During Monday's regular meeting of Weyburn City Council, administration received approval to move forward with an agreement with BDO GrantMatch Corp. for grant funding services. Related Stories: Council highlights: WLC clarifying resolution, schematic design moving forward Weyburn unveils 2027 Preliminary Budget featuring 8.1% overall tax impact The need for grants According to the presentation given to Council by City Manager Mathew Warren, the City regularly evaluates opportunities to secure external funding to offset the costs of capital projects, studies, and strategic initiatives. It stated that while administration continually reviews and applies for available grant programs, the increasing volume and complexity of funding opportunities is challenging to manage because these government grant programs are often competitive, time-sensitive, and require significant effort to identify, evaluate, and prepare funding submissions. Administration identified the need for support on government funding applications given that municipal infrastructure projects becoming more dependent on external funding. BDO GrantMatch Corp. (GrantMatch) specializes in assisting municipalities and other public-sector organizations with identifying funding opportunities and providing support throughout the grant application process. Their services are intended to supplement internal resources by proactively monitoring available funding programs and assisting with the preparation of funding applications where appropriate. Funding services provided by GrantMatch would enhance the City's ability to identify, evaluate, and pursue external funding opportunities. Services included in the GrantMatch service agreement include ongoing monitoring of available provincial and federal funding opportunities; notification of programs that align with City priorities; funding strategy advice and guidance; assistance with grant application development and submission requirements; and increased capacity to pursue funding opportunities without requiring additional full-time staff resources. The agreement does not obligate the City to pursue any specific grant opportunity. Administration will continue to evaluate each funding opportunity and bring forward any required project approvals, budget commitments, or matching funding requirements through normal Council approvals. Discussion "The City of Estevan currently use grant match for their grants," said Warren. "They were successful actually using this for a federal grant just recently announced and they're quite happy the services they've been provided. They've been using them for a little less than a year." Director of Leisure Services, Richard Henning, noted that the agreement would be ongoing. "So we'd sign up, and I believe it was a three-year term but it just continues on until the city deems that we want it out at the the contract but that's part of the agreement negotiation that we're still working on with them to finalize the terms." When asked for background information, Henning advised that the national organization has been around for many years under the name of Grant Match. "BDO has recently acquired them so now they have gone much larger. They're overseas as well, so they have been around they've got experience in Eastern Canada a lot of experience in British Columbia, so less less impactful in the prairies right now but that is part of their growth strategy." Councillor Larry Heggs asked about an alternative scenario wherein the Cities of Weyburn and Estevan and surrounding municipalities to hire someone to oversee all grant applications. "That's a direction, if council wants to look that way," Warren replied. "There are other municipalities, so as an example, the smallest municipality I can think of is Yorkton, has a grant administrator in their office and they apply for grants that way." "We're all chasing money, so somebody gets a job out of it," said Heggs, who also inquired about a contract fee. "There's no contract fee, so the only time we ask them to get us money is if you do receive a fund. So an example is that if they're trying to provide us information on say a list of federal grants that just came available, we're not getting charged for that. They'll provide that based on what our criteria is, so we'll say that these are important projects we're looking at. The only time they ever receive funding is if they are successful in receiving that if they're not successful. There is no fee tied to that at all." Councillor Ryan Janke asked for clarification about how there is no risk to the city to enter into an agreement for this service. "We have many provincial grants that we apply for on a yearly basis. We have federal funding we currently receive. Anything that we're currently doing, we would not apply this to that," Warren explained. "These are targeted towards things that are out of the norm or projects that are quick turnarounds from a federal provincial level that we want that support for a project that way." No risk The corresponding service fees will be success-based, for each funding application approved by a government agency, and based on the total funding amount approved. Those fees would be 10 per cent of the first $1,000,000 of approved Government Funding, 5 per cent on additional approved funding between $1,000,000 and $5,000,000, 2.5 per cent % on additional approved funding between $5,000,000 and $10,000,000, and one per cent on remaining approved funding in excess of $10,000,000. The service fee would be budgeted in the capital budget for each individual project that funding is applied for. There will be no service fee charged if no funding is received by the City. Administration stated that the funding services provided by GrantMatch will increase the City's ability to secure external funding and leverage municipal capital investment through provincial and federal cost-sharing programs. Related Stories: Packed agenda for Weyburn City Council tonight Share the Warmth grants available to southeast groups