Apply to the EDRF

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The majority of our EDRF clients are individuals, volunteer community groups, or environmental not for profit organizations – all people who are passionate about the environment yet don’t have an excess of spare time or money. At the EDRF, we strive to make the application process easy and painless so that your valuable time and resources are utilized as efficiently as possible.

We recommend that all interested applicants contact the EDRF staff before filling out an application form. If we determine that you meet the criteria and are eligible to apply for an EDRF grant, you will be invited to submit an EDRF application. When we receive your application, it will be pre-screened by the EDRF staff. If it is determined that all eligibility requirements have been met, the application will be sent to our EDRF review committee.

The EDRF committee meets to review grants once per month. At the review meeting, all applications for the month are ranked, reviewed, and the winners selected by our panel of experts. If your application is successful, the EDRF staff will open a file and work with you and your lawyer to help resolve your environmental dispute. Please note that we do not fund retroactively and all legal work must be performed after the date the grant is awarded.

Before you begin the application process, we strongly recommend that you speak with the EDRF staff to discuss whether you are eligible for funding. Our staff can also help guide you through the application process below.

To apply for an EDRF grant, you will need the following:

• A lawyer: All applications must identify the lawyer (and any experts) that will work on the project. If you do not have a lawyer, we may be able to help you find one.
• A completed EDRF application form: This form is designed to be easily filled out with information that is probably already very familiar to you. We estimate that it will not take more than an hour to fill out the form. The EDRF Application form can be found by clicking here.
• A budget form: The budget form will need to be filled in by the lawyer you choose to work with. Your lawyer will estimate how many hours of legal work your project will require, any disbursements, expert services, and all applicable taxes. We have prepared a budget form to guide you that is attached to the application form.
• Lawyer’s letter of support: Your lawyer will need to write a letter of support for your application that outlines the following:
  1. The lawyer’s indication that they will accept you as a client
  2. The lawyer’s willingness to work at the EDRF rate of $80 per hour.
  3. What work the lawyer will undertake on your behalf
  4. The deliverable or output of the work performed (legal opinion, court submissions, etc.)

In addition, it will help your application to provide:

• Other letters of support: While not a strict requirement for the application, if you have any letters from politicians, government employees, concerned citizens, or those affected by the dispute, please include them with your application.
• Media articles: If your dispute has been covered by the media, please include copies of any articles you may have.
• Any other supporting documents: Please include anything else that you may have that you think would make your application more compelling and better tell your story to our review committee. This could include pictures, maps, or publicity materials you have produced in support of your cause.

The overall length of your application, including all supporting letters, media and other documents, should be less than 20 pages. However, you may submit additional background materials to EDRF staff.

While you are preparing your application, please contact us if you have any questions – we are here to help. When you have compiled the above documents, please email them to Todd Monge at tmonge@wcel.com. If you prefer, you may fax your application to (604) 684-1312. If you are able to submit your application before our monthly deadline, the EDRF staff will, time permitting, pre-screen your application and suggest changes that may improve the application before it is sent to our review committee.