Organizations working in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are receiving funding from government seizures of proceeds of crime.
Grants have been announced for groups across B.C. totalling $8 million, to support local projects promoting crime prevention, Indigenous healing, restorative justice and solutions to gender-based violence.
The province’s Civil Forfeiture Grant program uses the proceeds of crime, including properties that are seized, to provide funding to local crime prevention and community safety projects.
Two initiatives overseen by Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Community Services are receiving funding.
There will be $170,000 for the Alisa’s Wish Child and Youth Advocacy Centre, which provides support for children and youth in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and the Katzie First Nation who have experienced or witnessed physical, emotional or sexual abuse.
And restorative justice is getting $40,000 to expand support for victims, and deliver culturally safe and trauma informed restorative processes.
The Unlocking the Gates Services Society is also getting $40,000. It supports people on probation, with outstanding warrants, and those recently leaving incarceration, and is a Maple Ridge based non-profit that serves clients across the province.
Numerous organizations that support clients across B.C., including local impacts, also received grants.
“Community organizations play a vital role in keeping our neighbourhoods safe and inclusive for everyone,” said Nina Krieger, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “With the Civil Forfeiture Grant program, we’re supporting organizations working to make a difference in communities through projects helping youth, preventing gender-based violence and supporting Indigenous healing. At the same time, we’re taking away the proceeds fuelling organized crime.”
In 2026, 173 grants will be provided to organizations to support projects.
In addition to funding community-led initiatives, the Civil Forfeiture Grant program also funds specialized police equipment and training for law-enforcement agencies. In 2026, more than $1 million has been awarded to 111 police agencies supporting law-enforcement projects with a focus on community safety, prevention and crime-reduction initiatives.
Funding for these grants is made available through the Civil Forfeiture Office, established in 2006 to remove the tools and proceeds of unlawful activity, and redirect them into programs that support community safety and crime-prevention initiatives.
Since the Civil Forfeiture Office’s inception, more than $100 million in civil forfeiture recoveries has been given as grants supporting community organizations throughout B.C.