The Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund (EDRF) provides grants to individuals, community groups, non-profit organizations and First Nations across British Columbia who have organized to protect their communities and their environment, but who need some legal help.
We are the only environmental legal grant program in BC that connects people with private lawyers, empowering communities to use the law to protect the environment.
Funds from the EDRF support communities to hire lawyers and experts at reduced rates, and to work collaboratively with them to raise their voices and participate in decision-making regarding the environment.
This work could include:
- a legal opinion to help you understand your options and relevant laws
- traditional litigation (i.e., going to court)
- participation in administrative tribunals
- participation in alternative methods of dispute resolution, such as mediation, consultation, joint rule-making or binding arbitration
- hiring a scientific, Indigenous or other expert to gather evidence to support your legal efforts
The EDRF distributes $175,000 annually in grants to individuals, community groups, non-profit organizations and First Nations across British Columbia.
If you would like to talk to a lawyer about a BC-focused environmental law problem, and you’re not sure if you are ready to apply to the EDRF, please contact our Access to Justice team at:
Email: legalaid@wcel.org
Phone: (604) 684-7378 ext. 229
Toll-free in BC: 1 (800) 330-9235 ext. 229
The information you share with us is confidential and will not be disclosed outside of West Coast Environmental Law. If you receive funding through the EDRF and would prefer not to have your file publicized, it will be kept anonymous. See Apply to the EDRF for more information about the application process.
We acknowledge that intersectional social identities such as race, gender, sexuality, disability, immigration status, income, rural location, and age all magnify the ways in which people experience environmental harms. Applications from communities who face systemic barriers to justice and environmental health are strongly encouraged.
West Coast is committed to ensuring that all applications chosen for EDRF support seek to uphold the inherent self-determination, title and rights of Indigenous peoples involved. The EDRF Management Committee centres Indigenous law when making their decisions.
About the Environmental Dispute Resolution Fund
The EDRF is a program of the West Coast Environmental Law Association. Funding for the EDRF comes from the Law Foundation of British Columbia.
Since 1989, the EDRF has supported community efforts to defend the health of the environment and build a more sustainable British Columbia. The EDRF is one of the only sources of environmental legal grants in BC and one of the very few programs of its kind in Canada.
We have distributed more than $6 million in grants to over 700 First Nations, individuals and community groups from every region of the province, building the capacity of communities to engage with the law effectively on environmental issues. In many cases the EDRF has supported public interest cases that would otherwise not proceed or be unrepresented. The Fund has been successful because of the generosity of a roster of environmental lawyers who work at partially pro bono rates.
The EDRF is administered by a Management Committee of the Board of the West Coast Environmental Law Association, with staff support from staff lawyers Shawn Smith and Jessica Magonet, and program manager Alida Morris.
The EDRF has supported people and communities who otherwise would not have been heard to raise their voice and win major environmental victories. For stories from some previous recipients, see EDRF Grantees.
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