Attention sports groups from Whitby to Beaverton: provincial community sports & recreation grant program extended to May 13

The deadline to tap into a $7 million Emergency Relief Community Sport & Recreation Grant available to community sports organizations hit hard by the pandemic has been extended to May 13.

The grant is a one-time financial relief program to support community level sport and recreation organizations, clubs, teams, leagues, and associations who have sustained losses due to impacts of the pandemic. Applications are open to local for-profit or non-profit sports and recreation organizations from dance clubs and lacrosse leagues to yoga studios and euchre teams.

The original deadline for applying for a grant was April 29.

The grant money, part of $30 million in funding support for local sports and recreation organizations awarded by the Ontario government’s Ministry of Sport, Recreation, Tourism & Culture and distributed by the Ontario Sports Network, is meant to stabilize Ontario’s sport and recreation sector and bring Ontarians back to doing the sports and recreational activities they love.

The rest of the fund is earmarked for ministry-recognized provincial sport organizations and multi-sport organizations to distribute to their local member clubs such as soccer, karate and volleyball ($20 million); the Ontario Hockey League and its 17 teams to meet their academic scholarship commitments for current and former players ($3 million); and the Ontario Sports Network itself ($7 million).

Applications will be evaluated by a review panel of four to six specialists within the community sport and recreation field to provide monetary grants to eligible organizations demonstrating financial need for recovery and possessing a programming plan to optimize the grant. Grants can be used at the organization’s discretion to remedy operational costs linked to various challenges of the pandemic.

Applications can be found at www.ontariosportnetwork.ca/emergency-grant. Applications will be evaluated during the month of May with funding issued by June 15, 2022.