Trust celebrates project approval milestone

July 5, 2022

In June, Northern Development celebrated the approval of funding for 5,000 projects since 2005! The milestone was reached following a series of regularly scheduled Regional Advisory Committee (RAC) meetings. To date, 356 projects have been approved in 2022 and 2019 holds the record for most approvals in one year – 482.

“Surpassing 5,000 project approvals provides an opportunity to reflect on the impact Northern Development has made in Northern B.C. and beyond,” said Margo Wagner, chair, Northern Development. “Since inception, the Trust has been responsive to the changing needs of communities in its service region – by adapting programs after forest fires, economic downturns and global pandemics and by introducing a new suite of community development funding programs in 2020 after extensive engagement and research. By being responsive and responsible, we are achieving our mission of stimulating entrepreneurial activity and community resiliency.”

These numbers include projects approved through the Trust’s own programs and the programs administered for other organizations. Since 2007, 761 projects have been approved through the Grant Writing Support program, the most of all the funding programs administered by the Trust. Second and third most popular programs are Economic Development Capacity Building and Community Halls and Recreation Facilities, with 682 and 655 approvals respectively.

Of the partner programs, the BC Hydro Peace Agricultural Compensation Fund and BC Hydro GO Fund have the most approvals with 69 approved projects approved through each. Phase 4 of the Connecting British Columbia (Economic Recovery Intake) was close behind with 61 approvals.

To learn about some of the projects that were approved last year, read the 2021 Annual Report.