Hydro-Québec program for the enhancement of natural environments

Who is eligible?

• Public organizations
• Private organizations
• Non-profit organizations for property or servitude acquisition projects, when their mission is the conservation and protection of Quebec's natural heritage
• Municipalities may be eligible for acquisition projects under strict conditions

Who is not eligible

• Individuals are not eligible.

Eligible expenses

• Salaires réels et avantages sociaux réguliers imputables à la coordination, la supervision et la réalisation du projet, and related travel expenses.
• Honoraires professionnels de spécialistes et d’experts-conseils.
• Frais d’administration et de bureau, up to a maximum of 10% of total eligible expenses.
• Materials, tools, light equipment, machinery or equipment rental, transport and installation costs, and project communication costs.
• For acquisition projects: purchase price, transfer duties, tax adjustments, appraisal, surveying, legal fees, and fund transfer to a property management or endowment fund.

Ineligible Costs and Activities

• Activities on land that is not accessible to the public.
• Construction of rest areas, parking lots, welcome buildings, sanitary facilities, urban furniture or parks.
• Strictly recreational or economic activities, new trail networks without biodiversity protection, conferences, colloquia or forums, and fundraising campaigns.
• Voluntary conservation, general environmental awareness, environmental knowledge acquisition, databases, legal compensation works, cleanup, recycling or recovery of residual materials, and research or technology demonstration projects.
• TVQ and TPS recoverable by the promoter, and computer equipment purchased more than three years ago.

• Amplitude and scope of the project, including ecological, social and economic value.
• Relevance of the activities to the problem addressed and the potential ecological benefits.
• Project planning, quality of the application, and follow-up mechanisms.
• Financial quality of the project, including costs and benefits and the proposed financing structure.
• Experience of the applicant and partners, and project priority according to the Foundation's specific program objectives.

• Complete the program application form.
• Send the original signed form by email to projets@fondationdelafaune.qc.ca with the required attachments.
• For any application, include the required documents listed in the program information document.
• Submit the application by 15 November of each year.

• The promoter must sign an agreement with the Fondation that sets the financial assistance conditions, obligations and payment terms.
• Before starting the project, the promoter must obtain all required permits and authorizations.
• At the end of the project, a final report, a final financial statement and the results indicators file must be submitted.
• For projects involving development work, annual follow-up and maintenance reports are required for three years after completion.
• The Fondation may carry out on-site checks during the three years following the work to verify maintenance of the developments.

• A signed agreement with the Fondation de la faune du Québec is required before the project can commence.
• Monitoring and annual reporting obligations may continue up to three years after project completion.
• For projects involving acquisition, the site must, in principle, allow public contact with the natural environment under conditions that respect its ecological integrity.