Sometimes, money is just so hard to come by. Evidently, the province of Alberta agrees, because it is rolling out a new, “streamlined” system for handing our money through grants to municipalities around Alberta, including Jasper.

The new system will roll out 23 grants across 10 different government departments. This is a significant change from the old grant system which used to roll out more than 70 grants through 13 different departments.

The grants include everything from community housing projects (such as the recently opened MPL Place) to  the arts and recreation.

“Based on the information provided to date, it would seem this is probably a step in the right direction. All grants available from the province are listed at a single website (as well as in the websites for each department involved) with the list searchable by eligibility, by grant focus and so on,” stated Jasper Municipal Manager George Krefting in an email. “We’ll have to wait a bit to see how effective those changes are. The goal was to simplify applications, reduce the amount of time and energy involved, and reduce the amount of duplication.”

Although the grants numbers have been reduced, the amount of money going into the grants remains the same: $2.4 billion, said Alison Keppler, a public affairs officer for Alberta Municipal Affairs.

“Some grants with similar outcomes have been consolidated. Some new programs have been created to meet a need that was not being addressed,” she stated in a news release. “All grants are now aligned with the Government of Alberta’s business priorities to ensure the grant dollars are helping to build strong communities and provide Albertans with the best possible value.”

“We promised municipalities that we would make finding and applying for grants more efficient and less complicated, and that’s exactly what we’ve done,” said Municipal Affairs Minister Hector Goudreau. “We’re also ensuring that investments result in the best possible direct benefit for our communities and Albertans - especially in these economic times.”

Still, the fewer grants could create greater competition between municipalities in Alberta as they scramble to get their hat in the smaller ring.

“At this time, I am not able to speculate or predict how individual municipalities will be impacted by the fact there are fewer grants,” said Krefting.