Province preparing to launch 75 million dollar BC Rural Dividend

The City of Prince Rupert, District of Port Edward, area First Nations and other local non profit groups and organizations will be watching with interest as the Province of British Columbia rolls out the first year of funding opportunities for the BC Rural Dividend.

The program will be launched starting April 4th, with applications for year one funding to be accepted until May 31st.

The three year program was first introduced to the Union of British Columbia Municipalities in September of 2015 and is designed to help rural communities with population under 25,000 to strengthen and diversify their economies.

“We promised to help manage the effects of rapid growth and share the wealth that comes from rural B.C. more fairly with the communities that create it. And thanks to the hard work of Donna Barnett and the Rural Advisory Council, we’re keeping that promise.” -- Premier Christy Clark introducing the Rural Dividend program on Thursday.

Among those that are eligible to apply for funding are local governments, not for profit organizations and First Nations. Single Applicants can apply for up to 100,000 dollars for community driven projects, but must contribute at least 20 percent of the total project cost.

Partnerships can gain access to a larger amount of money up to 500,000 dollars however, they must contribute up to 40 per cent of the total project cost.

More background on the program will be available on Monday, April 4th when the Rural Dividend website goes live, at that time you can review the full program overview here

The early guidelines for the program can be reviewed from this media release from the Provincial Government.