B.C. First Nations Heritage is living heritage.
From our stories and songs to gathering places and basket designs, to legal traditions and knowledge systems – our heritage program helps us to understand who we are and how to live. We know that there is an urgent need to protect Indigenous heritage, now and into the future.
FPCC is working to empower communities to steward their heritage through our grants, programs and by providing opportunities to bring people together to share knowledge.
Current Heritage Funding Opportunities
See below for the list of Heritage funding streams currently accepting applications. Click on each funding stream title to learn more.
The Heritage Vitality Program currently offers funding through three funding streams – Cultural Practices, Heritage Stewardship, and Braided Infrastructure. Each stream provides unique funding and support for community-led projects that revitalize B.C. First Nations’ cultural heritage. There is a single intake period for the Heritage Vitality Program, and information for each funding stream is available in the funding materials. Organizations can submit one application per funding stream.
We post information videos about our program, guidelines and application process on the Heritage Vitality Program page. If you have any questions about the content or program, please contact the staff member listed at the bottom of the program page.
Heritage Vitality Program funding streams:
Cultural Practices – OPEN
Cultural Practices supports B.C. First Nations in planning, carrying out and documenting community-based cultural practices and events that affirm identities, foster a sense of belonging, and celebrate the roles, relationships and responsibilities within a community. Cultural Practices 2027-28 intake combines funding previously offered through both Cultural Practices and Braided Knowledge. As a result, the program now supports projects that safeguard and revitalize cultural practices as well as projects that reflect the interconnected and holistic nature of B.C. First Nations arts, languages, cultures and heritage.
Heritage Stewardship – OPEN
Heritage Stewardship supports B.C. First Nations’ projects that focus on long-term stewardship and revitalization of their culture and heritage through mobilization, documentation and organization of knowledge. It supports four priority areas that represent different stewardship approaches: Sense of Place, Climate Change, Oral Histories and Protocols, and Digitization and Archiving.
Braided Infrastructure – OPEN
Braided Infrastructure is led by the FPCC Heritage and Arts Programs. Braided Infrastructure supports B.C. First Nations’ efforts to develop infrastructure projects that braid together arts, culture, heritage and the values and teachings as understood through B.C. First Nations languages. Braided Infrastructure funds a broad range of infrastructure projects that conserve, repair or develop B.C. First Nations’ cultural heritage and arts infrastructure.
Please note that FPCC has combined some grants to minimize the administrative burden on applicants.
- Cultural Practices and Braided Knowledge are combined under Cultural Practices and the total amount for Cultural Practices grants has increased to $20,000-$50,000 from last year’s $10,000–$25,000
- Braided Infrastructure and Arts Infrastructure – Community Art Spaces, formerly offered within the Arts Program, are combined under Braided Infrastructure and the total amount for Braided Infrastructure grants has increased to $100,000 from last year’s $70,000.
Tools and Resources to Help You Get Started
To view the Heritage Stewardship Toolkit visit the FPCC Toolkit page
Important Documents:
View the Fact Sheet on Recognizing and Including Indigenous Cultural Heritage in B.C.
View the Policy Paper, Recognizing and Including Indigenous Cultural Heritage in B.C.
View the Legislation Review, A Selected Review of Federal and Provincial Legislation Implicating Indigenous Heritage in British Columbia
View the Report, Recommendations for Decolonizing B.C.’s Heritage-Related Processes and Legislation
2003 UNESCO Intangible Heritage Convention
News on changes to the B.C. Heritage Conservation Act
The Conversation article on science and traditional knowledge
