Love My Neighbourhood

Who can apply?

• Community member(s); smaller gatherings of under 250 people
• Love My Neighbourhood organizer must agree to provide a free and inclusive event or activity to their community within the specified geographical area
• Love My Neighbourhood is available to Burlington residents only
• Schools, hospitals, public agencies and for-profits are not eligible for this fund

What will the grant funding cover?

Below is a list of approved use for funding:

• Insurance
• Food
• Craft supplies
• Garbage/recycling/compost bags
• Additional garbage bag tags
• Green consumables:  paper plates, bamboo and/or wood utensils, plastic cups
• Entertainment
• Rentals (chairs, tables, tents, sound system)
• Material to promote Love My Neighbourhood
• Rental of Sports Equipment
• Decorations that are reusable, recyclable, or compostable
• Fireworks (see Activities and Approvals Processes for permitted times)

Funding may not be approved for:

• Purchase or rental of inflatable equipment
• Purchase of sports/play equipment
• Paid advertising
• Purchase of chairs, tables, tents, sound system, cutlery, plates, or any other items that need to be “owned” by someone after the event
• Purchase of tools or other equipment
• Balloons and other decorations that are not environmentally friendly
• Purchase of any alcohol beverages, tobacco, or cannabis products

Event Insurance

• All LMN events require insurance. 

• For LMNs taking place on City property, $2 million liability insurance is required and can be purchased through the City of Burlington. Insurance purchased through the City of Burlington will not cover higher risk activities. For higher risk activities such as bouncy castles or inflatables, insurance of $5 million liability is required. Insurance fees can be deducted from the $500 grant, if eligible.
• For LMNS taking place on private property, you are required to contact your insurance company to obtain external insurance. You must submit your own proof of insurance listing the Corporation of the City of Burlington, 426 Brant St., Burlington, ON L7R 3Z6 as an additional insured.

• Road closures are subject to approvals from several departments and therefore applications are required to be submitted a minimum of 6 weeks in advance.
•  If approved, a City staff will arrange permits and barricades, as barricades are mandatory for all Love My Neighbourhoods on city roads. The City will provide up to four barricades for successful LMN applicants.
• Barricades pick up and drop off will be the responsibility of the applicant. If the barricades get damaged or missing, a charge of $100 will be deducted from the Love My Neighbourhood grant.
  
• Roads that are requested to be closed must following the below criteria:
  • Roads should be no more than one block long
  • The road should be a residential street
  • The road should not be a major road and should be free from an active bus route
  • There must be clear visibility from each intersection
  • Road closure requests must be submitted a minimum of six weeks before the first street closure date

• Love My Neighbourhood is going green. The City is committed to reducing waste and promoting green practices. We ask that neighbours use their own garbage, recycling and green bins to ensure that garbage from their event gets sorted properly. Organizers and participants are responsible for clean-up after the event.

Other Things to Consider

• Decide on the most appropriate location of your gathering (City Park, City Facility, on your lawn, etc.)   If you are hosting on apartment building or condominium building property, please get a permission letter from your condo/apartment building prior to starting your application.

• Build a team of neighbours who will help you coordinate the event.  Designate roles and responsibilities to make the event more manageable. 
• Plan Activities for Everyone.  Ensure that your event is open and inclusive for all ages and abilities. 

All event organizers must abide by the City of Burlington Municipal Alcohol Policy and Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario guidelines. 

A budget must be submitted with your application. Use the Love My Neighbourhood Budget Template Document to accurately reflect how you anticipate you will spend the funds. Please have your completed budget template ready to submit with your application.

The event organizer is responsible for the cost of any damages including but not limited to the barricades, turf, park, facility, fixtures, etc. Damages incurred on city’s property will be deducted from the grant money.

The Burlington Fire Department regulations regarding tent or canopy use and cooking must be followed, as per the Fire Prevention Office.

Requirements for paid after-hours fire inspections at your event may apply and will be adhered to ensuring the safety of all event participants and residents.

Family fireworks are allowed on Canada Day and Victoria Day only between dusk and 11 p.m. Fireworks must follow the guidelines laid out by the City of Burlington Fire Department. 

Food Trucks and Ice Cream Trucks are required to have City of Burlington business licences. All vehicles are required to follow parking and street bylaws.

Greening your event plan to make your event a “green event” by using the 4R principles

1. Refuse – Refuse to purchase or take items that are unnecessary, have excessive packaging or have better alternatives.
2. Reduce – Reduce waste by avoiding one time use items. Including drink containers.
3. Reuse – Reuse table clothes, decorations, etc.
4. Recycle and Green Bin – If you must buy one-time use items, ensure they are recyclable or green bin appropriate. Check out the list below or visit Halton Region Put Waste in it’s place tool.

Sorting waste

• Ensure your event has a waste sorting station. Cardboard boxes lined with the appropriate bag work great or ask the organizing team to bring their green and blue bins to the event. Clear bag for recycling, Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) certified compostable bags for green bin and black bag for garbage.
• Label all bins and give examples of what goes in each bin. Print and post the sorting guide if possible!
• Where possible, and especially with larger events, have volunteers sit at the sorting station to ensure waste gets sorted appropriately.

Utensils and cutlery

• Food serving waste is often the largest source of waste. Ask event goers to bring reusable mugs, plates, containers and cutlery to the event.
• Add this request to your posters, flyers and social media posts.
• Purchase only recyclable or green bin appropriate one time use items.

Recommended to use:

• Green Bin:
  • Paper plates
  • Napkins
  • Wood/bamboo cutlery
  • Paper cups
• Recyclable:
  • Plastic cups
  • Plastic coffee lids
  • Sparkling water, pop or juice in aluminum cans or bulk containers.

 Do not use:

• All Styrofoam items
• Plastic cutlery
• Plastic plates (as they must be washed before recycling)
• Straws
• One time use drink containers such as juice boxes and drinkable yogurt to avoid excessive waste.
• Compostable plastics (not accepted in Green Cart program)

Decorations

• Do not buy decorations that will go into the garbage after the event. (Balloons, metallic streamers, confetti, sparkles, plastic or metallic banners, plastic table clothes. These items also have long lasting negative impacts on wildlife if littered.)
• Ask youth and children to make posters/signage with recyclable paper or cardboard boxes
• Choose paper items such as paper streamers and flowers
• Look at the second-hand store for tablecloths that can be reused for picnic tables or ask the organizing team to bring them

Plastic water bottles

• Do not buy or serve bottled water
• Provide water jugs or containers and ask participants to bring reusable water bottles
• Offer reusable plastic cups where possible (children’s cups or plastic patio cups)
• Ensure one-time use cups purchased are plastic (recyclable) or paper (compostable) (note that plastic style cups that are advertise as ‘compostable’ do not go in the green bin, but in the garbage instead)
• Provide a permanent marker so that people can write their names and keep only one cup for the duration of the event

Food vendors and food services

• Be conscious of waste caused by vendors at your event.
• When booking food vendors, ask about what they serve their products in
• Ask participants to bring reusable mugs or containers (such as coffee mugs)
• Avoid food trucks where possible as they will idle the duration of the event emitting air pollutants and greenhouse gases.

Eco-conscious promotional materials

If you are printing promotional materials use recycled paper and environmentally friendly ink. Also consider moving your event information to digital platforms and sources.

Other resources

• Halton Region Put Waste in Its’ Place
• Burlington Green Hosting a green event
• Greening Programs
• Burlington Green Zero Waste

The funding from this grant no longer covers the cost of an inflatable.

If you would like to have an inflatable at your event, we advise that you put it on private property.

If you would like to put the inflatable on City property, you are required to get and submit proof of the inflatable company’s $5 million commercial general liability insurance as well as the inflatable company’s TSSA documents.

You are also required to list the Corporation of the City of Burlington, 426 Brant St., Burlington, ON L7R 3Z6 as an additional insured.

You will also be required to purchase insurance to ensure coverage for the other activities beyond the inflatable that are also taking place on City of Burlington property. You are able to purchase $2 million liability insurance through the City of Burlington

A certificate of insurance for a minimum general liability of $2 million must be submitted minimum 15 days prior to the event. For higher risk activities such as bouncy castles or inflatables, external insurance of $5 million liability is required. This certificate must also list the Corporation of the City of Burlington, 426 Brant St., Burlington, Ontario L7R 3Z6 as an additional insured.

Learn about activities that may require insurance and where to obtain them.

• Alpine Skiing
• Bouncy Castles
• Boxing
• Climbing Walls
• Contact Hockey
• Contact Martial Arts
• Cycling
• Dunk tanks
• Fireworks (unless under the direction of a Fireworks Supervisor)
• Gymnastics     
• Horse Related
• Kickboxing
• Lacrosse (unless non-contact pickup)
• Minor Hockey (18 & under) (unless non-contact pickup)
• Rugby
• Skateboarding/Skateboard Parks
• Snowboarding
• Tackle Football

If you require $5 million insurance, you are welcome to contact the companies below or utilize your own insurance contacts. The Love My Neighbourhood grant will reimburse you for the cost of your external insurance when you submit your receipts.

Gallagher

www.ajgcanada.com

Phone: 905-538-2102

PAL Insurance

www.palcanada.com

Phone: 519-428-7716

Toll Free: 1-800-265-8098

Exhibitor Insurance

www.exhibitorinsurance.com

info@exhibitorinsurance.com

Phone: 905-695-2971

Toll Free: 1-866-836-9066

Ensure that all parking areas in regular parking lots and laneways are kept accessible to emergency vehicles. Regular rules will apply to signed, no parking and designated fire routes.

No vehicles are to be parked in a city park on the grass.

You will need to decide wish to host an event on the road. If so, a road closure is required. All road closure requests must be submitted with a completed Road Closure Neighbourhood Consent Document. Signed documentation of 70 per cent plus one of neighbour approval in the closed area is required. Please have the Neighbourhood Consent document completed and be ready to submit it with your application.

Smoking is prohibited in all parks including passive areas, walking trails, sport fields, playgrounds, wading pools, etc. The event organizer is responsible to ensure that the event and event attendees comply with the Smoke-Free Ontario Act.

Transportation emissions are Burlington’s largest source of greenhouse gas emissions contributing to climate change. Do your part and encourage walking, cycling, transit and carpooling resources in all event promotions.

Check out what bus routes are available near your event on the Burlington Transit website.