The City of Kitchener is updating its community grant program. This includes Tier 1, Tier 2, and in-kind facility grants. The program hasn’t been reviewed in 16 years, so the City is doing a review to make sure it:
- supports the City’s current goals
- meets the needs of residents and community groups doing important work
- is run in a clear, fair, and efficient way
This review is about improving the program for the future – it will not affect any grants you’ve received for 2025. The 2026 grant process will also continue as usual. The City hopes to finish the review and present it to Council in the first half of 2026. Any changes would start with the 2027 budget.
Thank you! The City appreciates everything you and your organization do. Your participation in this review will help make the grant program more effective and easier to access.
To complete the review, the City will look at:
- how applications are handled now
- how the current grant program operates
- what other cities are doing
- feedback from current and past grant recipients
- feedback from those who have applied for a community grant and were not successful
The City has hired an external, independent third-party organization to lead the engagement process. They will deliver a survey, a series of interviews and focus groups, and two workshops. Your participation in these activities is voluntary and confidential.
Your thoughts and perspectives are important to this review. You know the program from experience. By sharing what’s helpful and what’s challenging, you can help the City understand what changes would make the biggest difference. Help us make the process more fair, accessible, and aligned with the real needs of our community.
We will share updates at key points in the process. If you would like to get updates by email, click the ‘Follow’ button at top of the page.
