Accessibility Projects Grants

Accessibility Projects Grants 2023/2024
Promoting Inclusion and Accessibility for People with Disabilities

Applications now open!

Background

As part of the Province’s goal to improve accessibility for people with disabilities in BC, Disability Alliance BC was selected by the Ministry of Social Development and Poverty Reduction (MSDPR) to distribute funding to community based “Accessibility Projects” beginning in 2018. Since then, over 70 projects have been funded. This year the grants have reopened again with a total of $450,000 available to BC-based not-for-profit organizations to receive an up to a $40,000 grant.

These grants are for community-based projects focusing on one of the following objectives to increase accessibility for people with disabilities:

  • Accessible employment;
  • Accessible emergency planning and response;
  • Accessible arts, culture and tourism;
  • Accessible sports and recreation;
  • Accessible education and learning;
  • Accessible community participation.

Applications will be due on Friday September 15th (noon Pacific Time). Proposals will be evaluated by a Review Committee comprised of representatives from DABC and other BC disability or community service organizations, with decisions announced in December.

If you have any questions, please contact the Accessibility Projects Grants Coordinator, Danielle Gauld, at ap@disabilityalliancebc.org.

Call for Proposals and Application Package

Download the following documents (click the document name for the link):

Our conflict of interest protocol has now been clarified and all potential conflicts of interest with DABC must be declared on the application form to be considered on a case-by-case basis. For more information, please click here.

To download screenreader friendly versions of the application form, budget template and a budget sample (click the document name for the link):

American Sign Language (ASL) videos

Watch an American Sign Language (ASL) video of the Call for Proposals, application form, budget template and a budget sample below.

ASL Call for Proposals:

ASL Application Form:

ASL Budget Template:

ASL Budget Sample:

Please note: for capacity reasons, we are unable to receive grant applications in ASL. However, applicants are welcome to contact us to request any further accommodations.

Key Dates:

  • Applications are open as of Friday August 4th, 2023.
  • Online group sessions will be held on Monday August 28th at 11:30am-12:30pm and Wednesday September 6th at 2:00-3:00pm where potential applicants will be invited to learn about the application process and ask questions. Live captioning will be available. With two weeks advanced notice, ASL interpretation can be booked on request and other accessibility requests will be accommodated whenever possible. To be notified of any changes to these sessions by email, please sign up for the DABC mailing list at org (scroll down and enter your email where it says Sign Up for Updates). To sign up for a session, please email ap@disabilityalliancebc.org by the end of the day previous to the session.
  • Completed applications must be received by 12:00 pm (noon) Pacific Time on Friday September 15, 2023.
  • DABC will issue a confirmation by email by the end of the day your application is received. If you do not receive a confirmation, please communicate with DABC by emailing ap@disabilityalliancebc.org within 2 business days (no later than Tuesday, September 19th at noon). It is your responsibility to make sure your application was successfully submitted.
  • Successful projects will be announced and funding will be distributed in December 2023 so that projects can begin in January 2024.The names of the successful projects will also be publicly available on our website at https://disabilityalliancebc.org/program/accessibility-projects/ after the evaluation/selection process is complete.
  • Successful projects will submit an interim written report to DABC by July 31, 2024, detailing project activities up until June 30th.
  • Projects must be completed by December 31st, 2024 and a final written report must be submitted to DABC by March 14th, 2025.

Changes to the Accessibility Projects Grants this year include:

  • An earlier application deadline;
  • Former grant recipients can now apply again for a new project 5 years after their first application was submitted and approved;
  • Our conflict of interest protocol has now been clarified and all potential conflicts of interest with DABC must be declared on the application form. This could include, for example, current or past partnerships, or staff or board members in common. Potential conflicts of interest may not disqualify the application, but must be declared so that they can be discussed by the Review Committee and Executive Director. For more information, please see:  https://disabilityalliancebc.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Conflict-of-Interest-Protocol.docx
  • Applicants can now apply for up to $40,000 with no minimum grant amount, and;

Eligible Organizations

  • Eligible organizations must be not-for-profit organizations based in BC, Canada, that operate primarily for community benefit and whose services are open to the public and not restricted to the organization’s membership.
  • Organizations do not need to be a registered charity but must have a democratically elected volunteer Board chosen by its membership.
  • National or international organizations may be eligible, but only if they have a base of operations in BC and sufficient capacity to deliver services in BC.
  • Governmental bodies, including municipalities, First Nations bands, and public-sector organizations are not eligible as they are targeted by other funding streams.
  • Once an organization has received a grant they can reapply 5 years after their application was submitted (for example, if an organization applied in 2018 for a grant and did their project in 2019, they can reapply in 2023 to do a project in 2024).
  • As above, organizations that have a real or perceived conflict of interest with DABC must declare this on their application and this will be dealt with on a case by case basis.

Past Successful Projects

See information about past years’ successful projects at the links below: