Insights on Toronto

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Toronto's Greatest Needs

In this section you’ll find research and resources that track quality of life issues in Toronto, and features of high-impact community organizations and campaigns focused on creating solutions to our city’s most pressing needs. Refer back to this section to help inform your philanthropic values, goals and decisions....

Toronto is a city of great wealth, but it is also consistently the income inequality capital of Canada. There’s been a growing divide between those who benefit from wealth, and those whose prospects of financial security, health and wellbeing have been pushed to the margins of our society. Now add COVID-19 and these rifts are exacerbated with the most vulnerable bearing the brunt of the fallout.

Understanding Toronto’s strengths and challenges is key to informing philanthropy that will help create a society where everyone belongs and has equal opportunity to thrive. But being informed is about more than statistics and trends - it involves connecting with and shifting power to communities with lived experience and those doing the heavy-lifting work on the ground. These are just some of the principles of what we call the new philanthropy.

If you are interested in engaging in these topics with others or getting more hands on with your philanthropy, join our learning program through which you can connect and learn with fellow philanthropists and nonprofit leaders at events and workshops throughout the year.

TORONTO'S VITAL SIGNS REPORT
Our most in depth and broadly cited report tracks 10 quality of life issue areas and amplifies the voices of sector leaders.

RESEARCH AND REPORTS
Data, insights, and recommendations to connect your philanthropy to Toronto’s needs and the issues you care about.

A blue gradient on top of the Toronto skyline with text that reads, "Learn and Act with Us."

PUBLIC ACTION
Our work and initiatives to support Toronto that you can join in with too.

Fundholders smiling and interacting at a Toronto Foundation in-person event.

DISCOVER COMMUNITY ORGANIZATIONS
Learn about the nonprofits and grassroots organizations working on the ground to support Toronto’s most marginalized communities.

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.