Community Emergency Preparedness Grant
Ontario is boosting local emergency preparedness to protect communities across the province by helping them prepare, plan, mitigate, respond, and recover from any emergency.
Overview
The Community Emergency Preparedness Grant (CEPG) provides funding to help communities and organizations purchase emergency supplies, equipment and services, such as:
- chain saws
- generators
- sandbag machines
- training delivery and education
- exercise planning and coordination
The grant funds supplies, equipment and services that range from $5,000 to $50,000, supporting local efforts to protect Ontario by enhancing readiness and response capabilities.
Important dates
We are now accepting applications for Round 4 (2026 to 2027) starting August 19, 2026.
Deadline to apply: October 7, 2026, at 4 p.m. ET.
Virtual Information Session
The province is hosting an information session to help guide applicants through the application process. Participants must register in advance if they are interested in attending.
Date – Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Time – 12 p.m. - 1 p.m.
Duration – 1 hr.
Eligibility
Applicants must be located in Ontario and have an emergency management mandate or responsibility.
Eligible applicants for Round 4 (2026 to 2027) include:
- municipalities with a population under 100,000 (Statistics Canada data from 2021)
- local services boards established under the Northern Services Boards Act
- Indigenous communities and organizations, including Tribal Councils, and other Indigenous service organizations
- non-municipal fire departments or entities providing fire protection services as defined in the Fire Protection and Prevention Act in unincorporated Ontario
Ineligible applicants for Round 4 (2026 to 2027) include:
- organizations that previously received funding through previous rounds of the Community Emergency Preparedness Grant or the Emergency Readiness and Capacity Building (ERaCB) program
- organizations without an emergency preparedness mandate or responsibility
- organizations that serve a fixed membership or community, not the community at large (for example, long term care homes)
- individuals
- Crown corporations
- federal, provincial and municipal agencies
- universities, colleges, school boards, schools and hospitals
- municipalities with a population over 100,000 (Statistics Canada data from 2021)
- direct applications from municipal fire departments or other municipal services (e.g. police departments) will not be accepted, however they may apply through an eligible municipality
How to apply
- Applicants must have an ontario.ca login and register for Transfer Payment Ontario.
- Log in to Transfer Payment Ontario.
- Go to “Submit for Funding” and select the Community Emergency Preparedness Grant.
- Fill out the online application as per the Community Emergency Preparedness Grant Application Guidelines 2026-27.
- Attach all required documents.
- Submit your application.
Note for new registrants
If you’re creating an Ontario.ca account, it may take up to 5 business days to get access to Transfer Payment Ontario.
To make sure you can submit your application on time:
- register your organization early
- request to access Transfer Payment Ontario ahead of time
Past recipients
Browse the recipients of the Community Emergency Preparedness Grant.
2025-2026 recipients