The Edmonton Immigrant and Refugee Community (EIRC) Grant Program contributes to the City of Edmonton’s value: “I want to BELONG and contribute."

The Edmonton Immigrant and Refugee Community grant supports grassroots immigrant and refugee communities who are in the process of settling and integrating. For newcomers, immigrants and refugees, the barriers to full inclusion in the community are often significant and tend to be complex, intersectional and almost always systemic.

Funding Allocation

The total funding for the EIRC Grant Program in 2026 is $426,250. 

Of the $426,250, $100,000 of the EIRC Budget will be utilized to fund Out of School Time (OST) programming through REACH Edmonton.

See Grant Program Guide for Full Details

If you have any questions or need help, please contact grants@edmonton.ca.

Grant Principles

  • Interculturalism: Opportunities to share knowledge and learn from each other to support transformation
  • Empowerment: Focus on developing growth and confidence
  • Community Input: Inviting community members to be a part of the conversation
  • Relationship-Building: Building trust amongst ethnocultural organizations and with the City of Edmonton

Application Intake Status

Intake for the Edmonton Immigrant and Refugee Community Grant Program is now open. 

Apply for Grant Program

The deadline for applications is April 7, 2026 at 11:59pm.

Virtual Information Session

To help applicants with the updates to this year’s EIRC grant program, the City of Edmonton will be hosting online virtual information sessions on the following dates:

virtual session table
DateTime
Thursday March 12, 202610:30pm-noon
Monday March 16, 20262:30-4pm


Sign Up for Information Session

person watching meeting on laptop

Program Goals and Outcomes

The EIRC grant program is designed to achieve 3 outcomes that collectively foster a welcoming and inclusive city:

Address Community Needs: Delivering projects that fill a specific gap(s) identified by the community, and success is measured by participants reporting that the program was useful and helped with their immediate needs.

Strengthen Belonging and Connection: Strengthen the feeling of belonging, foster connections, and support communities. The project is to build new relationships and success is measured by participants reporting that they helped them develop new connections.

Active Participation: Increase ethnocultural communities' participation in civic, social, economic, and cultural life in Edmonton, breaking down barriers, so newcomers can fully participate. Success in this area means participants are getting actively involved in different aspects of community life.

Timelines

February 27 - April 7, 2026
Application intake period

April 8 - May 15, 2026
Review and assessment of applications

June 2026
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions

Note: These timelines are subject to change

Funding Streams

An organization that applies to more than 1 of the Grant Streams and meets the eligibility criteria may receive funding for the Space Subsidy and 1 other grant stream. This ensures that more eligible organizations and projects receive funding through EIRC.

The EIRC Grant Program has 3 Funding Streams:

Space Subsidy

Grant Amount

Organizations are eligible for a maximum of $4,000 for a non-profit or commercial space.

Funding Purpose

The EIRC Space Subsidy Grant assists immigrant and refugee communities with the cost of renting space for their programs and/or organization based on a calendar year of January to December. 

This subsidy assists organizations who have limited financial means. The subsidy reduces the barrier of high rental costs. A justification for your request is required for this stream. Include in your justification why your organization needs the subsidy and how the proposed project/activities connected to this space directly contribute to the City of Edmonton’s EIRC Grant priorities. 

Organizations that have received the grant for 3 or more years, and are unable to provide a justification for needing the funding, will not be prioritized.

Community Action

Grant Amount 

Up to $10,000

Funding Purpose

This funding supports ethnocultural community collectives/organizations to identify and address community needs, such as:

  • Facilitating community connections
  • Orientation to Canadian customs, civic engagement, laws and the health care system
  • Mentorships
  • Cultural programs
  • Assisting with employment searches to foster a sense of belonging

System Impact

Grant Amount 

Up to $20,000

Funding Purpose

This funding supports ethnocultural community collectives/organizations focusing on programs that address complex settlement and integration challenges such as:

  • Mental health
  • Trauma
  • Vicarious trauma
  • Education gaps
  • Language communication
  • Social isolation
  • Food insecurity
  • System navigation for multi-barrier communities

Priority will be given to projects involving collaboration through identified partnership/roles and referral processes that involve specialized, intensive or community-based interventions.

Grant Eligibility

  • Organizations and fiscal agents must be based in Edmonton and serve Edmontonians.
  • Organizations must have a total Operating Budget that is $200,000 or less.
  • Applicants approved for funding will be required to sign a funding agreement or funding letter with the City before funding will be provided.
  • Applicants currently receiving other City grants or funding must be in good standing with the City in terms of reporting requirements.
  • Applicants must have sound financial health based on at least 1 year of financial statements. Audited statements are preferred. (This condition applies to organizations, including fiscal agents. This does not apply to collectives or grassroots groups.)
  • Fiscal Agents must be based in Edmonton and serve Edmontonians.

Priority may be given to applicants who have not received other City of Edmonton funding.

To be eligible for the grant, the applicant must be 1 of the following:

Non-Profit Organization

The non-profit organization must be registered for at least 1 year and in good standing with the incorporating body (Alberta Society, Non-profit Private Company, Non-Profit Public Company, Extra Provincial Non-profit Company).

Collective/Grassroots Group

Collectives/grassroots groups must have a fiscal agent. If the applicant is awarded funding through this grant program, the fiscal agent (another not-for-profit with sound financial health to manage grant finance on your organization behalf) must agree to act on the applicant’s behalf to sign a funding agreement with the City and to receive, administer and report on the grant.

Grant Ineligibility

  • Individual applicants are not eligible.

Eligible Expenses

  • Staffing costs
  • Honourariums for programs and projects
  • Program/project materials and supplies
  • Food expenses (maximum of 10% of budget)
  • Printing and communications
  • Training expenses
  • Travel expenses, within Edmonton
  • Evaluation expenses
  • Insurance
  • Administrative costs and fees up to 10% of the total project costs (such as accounting/booking fees, bank/financing related charges, ongoing operational expenses such as short-term rent/lease payments and facility maintenance, insurance, fiscal agents)
  • Longer-term lease payments, up to 12 months (Space Subsidy only)

Ineligible expenses

  • Time and labour provided towards preparation of funding applications, fundraising, including costs for fundraising campaigns and websites for fundraising purposes
  • Endowments, charitable donations, bursaries, developing business cases or proposals for funding, donor recognition, gifts (with the exception of gifts for Indigenous protocols)
  • Project expenses that are incurred before the application has been received
  • Capital and facility upgrades, renovations and construction
  • Debt reduction, financing charges and/or interest payments on loans
  • Direct government lobbying or partisan political activities (such as activities related to advocacy must demonstrate non-partisan approaches).
  • Administrative costs and fees that exceed more than 10% of the total project costs (such as accounting/booking fees, bank/financing related charges, ongoing operational expenses such as rent/lease payments and facility maintenance, insurance, fiscal agents)
  • No festivals or events

Application Process

Required Documents for Application

The following required documents must be attached with the online application. If you are using a fiscal agent, please include their documents.

  • Project budget form (template link available in Community Investment Grant Portal)
  • 2024 or 2025 audited year-end financial statements, signed by 2 board members, or  
  • 2024 or 2025 internally generated financial statements (those that are not presented either as a notice to the reader, a review or an audit) signed by 2 board members and must include a bank reconciliation and bank statement as at the fiscal year-end

For more information, including examples and templates of audited financial statements, internally generated financial statements, and more, please see Financial Information Resources.

Submit Your Application

To apply, please register for an account through the Community Investment Grant Portal. 

Applications close on April 7, 2026.

Log in/Register for a Grant Account

Learn how to register for an account (video)

After Submission

Once an applicant is confirmed to be eligible for the EIRC Grant Program, the application is evaluated based on program criteria, alignment to the program principles, and the expected results based on the EIRC program goals and outcomes. 

Organizations/collectives may be contacted if further information or clarification is required. 

Note: Applicants that have overdue or incomplete accounting/reporting related to previously approved City of Edmonton funding will not be considered for new funding until their outstanding accounting and reporting requirements have been closed.

  • Applicants will receive written notification of the decision regarding their application
  • All decisions on EIRC program applications are final and no appeals will be considered
  • The review and decision-making process takes approximately 2 months

Grant Application Assessment

All applications are assessed based on the following: 

  1. How the project description contributes to the City of Edmonton’s guiding value: “I want to BELONG and contribute”
  2. How the project implementation plan contributes to the guiding value
  3. Previous experience working with immigrants and refugees
  4. Knowledge of the project/program needs and benefits to the community
  5. Demonstration of broader long-term community impact/positive change
  6. The budget shows relevance to community needs and is realistic
  7. Evaluation plan is present and includes community consultation and process improvement

This grant requires organizations to have sound financial health based on at least 1 year of financial statements. Audited statements are preferred.

Final Reporting

Successful applicants will be responsible for reporting on their projects. Reporting is done through the Community Investment Portal. A final report is due on March 31, 2027.

Submit Your EIRC Final Report

Related Documents

2023 Grant Update Report and Summary

2024 Grant Update Report and Summary

Contact Us

Community Grants Office

Email  grants@edmonton.ca

Phone  780-496-4933