Council adjusts grant program to better meet needs

The City of Cold Lake’s Community Recreation, Art, Culture and Heritage Investment Grant Policy has been updated to allow for council or the grant committee to include some submissions from indigenous communities neighbouring Cold Lake.

The changes also allow for-profit businesses to apply for grants where their project has a benefit to the greater community.  

The changes to the policy expand upon a previous revision that allowed one of the grant streams to be available to groups or events occurring in Wards 5 and 6 of the M.D. of Bonnyville. This grant stream, Community Event Incentive Grant, now also allows for applications from indigenous communities neighbouring Cold Lake, as well as from for-profit businesses. 

“Cold Lake is a busy community, with a lot of events for our residents and visitors,” Mayor Craig Copeland said.

“This has proven to be a very popular program, and the sheer amount  of interest it has seen has required us to see how we can tweak the program to make sure it is working as intended. Our council is focused on assisting events and groups that help to make life enjoyable in our community, who strive to share and exhibit our heritage and the cultures our community shares, and who put the effort in to represent our community on the  provincial, national, or international stage. We think these changes are a strong step to ensure the grant program is responsive to all of these things.” 

Council also noted that the level of interest in the grant program has led to challenges when it comes to funding the program, and that an in-depth conversation about grant funding  would need to be had during the 2024 budget deliberations. Council also debated the inclusion of for-profit businesses in the program.

Ultimately, council felt that several of the grant streams could reasonably be open to for-profit businesses, provided that the event  being planned brought a greater good to the community that could justify the public support  for a private enterprise.  

“When events come to our community, everyone benefits,” Copeland said. “People stay in  our hotels, eat at our restaurants, all while locals have more options for entertainment and  recreation, and the benefit of the economic activity that results. Our council remains  committed to the program, but we’ve also noticed the need to fund the program  appropriately. On one hand, we want the funding to allow the program to make meaningful contributions to important events. On the other, we want to establish a predictable and stable  budget from year to year.” 

The policy now defines the following 11 categories for grants:  

• The Development Incentive Grant is available to non-profit organizations only and is  for programs that take place in the City of Cold Lake. 
• The Community Event Incentive Grant in eligible to non-profits, for-profit businesses and is for events taking place in Cold Lake, the MD of Bonnyville’s Wards 5 or 6, or in  neighbouring indigenous communities.  
• The Major Community/Tourism Event Grant is available to non-profits, for-profit businesses and it for events in the City of Cold Lake with a budget of more than  $100,000.  
• The Travel Grant is available to non-profits that will represent the City of Cold Lake at  the provincial, national or international level.  
• The Equipment Grant is a matching grant available to non-profits operating within the  City of Cold Lake.  
• The Leadership Grant is a matching grant available to non-profits operating within the  City of Cold Lake.  
• The Arts, Culture and Heritage Grant is available to non-profits in the City of Cold  Lake.  
• The Screen Based Production Grant is available to productions taking place in the  City of Cold Lake.  
• The Community Fundraising Gala Event Grant is available to non-profits hosting a  fundraiser in the City of Cold Lake that have a formal sponsorship or a structured  fundraising program to present to council.  
• Other Structured Fundraising and/or Sponsorship Grants are available to non-profits  and for-profit businesses.  
• Other Community Recreation, Art, Culture and Heritage Investment grants are  available to non-profits and for-profit businesses.  

The City of Cold Lake’s grant page will be updated with the new grant streams and the  eligibility criteria. More information is available at www.coldlake.com/grants.