Grants & Resource Mobilization

ACTION

Grants & Resource Mobilization

ACTION

The Pacific Salmon Foundation’s Grants & Resource Mobilization Team works with partners across B.C. and the Yukon to fund local solutions for salmon and their habitats.

We support the people working to recover salmon in their local rivers and watersheds: community-led and First Nations-led conservation efforts, emerging salmon leaders, and urgent restoration work to counter climate impacts and other emergencies. 

Community Investments

For more than 30 years, PSF has supported volunteers and communities doing boots-on-the-ground work for salmon. Explore our Community Salmon Program grants, student bursaries, and partnered initiatives.

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Mobilizing Resources for Salmon

Pacific salmon face unprecedented threats and habitat degradation as climate change accelerates. Local champions have eyes on the ground and are often the first to respond to salmon emergencies. Our Grants & Resource Mobilization team helps bridge the gap between the threats salmon face and the solutions communities can deliver, providing the resources these stewards need to take action.

We deliver targeted funding to First Nations, streamkeepers, and conservation groups — People for Salmon across B.C. and the Yukon — to help wild salmon thrive. Through twice-yearly community grants, annual student bursaries, and fast-tracked emergency funds, we invest in local stewardship to drive salmon recovery and resilience. When a stream needs restoring, an invasive species threatens a watershed, or a drought cuts off vital spawning grounds, this funding puts recovery within reach of the communities doing the work.

Areas of Work

Community-Led Conservation

Twice a year, our Community Salmon Program awards grants to volunteer- and community-driven groups that are undertaking local conservation and restoration projects. Funded by the Salmon Conservation Stamp and generous donors, this program provides more than $ 1.5 million annually to more than 150 projects across B.C.

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Student Bursaries

The Stewardship Community Bursary program awards $2,500 bursaries to post-secondary students in B.C. and the Yukon who are passionate about salmon conservation and restoration.

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Climate Emergency Work 

We provide fast-tracked funding for urgent restoration and emergency mitigation actions that help salmon through climate emergencies and natural hazards like drought, wildfires, flooding, and landslides.

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Game Changers

We work with partners to drive forward-looking, game-changer projects that dramatically accelerate salmon recovery and resilience. These efforts are unique in their scope, scale, innovation, and positive impact on salmon.

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Over $35 Million Mobilized for Salmon

Over three decades of dedicated support, thousands of community-led projects funded, and dozens of emerging salmon leaders empowered across B.C. and the Yukon.

“A tremendous depth of salmon knowledge exists within First Nations and local stewardship groups. That’s what the PSF’s Community Salmon Program has always been about: investing in grassroots conservation and empowering local stewards to make an impact in their watersheds and communities.”

Michael Meneer,
President and CEO, Pacific Salmon Foundation

Thank you to our funders

The Salmon Conservation Stamp — a decal anglers must purchase with their tidal waters licence to retain salmon — is the primary funding source for PSF’s Community Salmon Program. Every year, PSF stewards the proceeds on behalf of Fisheries and Oceans Canada (DFO) and amplifies them with generous donations to drive community-led salmon conservation. Thank you to the recreational fishers whose stamp purchases make this work possible and to the generous foundations, corporate organizations, and individual donors who help us scale our impact. PSF also thanks the Province of BC for their generous support of many of these projects.

Taking Action for Salmon

Restoring Flows for Sockeye 

Big Silver River flows into Harrison Lake, part of traditional Sts’ailes First Nation territories. Debris from the November 2021 floods cut the river’s right arm off from the lake as summer water levels dropped, threatening a sockeye population already in decline. In 2024, PSF and DFO provided $41,000 through PSF’s Climate Emergency Fund to reconnect the channel, restoring flows in time for the returning run.

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A Watershed-Wide Recovery 

Located 20 km northeast of Tofino in Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation territory, the Tranquil Creek watershed’s historical Chinook and coho salmon populations were devastated by industrial logging and now climate change. PSF has provided over $271,000 in grants to support massive, long-term watershed-wide restoration efforts spearheaded by the Tla-o-qui-aht First Nation and Redd Fish Restoration Society.

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Saving Stranded Salmon

In early September 2023, tens of thousands of returning pink salmon were stranded by a 300-metre-long section of xʔəl̓ilwətaʔɬ (Indian River) that dried up during an extreme drought. With zero rain in the forecast, this migration bottleneck could have become a mass fish die-off. With support from PSF’s rapid response drought team, crews quickly repaired the barrier within days, restoring river flows. More than 18,000 pink salmon made it upstream.

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Latest News and Stories

Ashes in the current: hope and recovery in B.C.’s most famous salmon river

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Witnessing the sockeye salmon migration at the Adams River is one of Canada’s greatest natural events. Every four years during a ‘dominant’ cycle, millions of bright red sockeye salmon make the 450-kilometre journey from the mouth of Fraser River near Vancouver, all the way into the Interior of British Columbia. It’s a gruelling journey through canyons and rapids, all while avoiding predators, battling low flows, and persisting through high river temperatures.
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A red sockeye salmon underwater

State of Salmon: Edition 3.0

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The Pacific Salmon Foundation released its third State of Salmon Report, finding that 51 per cent of populations in B.C. and the Yukon are in long-term decline.
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Community Bursary Spotlight: Alyssa Joseph

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Meet Alyssa Joseph, a Malahat Nation Marine Guardian, graduate student, and steward whose work is helping document changes in salmon habitats. Each year, the Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) awards multiple $2,500 bursaries to emerging salmon leaders like Alyssa. 
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