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.
In 2023, together with our fundholders, Toronto Foundation made 2,451 grants to 1076 charities, totalling $55.4 million.
CORE GRANTS AND INVESTMENTS
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 - Results now available
- 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
We acknowledge we are on the traditional territories of the Huron-Wendat, the Anishinabek Nation, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation. While Indigenous communities in Toronto remain strong, vibrant, and resilient, they need support to address and overcome the impact of colonialism and systemic inequalities. Furthering Indigenous reconciliation and sovereignty are integral to achieving a more fair and just society where everyone can thrive.
We aim to be an ally and to fund local Indigenous organizations.