Our Spring Cleanup Grant Program is back!

We are pleased to announce the return of our Spring Cleanup Grant Program, a funding initiative to support Trail groups as they spruce up their sections of The Great Trail of Canada.

This year, 170 Trail groups across Canada will benefit from the grant, which amounts to more than $200,000 in funding.

The grant, which ranges from $500 to $5,000 per Trail group, depending on length managed, can be used for a wide range of activities, including:

• Community cleanup events
• Volunteer training
• Regular trail maintenance
• Small improvement projects on existing sections of The Great Trail

Photos from a spring cleanup event we funded last year in Haines Junction, Yukon.

Due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, we have adopted a flexible approach to deadlines for grant recipients, which will allow funding recipients to schedule projects at a time that ensures the safety of all participants. The grant can also be used for other beneficial activities to enhance the Trail, if gatherings of people are not possible. We are also strongly encouraging all grant recipients to follow measures and regulations set in place by local, provincial and federal government.

“On behalf of everyone at TCT, I’d like to congratulate all the Trail groups who took the time to apply to this program, and that are receiving funding this year,” says Mathieu Roy, Vice-President, Trail Development and Management.

“In these challenging times, we are thrilled to receive very positive responses from Trail groups embracing the spirit of the grant – to prepare  The Great Trail of Canada for the summer season, to keep it clean, and to ensure all Canadians can use it long into the future.”

Local volunteers during a spring cleanup we funded in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, last year. 

Paul Moralee of Canadian Lighthouses of Lake Superior says his group is “excited” to have been chosen to receive a grant as part of the program.

“The money will help our volunteers’ transportation needs to and from Porphyry Island Lighthouse, and give them the tools to maintain our trail network for our visitors,” he added. Porphyry Island is located 43 kilometres east of the city of Thunder Bay, Ontario.

The group that looks after the continued upkeep of the Mabou Rivers Trail in Nova Scotia is also among the recipients this year.

“The Spring Cleanup Grant fills a funding gap for us early in the season. It allows us to get out there with equipment as soon as winter is over and before the trail gets busy, says Alex MacNeil of the Mabou Rivers Trail Committee. “This spring, like every other, we will focus on surface repair, topcoating, grading, ditching, windfall, signposts and bridge repair.”

“We enjoy the hard work in the great outdoors and in the company of friends. Thanks to funding like the TCT Spring Cleanup Grant, our committee can focus on getting out and getting it done,” he adds.