Thank you Mr. Chair, committee members, and fellow presenters. Thank you for inviting the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation to present to you today on your pre-budget theme, “Economic Growth: Ensuring Canada's Competitiveness”.
I'm Robert Bishop, vice-chairman of the foundation. With me is Stephen Chase, our executive director. We are pleased to outline why our foundation is a prudent and cost-effective government investment that successfully and permanently helps improve the environment.
We're a non-profit, volunteer-run organization at arm's length from government. We operate under a very solid business model to provide a permanent source of funding for salmon conservation projects in Quebec and Atlantic Canada. We do this from income earned on a $30-million trust fund created by the Government of Canada in 2007.
Since 2007, our foundation has granted $7 million to 475 separate river conservation projects. Our funds have also leveraged other sources of funding, for an overall project value of $36 million, giving an impressive leverage ratio of 4:1. Millions of square metres have been improved, and several thousand people have been engaged across the five provinces. Projects we have funded have sustained nearly 2,000 full-time-equivalent jobs. Full-time and seasonal workers have found employment, and hundreds of students have gained valuable work experience.
While Atlantic salmon may be our focus, from our 12 years of experience we know that it's not just wild salmon that benefits from our program. The work done by the community and indigenous groups we supported has improved the environment. Clean rivers are important to Canadians and visitors to Canada. Habitat is restored, and salmon and other wildlife species are sustained, which strengthens the ecotourism industry, a key economic driver in rural areas.
Earlier this year, we assessed the value of ecotourism associated with salmon rivers across the five provinces. We learned that several hundred million dollars are contributed annually to regional economies by ecotourism on rivers. Much of this economic activity is generated by, or associated with, the work of our recipient groups.
The foundation provides a permanent and well-managed source of funding for communities and volunteers engaged in environmental improvement. Our fiscally prudent process is bound by a detailed funding agreement approved by Treasury Board. We are annually accountable to the Minister of Fisheries and Oceans. We are required to maintain the inflation-adjusted book value of our trust fund. We cannot erode the capital, and rents and operations are funded only from investment income. The trust fund must be returned to the government if the foundation ceases operating.
We work with our recipients to agree on project outcomes, performance measures, and dates. The process is rigorous. Funding is granted quickly, and projects are subject to foundation oversight. It's an effective business model that works very well.
Our trust fund has its limits. Each year, we receive almost 200 high-quality funding proposals. Based on available funds, however, we can offer grants only to approximately half of these excellent proposals. This is regrettable, as it leaves many good projects unfunded, and others underfunded. We do encourage groups we can't fund in any particular year to stick with us, as we can't afford to lose good applicants.
Let me stress how critical the volunteer element is to the environmental improvement Canadians need for fish and wildlife, and also to sustain and grow ecotourism. This work cannot be done without the volunteer community. We work closely with the mainly volunteer recipient groups to help them succeed. We enjoy helping our recipients do good work. We want them to be successful, and we have a reputation for assisting them in this regard.
We have three recommendations we'd like to present to the committee.
First and foremost, a larger trust fund would increase the capacity of the foundation to fund more of the high-quality applications that we receive annually from Atlantic salmon grassroots organizations throughout Atlantic Canada and Quebec.
Second, instead of creating new mechanisms for delivery of wild Atlantic salmon conservation project funding, the government should work with established programs such as the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation to avoid overlap and duplication. I can assure you that this does happen.
Finally, the Atlantic growth strategy should support river conservation projects contributing to the improvement of ecotourism opportunities by partnering with the Atlantic Salmon Conservation Foundation. By that I mean joining us in partnership on some of the projects we fund.