Aqueduct Foundation is a Canadian public charitable foundation dedicated to making personal philanthropy simple, flexible, and effective. Founded in 2006 and managed in partnership with Scotiatrust, it operates nationally from Vancouver and has become one of the largest grant makers in Canada by assets, annual grants, and charitable activities. The foundation is cause-neutral: rather than promoting a single issue, it serves as infrastructure that enables donors to support the charities, communities and causes that matter most to them.
Role of Aqueduct Foundation in the funding ecosystem
Aqueduct structures philanthropy through three main types of funds: donor advised funds, legacy funds, and charity funds. Donor advised funds function as personal foundations established during a donor’s lifetime and allow donors and their advisors to recommend grants to charities and charitable programs of their choice. Legacy funds are typically funded through estates, while charity funds are held for the benefit of specific charitable organizations. Across these vehicles, Aqueduct requires ongoing granting, with a minimum 4% annual payout from each fund, and no maximum.
The foundation makes grants to any Canadian registered charity or qualified donee, in any amount and at any time, on the recommendation of donors or designated grant advisors. It also has the ability to grant to certain non-qualified donees, such as Canadian non-profit organizations carrying out charitable purposes and selected foreign charities, using structures that comply with Canadian charity law. From its inception in 2006 through 2024, Aqueduct reports having granted hundreds of millions of dollars to other registered charities.
Funding themes, grants and charitable programs
Because Aqueduct is cause-neutral, its funding spans many sectors: health, social services, education, arts and culture, environment, land conservation and international development, among others. Each donor fund has its own mission statement and priorities. Stories of Impact and annual reports on the website highlight grants to youth agencies, hospices, research institutes, humanitarian organizations, and many other charities in Canada and abroad.
Beyond straightforward grantmaking, Aqueduct designs and runs charitable programs on a fund-by-fund basis. Evidenced examples include community-based scholarships for post-secondary students, artist foundations and art collections, programs related to ecologically sensitive land, charitable-purpose real estate, and a Conservation Bridge Fund to support land conservation projects. The foundation’s strategic plan for 2025–2029 also indicates an interest in program-related investments and other innovative granting tools to better serve ambitious and complex donors.
Complex gifts and long-term stewardship
Aqueduct focuses on “exceptional donations from wealth” such as private company shares, real estate, art and environmentally sensitive land. Its planning resources explain minimum fund sizes, investment options and the ability to accept complex property while coordinating tax, legal and estate-planning issues. An independent Board of Directors and an Investment Committee oversee governance, risk and investment performance, while a professional team supports donors with granting decisions and charitable planning over both lifetime and estate horizons.
Overall, Aqueduct Foundation positions itself as a trusted bridge between significant private wealth and public benefit, offering one of the broadest and most flexible ranges of grantmaking and charitable program options available to Canadian philanthropists.