Great Lakes Protection Initiative Funding Announced
On February 1, 2018 the Government of Canada announced its 2018-2019 funding for the Great Lakes Protection Initiative. Through the Great Lakes Protection Initiative, the Government of Canada takes action to address the most significant environmental challenges affecting Great Lakes water quality and ecosystem health by delivering on Canada’s commitments under the Canada-United States Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement. The Initiative focuses on 8 priority areas for action:
- working with others to protect the Great Lakes
- restoring Great Lakes Areas of Concern
- preventing toxic and nuisance algae
- assessing and enhancing the resilience of Great Lakes coastal wetlands
- evaluating and identifying at risk nearshore waters
- reducing releases of harmful chemicals
- engaging Indigenous Peoples in addressing Great Lakes issues
- increasing public engagement through citizen science
To learn more about the Great Lakes Protection Initiative and its five funding streams, click here. Download an overview of the five funding areas.
Funding Stream for Great Lakes Areas of Concern
Areas of Concern are specific locations designated by Canada and the U.S. under the 1987 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement (GLWQA) where water quality and ecosystem health have been severely degraded by human activity at the local level resulting in a range of issues (e.g. beach closures, loss of habitat for fish and wildlife, negative effects on fish and wildlife populations, restrictions on fish consumption). The Niagara River is listed as an Area of Concern.
Restoring and protecting the Niagara River’s water quality and ecosystem health contributes to many environmental, social, and economic benefits. This funding announcement is specific to projects and actions that support the goals of the local Remedial Action Plans (RAP). If you have a project in mind and want to know if it supports the goals for the Niagara River (Ontario) RAP, please contact us at info@ourniagarariver.ca. If you need a letter of support from the Niagara River (Ontario) RAP, make sure to contact us as soon as possible.
Funding details, eligible costs, details on project evaluation, and more can all be found on the Government of Canada’s website.
Application are requested by emailing ec.grandslacs-greatlakes.ec@canada.ca
DEADLINE for applications is March 15, 2018 (11:59 pm EST).
Good luck!