Sixty schools and campuses set to Go Wild with WWF-Canada grants to create and restore wildlife habitat

Student planting projects help young people support wildlife and tackle climate impacts with funding from WWF-Canada's Go Wild Grants in partnership with the Barrett Family Foundation

TORONTO, March 5, 2025 /CNW/ - WWF-Canada is excited to award 60 Go Wild Grants to projects at primary, secondary and post-secondary schools across the country. Valued between $1,500 and $3,000, these grants will support student activities to protect or restore nature in schoolyards, campuses and communities.

RRU's Healthy Planet Club, a previously funded Go Wild Grant project at Royal Roads University in Victoria, B.C. © Royal Roads University (CNW Group/World Wildlife Fund Canada)

"Out with Invasive Plants on Campus!", a previously funded Go Wild Grant project at Vanier College, in Montréal, Qué. © Vanier College (CNW Group/World Wildlife Fund Canada)

Monarch Hathaway Pollinator Garden, a previously funded Go Wild Grant project at Anne Hathaway Public School in Stratford, Ont. © Anne Hathaway Public School (CNW Group/World Wildlife Fund Canada)

A previously funded Go Wild Grant garden project at Collège Sainte-Anne - secondaire Lachine in Montréal, Qué. © Collège Sainte-Anne (CNW Group/World Wildlife Fund Canada)

Since 2015, WWF-Canada has funded 589 Go Wild school and campus projects, awarding a total of $521,960. This year's projects include creating habitats for pollinators, using native plants to manage stormwater and reduce flooding, and starting seed orchards to produce and share seeds for growing even more wildlife habitat. Each Go Wild project will make a tangible difference for local nature and wildlife.  

Go Wild Grants help school communities learn about their local ecosystems, including their history and biodiversity, how they work, and what they need to thrive. The grants also help students learn how to protect or restore habitats, connect with their communities and local nature, and develop skills like researching, planning, budgeting, leadership and teamwork.

This grant program is part of WWF-Canada's 10-year plan to Regenerate Canada, which includes the goal of restoring one million hectares of nature by 2030. Go Wild applications are accepted every fall, with projects taking place throughout the following year. 

Elizabeth Hendriks, vice-president of restoration and regeneration at WWF-Canada, says: 

"We can't wait to see this year's 60 Go Wild projects spring to life across the country. By restoring native plants at schools, on campuses and in communities, youth will create a meaningful impact for wildlife while taking steps to make their community more resilient to climate change. In the process, they will be champions for nature and support a future where people and wildlife thrive."

Some of the Go Wild Grant projects for 2025 include: 

• Burnaby, B.C.: Students at British Columbia Institute of Technology will de-pave a parking lot and put up a (pollinator) paradise! Native vegetation will be planted in the well-travelled former lot with signs to educate passers-by about pollinators, native plants, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and biodiversity.
• Hamilton, Ont.: Mohawk College is creating a bioswale (a long, sloped channel filled with vegetation to filter and slow rainwater runoff) in one of their parking lots. The native grasses and flowers used will provide food and shelter for wildlife while reducing the amount of rainwater entering the municipal sewage system.
• Calgary, Alb.: Westview School will create a healing garden to promote wellness among students, which will include pollinator-friendly, native perennials and medicinal plants that the school's Indigenous coordinator will use in smudge ceremonies.
• Gatineau, Que.: Pierre Elliott Trudeau Elementary School will expand their outdoor classroom with a native plant sensory garden to help students explore and develop their five senses. In the process, students from kindergarten to grade six will learn how to plant and care for native plants.
• Winnipeg, Man.: Hugh John MacDonald Secondary School will establish a native plant seed orchard to produce seeds to share with the community. The school plans to integrate the space into outdoor teaching, working in partnership with community groups.
• Oxford, N.S.: Students in the tech and shop classes at Oxford Regional Education Centre will build garden boxes and plant native wildflowers while learning about the importance of pollinators and biodiversity loss.

Go Wild Grants in partnership with The Barrett Family Foundation are part of WWF-Canada's Living Planet @ School and Living Planet @ Campus programs. For a complete list of Go Wild Grant projects, visit wwf.ca/schoolgrants.  

About WWF-Canada 

WWF-Canada is committed to equitable and effective conservation actions that restore nature, reverse wildlife loss and fight climate change. We draw on scientific analysis and Indigenous guidance to ensure all our efforts connect to a single goal: a future where wildlife, nature and people thrive. For more information visit wwf.ca. 

SOURCE World Wildlife Fund Canada

For more information, contact [email protected].