Updates to Community Investment Program approved by Council

Council of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo has approved the Community Investment Program Policy FIN-220. The updated policy will continue to provide financial support to community groups and organizations, while increasing efficiencies, eliminating duplication of services and ensuring grant approvals reflect strategic priorities set by Council.

The Community Investment Program (CIP) team will provide additional details and key dates in the coming weeks, and will continue to work alongside community organizations and groups to ensure that the changes to the program are clearly understood. 

Key changes to the Community Investment Program

With the approval of Community Investment Program Policy FIN-220, the program will include a number of changes, including:

• Changes to Council’s role.
  • Council will appoint a Grant Approval Committee, set strategic funding priorities, and approve CIP funding amounts in the budget cycle for the Community Sustaining Grant, Community Capital Grant, Community Impact Grant and Games Legacy Grant.
• Changes to administration’s role.
  • Administration will prepare and present finalized grant recommendations to the Grant Approval Committee.
• Changes to timelines.
  • The CIP grants will accept applications from September 15 to November 1, 2023. Council will approve the annual operating and capital budget in early December, setting a budget for the Grant Approval Committee. The Grant Approval Committee will review scored applications and approve grants in early January with decision letters and grant agreements shared with applicants by end of January.
• Changes to appeal process.
  • Under the updated policy, there is no appeal of the Grant Approval Committee’s decision. Applicants may request disclosure of evaluations of their application and may submit a complaint under the Whistleblower Policy LEG-150.

Review of the Community Investment Program

In March of 2022, Council established the Community Investment Program Advisory Committee (CIPAC) to review the CIP.

CIPAC and administration worked with Deloitte as the consulting firm to complete the review. Deloitte completed a comprehensive review of the program to identify best practices and benchmark against peer communities. The local social profit sector, grant recipients, CIPAC representatives and administration were thoroughly engaged in the review. The updated policy reflects best practices in municipal grant programs.

The CIP team remains committed to working alongside the social profit sector to navigate the changes to the CIP grant program. New grant guidelines and timelines will be shared in the coming weeks. If you have any questions, please contact Pulse at 780-743-7000 or toll-free at 1-800-973-9663.

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