We ask community organizations to carry more than they are often built to hold.
For the past decade, we’ve worked to shift that—centering equity in our granting, our research and our relationships with donors. We’ve helped shine a light on smaller charities doing outsized work across the city, often serving those who need it most.
There’s been progress. But not enough.
In 2025, our vision came into focus: to build a city of neighbours accelerating meaningful change for all.
That vision is grounded in a simple idea—strong communities are built by people who show up for one another. By organizations that bring people together. By networks and spaces where connection can take root and grow.
But we’ve also had to confront a harder truth.
The organizations doing this work every day are often doing it with financial handcuffs—small budgets, limited reserves and little room to plan beyond the immediate.
If we want more connection, more participation and more trust in our city, we cannot ignore the financial reality facing the sector.
So, we’ve shifted our approach.
We’re not only funding the work—we’re helping strengthen the financial foundations that make that work sustainable.
That means giving charities access to the same calibre of investment tools and advice as larger institutions, so they can grow their assets and build long-term flexibility. In some cases, that means building and stewarding funds for the long term. In others, it means helping them stand on their own.
In 2025, this work reached an important milestone. The Ontario Securities Commission granted Toronto Foundation a customized exemption recognizing our role as an investment pooling platform for charities—allowing us to expand our Community Capital Pool and support more organizations in building financial resilience over time.
This builds on a model we’ve been developing for years: stewarding capital in ways that serve communities not just today, but over the long term.
We’ve seen this take different forms.
At the community level, organizations in very different contexts are using pooled investment structures to build lasting financial resilience. In 2025, both Community Foundation of Kawartha Lakes and Annauma Community Foundation surpassed $1 million in assets through our Community Capital Pool, while The ArQuives continued growing a fund that helps sustain one of Canada’s most important LGBTQ2S+ cultural collections.
The TO 2015 PanAm Legacy Fund, now ten years on, continues to generate sustained support for community facilities across the region—demonstrating how well-structured capital can deliver value year after year.
And in 2025, the Equality Fund reached a defining milestone—transitioning to a fully independent global institution. Over five years, we helped move a $300 million fund from concept to independence, building the investment infrastructure, governance and partnerships required to sustain it for the long term. It now continues that work globally, supporting women’s organizations and movements advancing gender equality.
All of these outcomes matter.
Whether capital remains under our stewardship or moves on to operate independently, the goal is the same: to ensure it continues working for communities in the most effective way possible.
Success, for us, isn’t measured by what sits with us—but by how well resources are positioned to serve communities over time.
These experiences have strengthened our conviction: financial stewardship is not separate from community impact—it’s what makes it possible at scale.
As we look ahead, the opportunity is clear.
Demand for connection, belonging and community is rising across Toronto. The organizations responding to that demand need more than short-term funding—they need the financial strength to grow, adapt and endure.
We will continue to fund this work.
But we will also continue to expand access to the tools, partnerships and capital that help organizations build lasting financial resilience.
Because when community wealth grows, so does our collective wellbeing.