Program Overview
Letter of Intent Submission Deadline: April 1, 2025
Recognizing the critical role of Canada’s Prairie Grasslands in supporting the ecological, social, economic and cultural well-being of people across the country, the Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative will protect the biodiversity of one of Canada’s most ecologically valuable and threatened ecosystems. This initiative is centered on securing the long-term protection of biodiversity in Canada’s Prairie grasslands through (i) stewardship, (ii) economic viability and (iii) training.
The 2025 Weston Family Prairie Grasslands Initiative is a five-year, $30M open call funding opportunity that aims to protect grasslands biodiversity by promoting the use and adoption of best stewardship practices, addressing the economic drivers affecting land conversion, and delivering practical and impactful knowledge, tools and resources to support grass-based stewards. This Initiative builds upon the first phase of the program originally launched in 2020, by applying learnings and new perspectives gained in the first five years to improve and protect biodiversity within this ecologically and culturally significant landscape.
Program Details:
Successful projects will use one or more of the following conservation approaches:
- Stewardship: Promote the increased use and adoption of best stewardship practices to protect the biodiversity and ecological function of grasslands.
- Economic Viability: Address the economic drivers affecting land use change to reduce conversion and protect the ecological integrity of grass-based systems.
- Training: Deliver evidence-based knowledge, tools and resources to support ecologically based land management.
Geographic Scope
Projects must be implemented in grassland dominated habitats within the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan and/or Manitoba. Projects operating outside this region will not be considered for funding at this time.
Image credit: The Manitoba Museum
Targeted Outcomes and Impacts
- Projects must deliver practical and measurable outputs (quantitative and qualitative) that have meaningful and long-lasting impact on biodiversity.
- Impact should clearly contribute towards enhancing and protecting biodiversity in the region designated as Prairie Grasslands.
- Project outcomes must align with the identified program principles and conservation approaches as outlined in the Program Details.
Important dates:
- Program information (webinar) sessions:
- Letter of Intent (LOI) deadline: April 1, 2025, at 3pm ET
- Proposal deadline (select applicants only): June 30, 2025, at 3pm ET (Tentative, date subject to change)
- Award decisions: Fall 2025
For more information about this program, including details on project and applicant eligibility, review criteria and targeted project outcomes, please see the relevant documents below.
Prospective applicants are welcome to contact the Foundation with any program-related inquiries including questions about the eligibility criteria or strategic fit of your project. Please direct any questions to the Conservation Team at conservation@westonfoundation.ca
Relevant documents: