Municipalities will have an easier time applying for provincial grants, thanks to a new process and website unveiled by the provincial government this week.
According to Ministry of Municipal Affairs spokeswoman Alison Keppler, the new website and application process was created after a series of meetings last December with different municipalities to find out what would make the process easier and more efficient. The site and new grants were available to municipalities as of April 1.
“We had strong support for the consolidation and streamlining of grants,” she said. “They can still get the same dollar amounts as before, but it would be a lot faster for the funding.”
The new website allows municipalities to search for all potential grants from 10 different ministries in one site, where 23 grants now replace the 77 grants for which municipalities were initially eligible. Keppler said several of the grants that had the same outcomes were consolidated together, while others were created to address gaps left behind. The website also has an electronic calendar alert to remind municipal officials when a grant application is due.
In addition to the new grant listing and search function, municipalities are also able to fill out and submit their forms online using PDF forms. With all of the new services, Keppler said it will make not only the grant applying business faster, but will also quicken the rate of response.
Municipalities that applied for grants in the lead up to the changeover would automatically have their grants put into the new system, she said, with those who applied for a one-time grant under the old system eligible to apply for a similar grant under the new plan.
City chief financial officer Dean Screpnek said the new system would take some getting used to, but added that the new functions of the site, as well as the improved application process, would only serve to help the city in the future.
“I think it’s going to make it easier for us,” he said, adding that his department would be taking a closer look at the grants available by the province.
