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Our commitment to equity

We feel deep gratitude to be able to work in a city like Toronto, still the most diverse city anywhere. But we've become divided by wealth, ethnicity, religion, etc. Some of us benefit from all this place offers; others do not, and this holds everyone back.

For many years, our Toronto’s Vital Signs research has tracked the persistent inequalities that limit social and economic mobility and undermine social cohesion. Addressing these through a powerful new goal is our top priority. We want to reframe this place as a city of neighbourhoods to become a city of neighbours accelerating meaningful change for all.

As a leader in the nonprofit sector, Toronto Foundation has a unique role to play by being an advocate and partner in responding to barriers to equitable participation in all spheres of life.

Toronto Foundation’s principles center equity in all its work:

Vision: A city of neighbours accelerating meaningful change for all
Values: Brave, thoughtful action. Humility in our relations. Public trust and inclusion above all
Purpose: We aim to create a more fair and just society where everyone can thrive by mobilizing those with resources and the will to partner with others

We recognize that multiple factors including colonialism, white privilege and structural racism hold back individuals and communities. We also acknowledge that discrimination and barriers for individuals and communities can also arise from other factors such as Indigeneity, heritage, gender, race, ethnicity, national origin, age, disability/ability, sexual orientation or identity, education, faith and immigration status. Toronto Foundation commits to taking actions to address bias, discrimination and racism in all our work, policies, programs and structures, with the goal of creating an inclusive organization.

Accountability

As a leader in the nonprofit sector, Toronto Foundation embraces its role as an advocate and partner in responding to barriers to equitable participation in all spheres of life.

In 2021 we undertook a holistic review with the help of our DEI consultant, Mending the Chasm, to address anti-racism/oppression and to uncover and address bias in program delivery, policies, human resource practices and governance structures. That review resulted in the creation of our DEI policy.

For years we’ve aimed to disrupt traditional philanthropic practices by co-learning with donors; flowing more money to smaller, local and equity-focused organizations; using an action-oriented and equity-focused research agenda; and working to responsibly invest more of our assets every year.

Online we share the evolution of our collective impact through granting and socially responsible investing assets and make accessible all past research publications. Through our biennial Toronto’s Vital Signs research we regularly track levels of hate in the city, including anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, anti-Black racism and other forms of discrimination experienced by Indigenous communities and equity-deserving groups.

In 2024 we were honoured to be named Canada’s #1 Equitable Funder in Future of Good’s inaugural list, amongst many of our respected peers. We share this recognition with those who have partnered with, pushed and guided us along the way. We're encouraged by the recognition and will strive to keep doing better.

We have a long way to go in transforming our organization and contributing to true systemic change, but we're continuously working to do better.