The New York State Canal Corporation and the Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor offer competitive grant funding to support tourism and recreation along the New York State Canal System, including canal waterways and Canalway Trail.
Donor Name: Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor
State: New York
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 11/21/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
The program prioritizes support for tourism infrastructure and amenity improvements, and events. Funding is open to counties, municipalities, units of local government, not-for-profit organizations, and federally recognized Native American tribes.
Program Objectives
Projects submitted should demonstrate how they will achieve one or more program objectives:
- facilitate recreation and/or tourism
- enhance visitor amenities and/or improve the visitor experience
- encourage overnight stays
- commemorate the history, heritage, or culture of the canals
- make recreational and tourism assets more accessible for people with and without disabilities and expand audiences served
- improve and/or promote connectivity between recreation areas and communities or between waterways and land trails.
Types of Grants
- Events Grants
- This program supports public events and festivals that encourage exploration and enjoyment of the wealth of cultural, heritage, nature, and recreational offerings within New York State’s canal corridor.
- Tourism Infrastructure
- This program supports capital improvement projects and the purchase of equipment that enhance recreational amenities and tourism along the NYS Canal System (Canal Waterways and Canalway Trails).
Funding Information
- Events Grants
- $500 to $3,000
- Tourism Infrastructure
- $5,000 to $24,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Events Grants
- Events must occur in 2026. Consideration will be given to events occurring in January and February of 2027
- Funding is open to counties, municipalities, units of local government, not-for-profit organizations, and federally recognized Native American tribes located within the National Heritage Corridor boundaries
- Proposed events may include reasonable fees Applicants who are not in good standing for other projects funded by the NYS Canal Corporation or ECNHC are not eligible for funding.
- Tourism Infrastructure
- Projects led by counties, municipalities, units of local government, not-for-profit organizations, and federally recognized Native American tribes located within the National Heritage Corridor. Applications for infrastructure projects located on land owned by NYSCC are open only to federal/state/local governments, unless a not-for-profit applicant is currently named as a permittee on an existing Canal Corporation Use and Occupancy Permit.
- Applicants must be able to demonstrate project site control.
- Applicants must include a resolution or similar documentation demonstrating the governing body’s support for the project.
- NYSCC is subject to the State Smart Growth Public Infrastructure Act (Chapter 433 of the Laws of 2010) and must, to the extent possible, make funding decisions consistent with the provisions of that Act.
- Ineligible applicants include private individuals, for-profit businesses, not-for-profit organizations applying for projects on NYSCC-owned land without a Use and Occupancy Permit, political or religious-based organizations, and certain special-purpose units of government, such as schools or fire districts.
For more information, visit ECNHC.
