Planning
Preparing a project
- Feasibility studies
- Business plans and financial modelling
- Technical advisors and consultants
- Community engagement sessions
- Community food sovereignty planning
Grants for Indigenous food sovereignty in Canada
The Seedkeepers Fund provides grants to First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities across Canada for planning, capacity and capital work that strengthens local food systems.
Funding Streams
Each stream funds a different stage of work. Select the stream that matches where your project stands today. If you are unsure which one applies, contact the Fund office before you begin the form and we will help you identify it.
Capacity & Activation
The people who run food systems
- Training, re-training and related travel
- Professional designations and accredited courses
- Operator recruitment and succession planning
- Commissioning and start-up support
- Peer mentorship between communities
Capital
Infrastructure in the ground
- Growing infrastructure and equipment
- Site preparation and land work
- Utility connections — water, power, internet
- Foundations, drainage and access
- Installation and delivery
Before you apply
Each of these is assessed on a pass or fail basis. An application that does not meet all five cannot be considered, regardless of the merits of the project.
Check your eligibility- A Band Council Resolution, or the equivalent resolution of the applicant's governing body, in place at the time of application, using the required language from the BCR template
- The applicant is a First Nation, Inuit or Métis government or community, or an Indigenous-led organization authorized to apply on its behalf
- At least one letter of support from a local partner
- Matching funds secured or expected from another source
- Named project leads for the review period, project launch and project operations
Intake schedule
The Fund is currently accepting applications until the deadline of October 23, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET. Applications received after a close date are held for a future round.
Intake opensGuidelines and application form published
Applications closeOctober 23, 2026 at 5:00 PM ET
Committee reviewApplications assessed against the published criteria
Decisions issuedAll applicants are notified in writing
Agreement and fundingA funding agreement is signed before funds are released
Be notified of the next intake
Future intakes may be opened subject to funding availability. Register an email address and we will write to you if one opens.
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Applying from the United States? Tribal Nations, Alaska Native organizations and Native-led organizations apply through Seedkeepers Fund USA.
Go to SeedkeepersFund.org →How to apply
Start with the eligibility check below. It takes about a minute and tells you whether your project can be considered in this round before you spend time on the form.
Eligibility requirements
- Governing body authorization. A Band Council Resolution, or the equivalent resolution of the applicant's governing body, adopted before the application is submitted. The resolution must include all of the required language set out in the BCR template.
- Eligible applicant. A First Nation, Inuit or Métis government or community, or an Indigenous-led organization authorized to apply on its behalf.
- Local support. At least one letter of support from a partner in or serving the community.
- Matching contribution. Funds secured or expected from at least one other source. The Fund does not cover the full cost of a project. If funds are not fully committed, provide more detail in the application form about when you expect to receive full confirmation.
- Named project lead. One contact, with telephone and email, available to respond to questions during the review period, and named project leads during the subsequent project launch and project operations phases.
Ineligible
Listed so that no community spends time on an application that cannot succeed. If your project is close to one of these but not quite, contact the Fund office rather than assuming.
- Applications from individuals. Funds are granted to communities and organizations, not to individual farmers, growers or households.
- Costs already covered by another funding source. Matching funds must pay for different costs, not the same ones.
- Costs incurred before the funding agreement is signed, unless approved in writing in advance.
- Research without a practical application in the community.
- Debt repayment, deficit financing, or recovering losses on an earlier project.
- Administration above 15% of the grant.
Assessment Criteria
Applications meeting all eligibility requirements are assessed against the criteria below, listed in order of weight.
- Readiness to proceedHow soon the work can begin once funds are released.
- Community food impactVolume produced and households reached, weighted toward year-round supply.
- Operator capacity and successionWho will operate the project, how they are trained, and the plan for continuity if they leave.
- Technology durabilityDocumented year-round operation in a comparable climate for at least 24 months, with a service agreement in place.
- LeverageWhether the grant releases other funding already committed or conditionally approved.
- Operating model beyond the grantHow the project is sustained once this funding concludes.
- Contribution from other sourcesThe share of total project cost met by the community and its partners.
After you apply
Applications are reviewed by the Selection Committee following the close of each round. Successful applicants enter a funding agreement before any funds are released. Applicants who are not successful receive the reason their application did not advance and, where applicable, what would strengthen it for a future round.
Common questions
To receive a copy by email or in an accessible format, write to apply@seedkeepersfund.ca.
Grantees
Past projects the Seedkeepers Fund and its predecessor have supported.
Fisher River Cree Nation
Year-round growing capacity for the community, supported by a primary gift from ADRA.
Project two
To be added
Project three
To be added
Grantees from the current funding cycle will be added here once funding agreements are signed.
What gets published
Community or organization, stream, grant amount, a short description of the funded work, and the year. Nothing from an application is published without the recipient's agreement.
Reporting back
Recipients report at project midpoint and at completion. Where a recipient is willing, outcomes are added to their entry so later applicants can see what the work produced.
About the Seedkeepers Fund
The Seedkeepers Fund is a granting program of the Food Resiliency Foundation Fund, housed at the Toronto Foundation.
Why it exists
Food sovereignty projects rarely stall because the concept is wrong. They stall over a specific and ordinary gap — a feasibility study no program will fund, a utility connection excluded from an equipment grant, an operator who has moved away, a new Council inheriting a file without a briefing.
These gaps are small relative to the projects they hold up, and they fall between the programs designed to fund the projects themselves. The Seedkeepers Fund exists to close them, and then to step back as larger funding takes over.
How decisions are made
Applications are reviewed and decided by an independent Selection Committee of Indigenous advisors. The Committee sets its own process, applies the published criteria, and its decisions are final.
Selection Committee
Members will be named in advance of the first close date. This page will be updated with names, nations and biographies.
Charitable structure
The Seedkeepers Fund is a granting program of the Food Resiliency Foundation Fund, a donor-advised fund held at the Toronto Foundation. All donations must be made to a Qualified Donee under the Income Tax Act.
Reporting
Recipients report once at project midpoint and once at completion. Reporting is proportionate to grant size — a short written update and supporting receipts.
Origin and independence
The predecessor of the Seedkeepers Fund was established thanks to a founding gift from Growcer in 2021. The Seedkeepers Fund was established in order to formalize the process of granting to communities and to allow the initiative to scale. Growcer does not sit on the Selection Committee, does not review applications and has no role in funding decisions. Grants are not tied to any supplier.
Support the Fund
Every grant the Seedkeepers Fund makes is money raised from donors. Contributions are pooled, granted by an independent Selection Committee of Indigenous advisors, and matched by the communities that receive them.
What a contribution does
Grants are matched. Communities bring funds from their own budgets, from federal and provincial programs, and from partner organizations, which means a contribution to the Fund does not stand alone — it releases money that is already conditionally in place.
Gifts may be directed to a stream or left unrestricted. Unrestricted gifts are the most useful, because the Committee can apply them where the strongest applications in a round actually are.
How to give
Contributions are made through the Toronto Foundation, which issues Canadian charitable receipts.
For gifts of securities, multi-year commitments or foundation grants, write to donate@seedkeepersfund.ca.
Donors in the United States give through the Fund's American program at SeedkeepersFund.org.
Contact
If you are not certain whether a project is eligible, ask before completing the form. We would rather answer the question early than decline an application that was never eligible.
Applications
apply@seedkeepersfund.ca
Eligibility questions, copies of the form, and accessible formats.
Donors and funders
United States
If it is easier to speak in person
We can join a Council or board meeting by telephone or video to review the guidelines with leadership and staff together, at no cost and with no obligation to apply.
Limited connectivity
The application form is available as a fillable PDF and as a printable paper copy. Completed forms may be returned by email, mail or fax.