As result of the City’s COVID-19 response, there will be a delay in processing Expressions of Interest for the City’s Waste Reduction Community Grants. This will impact the overall timelines for the program. Stay up-to-date on all affected City services and when they may resume by visiting toronto.ca/covid19
Grants of up to $25,000 are available to support innovative community based efforts to reduce residential waste and increase participation in the City of Toronto’s waste diversion programs. A priority will be placed on investing in actions that address multi-residential buildings, multi-lingual communities, equity-seeking groups and Neighbourhood Improvement Areas.
The grants support the City’s Long Term Waste Management Strategy and reflect its guiding principles:
The strategy puts priority on reducing and encouraging the prevention of waste, maximizing its value before disposal, and supporting the move towards a circular economy. Waste diversion, which minimizes the amount of waste sent to landfill, follows reduction and reuse in order of priority.
Grants of up to $25,000 are available to support innovative community-based efforts to reduce residential waste and increase participation in the City of Toronto’s waste diversion programs.
All proposed projects for grant funding must satisfy one or more of the following objectives:
Eligible groups include resident, tenant, and neighbourhood associations, service clubs, ethnic community organizations, registered charitable organizations, environmental organizations, school groups, clubs, and councils.
Examples of projects eligible for funding could include:
A priority will be placed on investing in actions that address multi-residential buildings, multilingual communities, equity-seeking groups and Neighbourhood Improvement Areas.
The City will accept applications for a minimum of $5,000 up to a maximum of $25,000 in grant funding.
The following eligibility criteria must be met:
Eligible
Ineligible
Examples of projects eligible for funding could include:
The grant round is now closed. Applications were due on March 20, 2020.
Before you apply, please read the Application Guidelines. The guidelines booklet outlines everything you need to know about our two-step application process, what we will fund, eligibility, and deadlines.
When ready, please complete and submit the online Step One: Expression of Interest (EOI) application, or contact us to request an electronic application form.
All applications will be reviewed by City of Toronto staff. A limited number of applicants, who align most closely with the grant guidelines and assessment criteria, will then be shortlisted and invited to proceed to Step Two: Full Application stage.
| Stage | Dates (2020)* |
|---|---|
| Grant applications/Expression of Interest Application opens | January 22 |
| Expression of Interest (EOI) submission deadline | March 20 at 11:59 pm |
| Notification to shortlisted EOI applicants | Late August |
| Full Application submission deadline | September 28 at 11:59 pm |
| Full Application reviewed by the Grant Review Committee | October |
| Funding decisions communicated | Early November |
*dates subject to change
| # | Organization | Project Description | Funding |
| 1 | North York Harvest Food Bank | North York Harvest Food Bank will reduce food waste in Toronto by transitioning four neighbourhood food banks from a “hamper model” to a “choice model.” Through workshops and development of multi-lingual posters/brochures, food bank volunteers and users will be taught about the difference between best before and expiry dates on food packaging to avoid unnecessary food waste at home. | $25,000 |
| 2 | Youth Empowering Parents | Youth Empowering Parents will develop online tutorials, resources and activities to assist youth in teaching newcomer parents and their families about effective waste management practices, including correct waste disposal, using the Waste Wizard and TOwaste app, accessing repair, reuse and sharing hubs and transitioning to more reusable household products. | $14,300 |
| 3 | Stonegate Community Association | Stonegate Community Health Centre will develop and run interactive repair, reuse, food waste reduction and textile diversion workshops which are regularly incorporated within their existing programming to educate residents on methods by which they can reduce waste and increase diversion. | $12,000 |
| 4 | Back Lane Studios | Back Lane Studios will train youth and support them in the creation of short, compelling videos on waste-related issues, such as reduction, diversion and processing. The videos will be shown at school programs and screenings and shared through social media. | $11,140 |
| 5 | The Children’s Bookbank and Literacy Foundation | The Children’s Bookbank and Literacy Foundation will teach middle school students about their role in the circular economy and guide their participation in classroom-based book drives. Students will have the opportunity to visit the Children’s Bookbank and learn how books are collected, sorted, packed, donated to community partners and recycled. | $9,700 |
| # | Organization | Project Description | Funding |
| 1 | 1001 Bay Street – Green Committee | The Green team at 1001 Bay Street, a 500 unit condominium building, is aiming to become the greenest building on Bay Street by delivering educational programming and tenant engagements. Initiatives will include on site environment days, welcome packages for new residents, a kiosk, signage, literature, training, a website, and more. | $12,000 |
| 2 | Donwood Park Eco-Team | Donwood Park Public School students will create and publish a book that educates and motivates families to adopt the TDSB’s Boomerang Lunch and Snack Program. In doing so, the project will educate students and their parents about reducing food and packaging waste through ‘litterless lunches’, and proper waste sorting. | $8,000 |
| 3 | Fashion Takes Action (FTA) | Fashion Takes Action will educate students at schools across Toronto about the 7Rs of Fashion (reduce, reuse, recycle, repurpose, research, repair, rent), through workshops on sustainable fashion and textile waste diversion, stewardship programming, and leadership training camps. | $24,300 |
| 4 | Junction Farmers Market | With the goal of becoming a zero-waste market, the Junction Farmers Market will establish a reusable foodware station, wash station, and dedicated storage space to eliminate foodware and packaging waste at the seasonal farmers market. The project will engage market vendors, market customers, residents and business owners from The Junction in waste education and awareness programming. | $12,488 |
| 5 | Recycling Council of Ontario | The Recycling Council of Ontario will design and develop a Clothing Swap Event Planning Toolkit for multi-residential buildings in Toronto which will contain customizable resources that will be available for download and translated into several languages. | $25,000 |
| 6 | Friends of Christie Pits Park | The Friends of Christie Pits will create Toronto’s first-ever sharing library of community events materials (e.g. tables, tablecloths, chairs, tents, coolers) in the Christie Pits Park and surrounding neighbourhoods. | $9,600 |
| 7 | Tides Canada Initiatives – Not Far From The Tree | Not Far from the Tree will increase the capacity to harvest and share more fruit across Toronto, and reduce organic waste, by developing a fruit-picking web application. The app will connect homeowners with fruit trees with fruit picking volunteers in an expanded operating area including North York, Scarborough and Etobicoke. | $24,700 |