Local Government Climate Action Program funding
Last updated on April 23, 2025The Local Government Climate Action Program (LGCAP), launched in 2022, provides funding for climate initiatives aligned with the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 (PDF, 9MB) and/or the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy. To date, over $120.5 million in LGCAP funding has been disbursed to B.C.'s local governments and Modern Treaty Nations for climate action.
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Funding allocation
Funding is allocated based on a series of criteria designed to ensure an equitable and consistent distribution of funding.
Base funding
All eligible local governments and Modern Treaty Nations have been provided annual base funding of $38,082 each. This represents approximately 30 percent of total annual funding.
Per capita allocations
The remaining 70 percent of the total annual funding has been allocated to regional districts, municipalities and Modern Treaty Nations as follows:
- Regional districts are allocated $2 per capita multiplied by adjusted population
- Municipalities and Modern Treaty Nations are allocated $3 per capita multiplied by adjusted population
- Adjusted per capita funding is then rounded up to the nearest thousand
The adjusted per capita population allocation methodology follows the COVID-19 Safe Restart Grant.
Population values from BC Stats for 2020 (as of December 2021), were used as base populations. Below is the formula that was applied to adjust base populations. Regional district populations were determined based on their unincorporated areas population.
| Population range from | Population range to | Population adjustment factor | Population adjustment percentage |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | 2,000 | 3 | 300% |
| 2,001 | 15,000 | 2 | 200% |
| 15,001 | 25,000 | 1 | 100% |
| 25,001 | 275,000 | 0.7 | 70% |
| 275,001 | 3,000,000 | 0.5 | 50% |
Example
For a city of 15,000 people, its adjusted population will be:
- For the first 2,000 residents, adjustment of 300 percent = 2,000 x 3 = 6,000
- For the next 13,000 (between 2,000 and 15,000) people, adjustment of 200 percent = 13,000 x 2 = 26,000
- Thus, the city of 15,000 people will have an adjusted population of 32,000 (6,000 + 26,000)
Revised funding
In the most recent disbursement of LGCAP funds, in March 2024, the Province allocated three years' worth of funding in aggregate ($71.658 million) to local governments and Modern Treaty Nations.
The total amount in this lump sum payment was recalibrated for the continuation and expansion of regional climate action networks and the development of new guidance materials.
Funding must be used to achieve community and provincial climate objectives, aligned with the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 (PDF, 9MB) and/or the Climate Preparedness and Adaptation Strategy (PDF, 7MB).
Funding for climate initiatives
Climate initiatives are actions to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and/or adapt to a changing climate and mitigate climate-related risks. This can include, but is not limited to:
- Actions to reduce GHG emissions in buildings, transportation, waste, etc.
- Identifying and mitigating climate-related hazards
- Actions that result in resilience to future climate conditions, including preparing risk assessments
- Integrating climate change measures into strategies, planning and policies
- Improving education and raising awareness of causes and solutions of climate change
- Increasing human and institutional capacity with respect to climate change mitigation, adaptation, impact reduction and early warning systems
Examples of local climate initiatives
Previous local climate funding initiatives that serve as examples of how LGCAP funding can support a community are:
- Local government success stories - to send in a success story, please see the Local Government Climate Action Success Stories Template (DOCX, 27KB)
- CleanBC Communities Fund - funded projects
- ReTooling for Climate Change - this website is focused on strengthening social, economic and ecological resilience to climate impacts by providing tools and resources for Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities, public sector, and industries and businesses in B.C.
Eligible expenditures
Eligible expenditures can include, but are not limited to:
- staffing and contracts
- investments to improve energy efficiency and investing in climate infrastructure
- matching funds to leverage funding from the federal government or other parties
- risk assessments, communications and engagement
Funding can also be used for capital costs such as designing and implementing robust climate infrastructure (for example, infrastructure that can withstand, respond to, and recover rapidly from disruptions caused by climate change).
Spending guidelines
- LGCAP funds received in 2022 and 2023 are to be spent by March 31, 2025
- LGCAP funds received in 2024 are to be spent by March 31, 2028
If a spending deadline cannot be met, please contact us.