.3%

NL6.0%

PE5.0%

NB3.1%

BC2.3%

SK1.1%

YT0.4%

NU0.3%

NS0.3%

NT0.1%

Source: Treasury Board Secretariat

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Figure 2: Total federal transfers to municipalities, by province/territory (in millions)

Figure 3: Number of transfers, by province/territory

$108.34

$85.50

$48.83

$20.37 $19.48 $16.29

$9.99 $7.43$3.55 $1.22 $1.09 $1.04 $0.35

$-

$20.00

$40.00

$60.00

$80.00

$100.00

$120.00

AB ON MB QC NL PE NB BC SK YT NU NS NT

Source: Treasury Board Secretariat

90

203

38 42

76

23

5166

55

9 12

33

5

0

50

100

150

200

250

AB ON MB QC NL PE NB BC SK YT NU NS NT

Source: Treasury Board Secretariat

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Figure 4: Unadjusted average transfer amount, by province/territory

Figure 5: Adjusted average transfer amount, by province/territory

Canadian Average$389,318.35

$-

$200,000.00

$400,000.00

$600,000.00

$800,000.00

$1,000,000.00

$1,200,000.00

$1,400,000.00

AB ON MB QC NL PE NB BC SK YT NU NS NT

Source: Treasury Board Secretariat

Canadian Average$52,862.20

$0.00

$20,000.00

$40,000.00

$60,000.00

$80,000.00

$100,000.00

$120,000.00

$140,000.00

$160,000.00

AB ON MB QC NL PE NB BC SK YT NU NS NTSource: Treasury Board Secretariat

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Type of Funding Issued

In total there were 55 distinct grants and direct contribution opportunities that encompassed the 703

total transfers. The 55 grants and direct transfers were organized into 11 categories that described the

type of funding transfer.

Table 1: Federal funding categories for local governments

Category Number of Transfers Total Amount Average Amount

Infrastructure Projects 63 $288,942,821.30 $4,586,393.99

Arts, Culture, and Sport 563 $9,981,883.00 $17,729.81

Indigenous Funding 28 $9,722,854.67 $347,244.81

Economic Development

13 $3,978,996.00 $306,076.62

Climate Change/Environment

5 $3,748,662.00 $749,732.40

Public Safety 5 $3,251,349.75 $650,269.95

Immigration 3 $1,898,994.01 $632,998.00

Health 1 $1,300,000.00 $1,300,000.00

Agriculture 3 $316,435.00 $105,478.33

Veterans Affairs 17 $179,458.00 $10,556.35

Other 2 $29,832.50 $14,916.25

As table 1 showcases, the funding category with the highest amount of funding provided was for

Infrastructure projects. A total of $228.9 million dollars was transferred directly to municipalities to fund

infrastructure projects in Canada and the average amount transferred was $4.6 million dollars. The

largest transfer for infrastructure was a $60 million-dollar contribution to the City of Kingston, Ontario to

support the construction of a 1.2km two-lane bridge that spans the Great Cataraqui River to connect the

east and west sides of Kingston.

Arts, Culture and Sport had the largest number of transfers issued. A total of 563 transfers were allocated

to municipalities in 2018, totaling $9.98 million dollars and an average amount issued of $17,729. 497 of

the 563 transfers were from the Celebrate Canada Fund; a grant that provides funding to municipalities

for activities organized on National Indigenous Peoples Day (June 21), Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (June

24), Canadian Multiculturalism Day (June 27), and Canada Day (July 1). A total of $2.17 million dollars

was issued for this grant, where the average amount issued was $4,361.

Accessing Funding in 2019

The greatest contributors to success in accessing grant funding at both the federal and

provincial/territorial levels in Canada are preparation and evidence-based decision-making on the part of

local governments. Legislative, funding and reporting requirements are constantly changing for

municipalities – it’s becoming a full-time job for local governments to monitor these changes. In order to

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facilitate a more rapid and strategic response to emerging grant funding opportunities, municipalities

should create a roadmap for the year, outlining the known grants that have annual deadlines for

applications and what resources will be required to respond effectively. This grant funding roadmap may

also include a go/no-go decision-making tool that can help organizations make faster and better-informed

decisions about whether to respond to new or changing funding opportunities. Finally, local governments

can compile templated sections of grant applications that appear most frequently, to be accessed for

each application to expedite the writing process.

Local governments have limited resources for grant application writing and monitoring. PSD has

developed the Municipal Grant Inventory Service (MGIS) to help our members stay on top of emerging

grant funding opportunities and coordinate their responses. MGIS members receive a weekly email

notification outlining new or on-going grant in-takes by province/territory, as well as unlimited access to

our online inventory of grants. Finally, our MGIS members receive a discount on our grant writing

services. Our experienced team of policy analysts helped Canadian municipalities access more than $4.6

million in grant funding in 2018. Contact us to learn how we can help your organization access your

maximum eligible grant funding amount for 2019.