Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Community Foundations of Canada (CFC)

Community Foundations of Canada (CFC) is the national leadership organization for a network of more than 200 local community foundations spanning communities across Canada. As a public foundation and sector convener, CFC connects foundations, donors, community groups and institutional partners to mobilize financial resources and community knowledge in support of a future where everyone belongs.

Through its network, CFC helps channel charitable capital into local priorities via endowment building, impact investing and grantmaking. The Local Community Foundations section highlights how foundations champion solutions on issues that matter most to residents through relationship building, community data and the distribution of grants. CFC supports and amplifies this work by coordinating national programs, shared tools and learning opportunities.

CFC collaborates with government, philanthropic and private partners to deliver large-scale national initiatives that provide funding and other supports to organizations and communities. Current initiatives include Free To Play, described as a national fund investing in local projects that help kids move, imagine and connect, as well as programs such as the Indigenous Peoples Resilience Fund, Communities For Gender Equality and the Queen Elizabeth Scholars platform. These initiatives typically blend financial support with capacity building, knowledge sharing and data initiatives like the Vital Signs program.

CFC’s programming focuses on pressing social issues, including youth engagement, gender equality, entrepreneurship and social innovation, and local action on the UN Sustainable Development Goals. By convening partners and stewarding national funds, CFC helps ensure that community foundations and their grantees have the resources, evidence and collaborative spaces they need to strengthen community well-being across urban, rural and Indigenous communities throughout Canada.