BCHDP Applicant Information

The British Columbia History Digitization Program welcomes applications from private or public institutions and agencies that have the preservation of historical British Columbia materials as part of their mandate. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, libraries, archives, museums, historical societies and post-secondary institutions.

Annual Funding Cycle

Funding from the Irving K. Barber Learning Centre (IKBLC) is intended to supplement resources provided by applicants. The applicant cash contribution to the project must equal at least 50% of the Learning Centre funds requested and well as other in-kind contributions. Please consult the guidelines for more project budget information.

Applicant contributions may include:

• Salaries and Wages: include hourly wages of all staff (identify whether permanent, temporary, full-time or temporary, etc.) including benefits, number of hours to be dedicated to the project
• Equipment and Software Costs: include description and cost of items to be purchased
• Professional/consultant fees and services: detail all services/task and provide/attach quotes from vendors
• Project Management: can only be up to 5% of total project costs and be sure to include description of project management tasks

Applicant contribution may not include:

• ‘Overhead’ costs that would have been incurred had the project not gone ahead
• Contributions occurring before or after the proposed project timeline
• Selection activities such as creating inventories or physical processing of materials
• Sources of funding that cannot be confirmed by January 30th of the funding year
• Hardware and/or software purchased prior to the application
• In-kind contributions made by a third party (i.e. not the applicant)
• Marketing/promotional/publicity costs
• Institutional fees or indirect costs as part of the grant application process

Early notice survey

Eligible organisations that complete the BCHDP Grant Early Notice survey can receive additional BC ELN support during the grant application process. Support can include assistance with: completing the grant application; project management; copyright advisory; connections to digitization service providers; securing digitization staff; preparing metadata; and hosting digitized materials in the Arca provincial digital repository.

If your organization is considering applying for a 2025/2026 BCHDP grant, please fill out this short Notice of Intent Survey.  

Early notice will be accepted until August 6, 2024, but the earlier notice you provide the more support we can provide. Early notice is not mandatory but is expected to improve the chances of a successful grant application. 

Application form and guidelines

The 2024/2025 application cycle is now closed. Please check back in October 2024 for 2025/2026 funding year information.

For assistance or clarification, please email contact.bchdp@ubc.ca.

For more program information please contact: