Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Community Shares

Community Shares is a community-based funding organization that mobilizes donations from individuals, workplaces and corporate partners and channels these resources to front-line community organizations in Montréal and other regions of Québec. Rather than delivering social services directly, it acts as an intermediary funder, identifying organizations with strong local roots and providing them with stable financial support so they can focus on meeting community needs.

The organization’s funding portfolio covers a range of social issues typically addressed by grassroots groups, such as poverty reduction, social inclusion, youth engagement, community empowerment and local development. Community Shares emphasizes long-term, core support for its community partners, helping them maintain essential programs and build organizational capacity.

A flagship initiative highlighted on the website is Youth Share, which introduces a participatory approach to grantmaking. In this program, young people are invited to act as funders: they learn about philanthropy, review applications from youth-serving community organizations and collectively recommend which groups should receive financial support. This model both directs funding to youth-focused initiatives and builds leadership skills among participating youth.

Through Youth Share and its broader funding streams, Community Shares supports multiple organizations at once, often providing flexible contributions that can be used for ongoing activities, outreach, mentoring, and other locally designed solutions. The emphasis is on trust-based relationships, respect for community expertise and sustained collaboration rather than one-off project funding.

Community Shares primarily supports registered non-profit and community organizations serving people who face social and economic exclusion. Beneficiaries may include low-income families, newcomers, racialized communities, at-risk youth and other vulnerable groups. By aggregating many small and large donations and redistributing them strategically, the organization strengthens the community sector as a whole and amplifies the impact of local initiatives.

Information on the site focuses on the mission, partner organizations and featured initiatives rather than detailed application procedures, which is typical for a community funder that works closely with a defined network of partners. Nonetheless, the emphasis on investment in community groups, participatory funding through Youth Share and long-term support clearly positions Community Shares as an active grant provider within Québec’s social and community ecosystem.