Critical Habitat Interdepartmental Program (CHIP)

• The minimum funding request for new and multi-year projects is $5,000.
• Annual funding per project typically ranges from $20,000 to $80,000.
• Projects may receive funding for up to 5 years, but funding is not guaranteed for the entire duration.
• The responsible organization and its partners must contribute at least 20% of the total project costs, either financially and/or in-kind.

• The applicant must be a federal department, federal agency (excluding Environment and Climate Change Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans), or a federal Crown corporation.
• The project must take place on one or more federally owned or administered lands where species at risk and/or their habitat are present.
• The proposed project must target at least one CHIP Priority Species (for regular CHIP projects), or at least one Other Internally Prioritized Species (OIPS) with species-specific targeted actions (for OIPS CHIP projects).
• The project must demonstrate a clear benefit to species at risk and their critical habitat.
• All required permits under the Species at Risk Act (SARA) must be obtained prior to the start of the project, where applicable.

Who is eligible?

• Federal departments and agencies (excluding Environment and Climate Change Canada, Parks Canada Agency, and Department of Fisheries and Oceans)
• Federal Crown corporations

Who is not eligible

• Private sector companies (non-federal organizations) are not eligible.
• Federal departments and agencies such as Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), the Parks Canada Agency, and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans cannot apply.

Eligible expenses

• Salaries and benefits for personnel involved in species at risk and habitat research, surveys, and monitoring.
• Costs of equipment and materials directly required for habitat restoration, conservation, or invasive species management.
• Expenses related to the production and installation of educational or outreach materials (e.g., signage, printed materials, information boards, workshops, web tools).
• Travel and accommodation costs necessary for conducting technical, operational, or outreach activities on eligible project sites.
• Operational costs directly associated with the conservation, protection, restoration, or direct threat mitigation for species at risk or their habitat.

Eligible geographic areas

• Federal lands across Canada (priority is given to unprotected federal lands)
• Lands administered by federal organizations across Canada
• Adjacent or neighboring lands to federally owned or administered properties, provided the project occurs on at least one federal or federally-administered property

• Fulfillment of all mandatory CHIP eligibility criteria.
• Degree to which additional CHIP criteria are addressed.
• Level of demonstrated benefits to species at risk and/or their critical habitat.
• Compliance with all SARA permitting requirements as determined by the CWS Wildlife Management Directorate SARI - Permitting team.

• Funding for project monitoring after completion is not guaranteed and is assessed case by case; applicants should indicate any anticipated monitoring needs in their initial proposal.
• Each project proposal must be submitted annually, even for multi-year or ongoing projects.
• The call for proposals is typically issued by email to eligible federal organizations in October or November for the next fiscal year.
• If a federal organization submits multiple project proposals, they should prioritize their submissions and submit the list of projects in order of priority to the CHIP Secretariat.