Funds available to P.E.I. for Canada's 150th

As Canada gears up for its150thbirthday next year, community micro-grants are being offered by the federal Heritage department through a new $10 million community fund but P.E.I.'s community foundation isn't quite ready to get the party started.

• Canada 150: Federal government funding microgrants, musical celebration
• Contentious P.E.I. 2014 celebrations wrap up in Summerside

The federal government announced Monday it will give grants of up to $15,000 to stage events to celebrate the sesquicentennialacross the country through Community Foundations of Canada, including one on P.E.I.

"Here on P.E.I., our community foundation is not prepared to engage in the process just yet," said Steve McQuaid, president of the Community Foundation of P.E.I., an organization that grants funds to a wide range of community interests including arts and heritage, environment and education.

Matter of timing

The first deadline for proposals is this coming April, but McQuaid said the Island foundation won't be prepared to submit anything then.

"We see it as an opportunity, whenever there's funding available to do some specific kinds of things particularly in a legacy year like Canada's 150," McQuaid said. "It's early on. We just have to ask ourselves what are the possibilities?"

The initiative was launchedjust yesterday in Toronto with only a week's advance notice, McQuaid added.

"We're a small community foundation with limited resources, so this is something that will take time for us to organize at our end, engage community partners and get specific proposals prepared," McQuaid said.

The fund is designed to distribute thousands of micro-grants to locally-led projects that build community, inspire a deeper understanding of Canada and encourage participation in a wide range of initiatives that mark Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation, according to the Community Foundationof Canada's website.

"We will have an opportunity over the next 12 to 18 months to apply for funding through the Community Foundation of Canada's national program, at some point," said McQuaid.

$210 million fund

"The fund we have is $210 million," saidCanadian Heritage Minister Mlanie Joly Monday. "That's for the entire 150th anniversary."

Much like PEI 2014 celebrations, micro-grant projects could range from block parties orcleaning up a park, to launching a small local festival to celebrate the arts, Joly suggested.

One grant that's not so micro: the Toronto Symphony Orchestra willget$7.5 million from the federal government to work withorchestras across Canada.

The TSO's project is called theCanada 150 musical mosaic, which willshowcase Canada's musical talent,including more than 36 orchestras from communities across the country. No word yet whether the PEI Symphony Orchestra will be part of that initiative.

Road to 2017

Meanwhile, Parks Canada and Confederation Centre of the Arts are teaming up for this year's Road to 2017 Poster and Graphic Novel Contests. Island children ages 11 to 14 are invited to send poster artwork or an 8-page graphic novel by March 31 to win prizes from Parks Canada, including free camping and park passes.

Entries will be displayed at the Confederation Centre.