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SEAN WOOD · PARKSVILLE. PREPARED.
Kids cheering at Parksville Community Park
Parksville. Prepared.

Your tax dollars, their community work.

12 years of grant-in-aid data - every applicant, every recipient, every dollar. This is what transparency looks like.

2 intakes per year · $5,000 annual budget · Council reviewed

How the Program Works

Process

The City of Parksville runs two grant-in-aid intakes per year under Policy No. 3.26 (adopted February 2000). A Select Committee of two councillors plus the Deputy Corporate Officer reviews applications and recommends allocations to Council for approval.

$5,000/year
$2,500per intake
Spring + Falldeadlines
2023 Budget briefly doubled to $10,000/year, then reduced back to $5,000 in February 2024.
Demand consistently exceeds supply - Fall 2025 saw $16,000 in requests for $2,500 available.
Grants Received vs Given
$2.97M
Grants received (2023)
$5,000
Grants given (annual)

The city receives millions in federal/provincial grants for infrastructure. The grant-in-aid program is what the city gives to local non-profits. Both matter.

Standing Annual Grants

Separate from grant-in-aid, the city makes fixed annual grants totalling ~$83,500:

Parksville & District Chamber of Commerce$57,500
Beach Festival$5,000
Mount Arrowsmith Biosphere Society$5,000
Oceanside Community Arts Council (MAC)$5,000
Parksville & District Historical Society (Museum)$5,000
Grant-in-Aid (community)$5,000
Ballenas Annual Scholarship$500
VIU Bursary$500
Total annual grants~$83,500
Source: 2025-2029 Financial Plan

Every Intake on Record

Grant-in-aid allocations from council records, 2014-2026. Denied applications are shown in grey. Data gaps noted where council minutes were not publicly accessible online.

2026
Spring 2026
Council: March 16, 2026 · Committee: Councillors Beil & Gaur
12applications
6approved
$2,500allocated
OrganizationAmount
Ballenas Secondary School PAC$500
Broombusters Invasive Plant Society$400
Craig Bay Choristers$250
Friends of Foster Park$200
Oceanside Community Makerspace Society$250
Parksville and District Historical Society$400
Parksville Curling Club$500
BGC Central Vancouver IslandDenied
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe BandDenied
Nous ChantonsDenied
Oceanside Hospice SocietyDenied
Parksville/Qualicum Mixed Orthodox Softball LeagueDenied
Total$2,500
Source: CivicWeb Document 80865
2025
Fall 2025
Councillors Grenz & Martin
$16,000requested
$2,500allocated
OrganizationAmount
Ravensong Aquatic Club$500
Oceanside Community Arts Council$400
Friends of Foster Park$350
Oceanside Music Association$350
Parksville Community Garden Society$350
Parksville and District Historical Society$300
Craig Bay Choristers$250
Total$2,500
Spring 2025
Councillors Beil & Wood
5approved
$2,500allocated
OrganizationAmount
Arrowsmith Health Care Foundation$800
Haven Society$500
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$500
Parksville and District Historical Society$350
Friends of Foster Park$350
Total$2,500
2024
Fall 2024
Oct 7 · Councillors Beil & Gaur
OrganizationAmount
Friends of Foster Park$500
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$500
Oceanside Minor Hockey Association$500
Parksville and District Historical Society$500
Parksville Community Garden Society$500
Island Rescue Veterinary SocietyDenied
Parksville & District Chamber of CommerceDenied
Ravensong Aquatic ClubDenied
Total$2,500
Spring 2024
OrganizationAmount
Parksville Community Garden Society$755
Oceanside Minor Softball Association$595
Whalers Football Support Society$595
Friends of Foster Park$555
Total$2,500
2023
Budget doubled to $10,000/year ($5,000 per intake) in March 2023. Detailed recipient lists for Spring and Fall 2023 intakes were not found in publicly accessible online records. Council meeting minutes from these periods may contain the full data.
2022
Detailed recipient lists for Spring and Fall 2022 intakes were not found in publicly accessible online records.
2021
COVID Relief Grant-in-Aid (Special Program)
One-time · Two intakes
$280,000total budget
15+organizations
2intakes

First intake (June 2021): 15 applications received, 11 approved, $130,160 allocated. Covered PPE, cleaning, adaptation costs for non-profits.

Second intake (December 2021): $149,000 remaining; $181,726 in requests received.

Individual organization-level detail for the COVID relief grants is available in the June 7 and December 2021 council meeting minutes.

Regular grant-in-aid program also continued in 2021 alongside the COVID relief program. Detailed regular grant data not found online.
2020
Spring 2020 — Applications Received
8 applications · $7,575 requested for $2,500 available
OrganizationRequestedPrior grants (from application history)
Parksville Curling Club$2,500No prior
Ballenas Secondary Prom/Dry Grad$2,0002019: $450, 2015: $800
Friends of Foster Park$6502019: $650, 2018: $500, 2017: $500, 2016: $500
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$5002019: $265, 2018: $1,100, 2017: $1,050, 2016: $600
Oceanside Building Learning Together$500No prior
Oceanside Kidfest Society$5002019: $400
Oceanside Stroke Recovery Association$4252016: $500
Qualicum Beach Cinema Society$500No prior
Approval report not found in publicly accessible records. The application data above includes historical grant amounts from prior years (cross-referenced from the requesting report).
Source: CivicWeb Document 42361
2019
Fall 2019
Oct 7
OrganizationAmount
Access Oceanside Association$1,200
Oceanside Hospice Society$400
Oceanside Community Safety Volunteers$370
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$265
Ravensong Aquatic Club$265
North Island Wildlife Recovery AssociationDenied
Oceanside Community Makerspace SocietyDenied
Total$2,500
Source: CivicWeb Document 40045
Spring 2019
Partial data via cross-references
OrganizationAmount
Friends of Foster Park$650
Ballenas Secondary Prom/Dry Grad$450
Oceanside Kidfest Society$400
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$265
Other recipients (data not yet located)$735
Total$2,500
2018
Partial data available from cross-references: Friends of Foster Park received $500, Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band received $1,100 in Spring 2018. Full intake records require council minutes access.
2017
Fall 2017
Oct 16 · Councillors Burden & Powell

Note: Council amended the Select Committee's original recommendations during the meeting.

OrganizationCommittee rec.Council approved
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central VI$850$1,200
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$300$500
BC SPCA - Parksville-QB Branch$300$450
Parksville Quilt House Quilters Guild$250$350
North Island Wildlife Recovery Association$0Denied
Manna Homeless Society$800Denied
Total$2,500$2,500
Source: CivicWeb Document 29268
Spring 2017
Mar 20 · Councillors Burden & Powell · 12 applications
OrganizationAmount
Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band$550
Inclusion Parksville$500
Parksville & District Musical Association$500
Friends of Foster Park$500
Broombusters Invasive Plant Society$450
Total$2,500
Source: CivicWeb Document 26631
2016
Partial data: Friends of Foster Park received $500, Mount Arrowsmith Pipe Band received $600, Oceanside Stroke Recovery Association received $500 in Spring 2016. Full records require council minutes access.
2015
Fall 2015 — Applications Received
3 applications · $8,880 requested
OrganizationRequested
Oceanside Hospice Society$5,880
Canadian Red Cross Society$2,500
Craig Bay Security and Emergency Assistance$500
Approval report not found online. Partial Spring 2015 data: Ballenas Secondary received $800, Oceanside Hospice Society received $1,000.
Source: CivicWeb Document 18431
Oldest online record

The Fall 2015 requesting report is the oldest grant-in-aid document available in the CivicWeb public document centre.

2014
Fall 2014
Sep 15 · Councillors Lefebvre & Neufeld · 6 applications
OrganizationAmount
Royal Canadian Legion Ladies Auxiliary (Branch 49)$750
Haven Society$500
Oceanside Building Learning Together$500
Parksville Seniors Activity & Drop-in Centre$250
Parksville/Qualicum Branch BC SPCA$250
Vancouver Island Opera$250
Total$2,500
Source: CivicWeb Document 13348
Help complete this record

If your organization has been part of this program and you remember the details, we'd love to hear from you. The fuller the record, the better we all understand where community dollars go.

Contact us at 604-868-7914.

Sources. All data from official City of Parksville records:

Parksville CivicWeb Document Centre — Grant-in-aid requesting and approval reports
City of Parksville Grant-in-Aid Program — Application information
Council meeting minutes — Grant allocation decisions and amendments

"Even the smallest grants tell a story."

$2,500 twice a year. It's not a lot of money. But which organizations apply, which ones are approved, and how council amends the committee's recommendations - these choices reflect what a community values.

Full transparency about every dollar, every applicant, every decision. That's how trust is built.

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