Funding opportunities

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Supporting Toronto's communities

Toronto Foundation makes grants in three ways:

Donor Advised Grants: Toronto Foundation fundholders direct grants independently through their own areas of interest.
Core Grants: When we use our smaller central pool of discretionary funds to support our core grants, investments and responsive granting.
Responsive Grants: When we administer federal grant programs locally to communities.

The amount of Toronto Foundation’s discretionary funding available centrally varies from year to year and responds directly to the issues and opportunities arising from Toronto’s Vital Signs research. Signature programs include Toronto’s Vital Signs Grants, Deacon Legacy Grants and Social Capital Grants, as well as social impact investments. In addition, we provide occasional partnership funding for organizations working at the crossroads of issues, sectors and systems change.

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In 2021, together with our fundholders, Toronto Foundation made 2,143 grants to 912 charities, totalling $21.2 million.

CORE GRANTS AND INVESTMENTS

Social Impact Investments - Discover Comm Orgs

RESPONSIVE GRANTS

Occasional funding opportunities do come up – often through our umbrella organization, Community Foundations of Canada. COVID-19 has prompted many of these funding opportunities. Below are links to the more recent, responsive grants, many of which we’ve partnered on.

When we partner with Community Foundations of Canada, the funding criteria has already been established and we administer the program locally. We are exploring new avenues to fund more grassroots work and are piloting this approach with our Black and Indigenous Futures Fund.

Power of Us - Applications now closed
Community Services Recovery Fund - Results now available
Better Toronto Coalition
Canada Healthy Communities Initiative - Results now available
Emergency Community Support Fund
Fund for Gender Equality - Results now available
Investment Readiness Program - Results now available

Prioritizing Equity

We use an equity lens in directing our discretionary granting. This means prioritizing small and mid-sized organizations, with operating budgets of less than $3 million, that have historically received a significantly smaller proportion of all charitable donations –- typically those organizations working to tackle the pervasive and growing inequities in our city. We also focus on supporting organizations that are led by the communities they serve. Through our discretionary granting we work to deliberately expand our network of relationships with community leaders in neighbourhoods across the city, particularly those where inequities are pervasive. And we share those relationships and community knowledge with our fundholders so that together we can have a bigger impact.

Work We Fund

Toronto Foundation is a public foundation. As a result, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) dictates that the Foundation can only make grants to registered charities or qualified donees. Click here to see what constitutes a qualified donee. However, sometimes we manage opportunities where non-qualified donees can receive funding. Find specific eligibility requirements for each opportunity by following the links above. To get a better sense of which organizations we’ve funded and under which grant stream, search our database of past grantees here.

Our Commitment to the Sector

We are trying to use our resources, position and privilege to make philanthropy more equitable. Our grants are typically unrestricted and extend over multiple years, when possible. When it comes to process, we are creating applications that are less onerous and are increasingly exploring different formats to play to different communication preferences and strengths. Depending on whether we’re running our own grant stream or administering for a partner, we do aim to provide lead times and a comfortable window in which to apply, and to offer easily accessible information sessions. Reporting expectations are minimal and usually exist so we can continue to educate and engage donors. We are still on this journey and continuously strive to do better.

Selection Committees for Grants Given in 2022

Toronto’s Vital Signs Grants 2022

Margaret Nelson, Local Champion, Centre for Connected Communities
Wenna Wang, Local Champion, Centre for Connected Communities
Leah Yutiyung, Local Champion, Centre for Connected Communities
Charles Zhu, Local Champion, Centre for Connected Communities
Joni Shawana, Wiikwemkoong Unceded Indian Reserve, Toronto Indigenous Community Member
Liza Arnason, Founder, ASE Community Foundation for Black Canadians with Disabilities
Teresa Catalano, Senior Manager, Corporate Giving, CIBC and Fundholder
Margaret Newall, Toronto Foundation Trust Collective Member and Fundholder
Sam Trieu, Marketing Manager, Axonify, Former Grants Committee Member with Kitchener-Waterloo Community Foundation

Social Capital Grants 2022

Anna Jasinska, Fund & Community Relationship Specialist, Toronto Centre of Community Learning & Development
Dima Amad, Executive Director, Arab Community Centre of Toronto (ACCT)
Colleen Cronin, Association for Native Development in the Performing and Visual Arts (ANDPVA)
Kimber Kunimoto, Manager, Community Impact, Toronto Foundation
Kingston Yogendran, Director of Development, SAAAC Autism Centre
Nicola Hives, Director, Growth Strategy, Toronto Foundation
Ruth Wilcock, Chief Executive Officer, Ontario Brain Injury Association (OBIA)
Shauna McClelland, Fundholder Engagement Officer, Toronto Foundation
Vanessa Wallace, Community Relations Officer, Toronto Foundation

Selection Committees for Grants Given in 2023

Fund for Gender Equality (Round 2)

Erin Baier, Sr. Director, Major Gifts and Legacy UNICEF Canada
Esther Saehyun Lee (she/her), Development and Communications Manager, North York Women’s Shelter
Julie Cookson
Joy Edobor
Kimber Kunimoto, Manager, Community Impact, Toronto Foundation
Lynn Torres
Susan Atkinson (she/her), Toronto Foundation Fund Holder
Vanessa Wallace, Community Relations Officer, Toronto Foundation

Investment Readiness Program (Round 3)

Adam Jagelewski, TwinRiver Capital
Adriana Beemans
Alex Cheng, Director of Programs: Housing and Health, Blue Door Support Services
Cathy Richards
Diane Dyson
Erica Marie Chan Glueck
Erin Cerenzia, Magna International
Hadley Nelles, New Market Funds
Jean Barrett
John Stafford
Marie Morton, Executive Director, CAYR Community Connections
Michael Lucenti
MJ Sinha, Independent Consultant and Advisor, Impact and Responsible Investment
Niya Bajaj, Bajaj Family Foundation
Paul Chamberlain, Manager Inclusive Employment, United Way Greater Toronto
Shauna Trainor
Selena Zhang
Tara Powell
Vivian Curl

Community Services Recovery Fund

Aine McGlynn, Aine McGlynn Consulting
Alfred Jean-Baptiste
Dave Friesema
Gillian Perera
Kasandra James, Programs Director, Volunteer Toronto
Kate Carcone
Kearie Daniel, Executive Director/Co-Founder, Parents of Black Children
Kingston Yogendran, SAAAC Autism Centre
Niv Bala, Executive Director, Routes Connecting Communities
Paul Butler
Rohan George
Rosemary Park
Sydney Hyatt, FoodShare Toronto

Selection Committees for Grants Given in 2024

Toronto Vital Signs Grants 2023

Aldeli Alban Reyna, Director of Grants & Community Initiatives, Laidlaw Foundation
Anonymous
Feroza Mohammed, Local Champions Network
Karlene Ruddock
Kearie Daniel
Margaret Nelson
Mike Prosserman, CEO, EPIC Leadership
Ruth Wilcock, CEO, Ontario Brain Injury Association
Sammy Feilchenfeld, Manager, Learning, Volunteer Toronto
Tyreek Phillips, Program Coordinator of Trustee Hub & Strategic Initiatives, The Neighbourhood Group Community Services

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