Announcing Our Final Grants for 2026
Climate action doesn’t always look the same. Sometimes it’s rooftop solar on affordable housing. Sometimes it’s healthier homes, protected wetlands, or a bike delivering groceries across town. HCi3’s newest grant recipients are helping make lower-carbon choices more practical, affordable, and accessible for communities across Nova Scotia.
Here’s a look at the six projects receiving support.
Acceleration Grant Awards
With $75,000 from HCi3, Akoma Holdings will integrate rooftop solar and EV charging into eight affordable rental townhomes under construction in Lake Loon, helping reduce both greenhouse gas emissions and the long-term cost of living for residents. The project is expected to save each household about $2,200 annually while providing a model for affordable housing developments across Nova Scotia that pair climate action with lower living costs.
Indigenous Clean Energy’s Bringing It Home Project Accelerator will support Eskasoni Mi’kmaw Nation in developing a community-led plan for large-scale home energy retrofits through training, technical mentorship, and project coaching. Using $75,000 awarded by HCi3, the project will build local capacity while creating a funding-ready roadmap for healthier, more energy-efficient homes that can help guide similar initiatives in Mi’kmaw communities across Mi’kma’ki.
Awarded $60,000, Blue Maritimes Society (working with the Community Eelgrass Restoration Initiative) will study three coastal wetland sites in Halifax/Kjipuktuk to better understand how these ecosystems store carbon and strengthen climate resilience. The project will turn that research into practical tools for future conservation and restoration.
Thinkwell Shift and UK-based Snugg, awarded $45,000, will adapt a proven interactive web application for the Canadian market that helps homeowners plan home energy retrofits, access rebates and financing, and connect with qualified contractors. By making the retrofit process easier to understand and navigate, the project aims to help more people take the first step toward lower-carbon homes.
Catalyst Grant Award
Bike Brigade HFX has been awarded $10,000 to strengthen its bicycle-powered food distribution network by investing in volunteer training, community outreach, and operational improvements that expand low-carbon deliveries to community fridges, households, and shelters. Since launching in 2024, the organization has delivered more than 6,000 meals by bike, demonstrating that some of the strongest climate solutions begin with neighbours helping neighbours.
With $10,000 from HCi3, Cycling Guide Foundation will develop a new Go By Bike feature in the Cycling Guide app to support a Halifax Cycling Coalition challenge encouraging more people to swap car trips for bike rides. By helping participants discover comfortable routes, track their rides, and see the emissions they avoid, the project aims to turn everyday bike trips into lasting climate action.