Grant and Funding Programs Offered by Right To Food

Right To Food is a national Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to transforming how communities address food insecurity. Founded in 2012 as Community Food Centres Canada, it works with a growing network of Community Food Centres and more than 450 Good Food Organizations to advance the right to food through dignified access to healthy food, skill-building, and systemic policy change.

Right To Food plays a dual role as both a program developer and a funder. Through the Community Food Centre model, it partners with local non-profit organizations that share its Good Food Principles and supports them to establish or strengthen Community Food Centres across Canada. As part of these partnerships, Right To Food provides funding alongside support for program design, communications, evaluation, fundraising and organizational capacity, helping centres deliver healthy food access, food skills, education and engagement programs tailored to local needs.

Beyond Community Food Centres, Right To Food operates the Good Food Organization (GFO) program. This network program is free to join but selective, with annual intake periods and eligibility criteria focused on community-based food programming. For members of the network, Right To Food offers a suite of financial supports: it explicitly mentions microgrants, bursaries, and larger funding programs that are made available throughout the year, subject to funding availability. Recent funding streams have included gardening and land-based programs, emergency food funding, older adult programming, and election organizing work.

Funding and support are directed primarily to community organizations and charities running or developing programs in healthy food access, food skills, community meals, fresh food markets, Indigenous food initiatives, community gardens, tax filing and benefits access, and community advocacy. Many funded partners are Community Food Centres or Good Food Organizations located in urban centres, small towns, and First Nations communities across eight provinces and at least one territory.

Right To Food also strengthens sector-wide capacity through virtual and in-person training, online resources in its Learning Commons, program manuals, evaluation frameworks and communications tools. These non-financial supports complement the grantmaking activity and help organizations implement high-quality, dignified food programming aligned with shared standards.

Through its Poverty Action Unit, Right To Food connects grassroots organizing with federal-level advocacy. While this arm does not function as a traditional grant program, it leverages the funded network to advance income security, Indigenous food sovereignty and equitable public policy. Regional Networks bring together partners in several regions to coordinate advocacy, and the organization publishes research, policy briefs, and campaign materials that grantees and partners can use in their own work.

Originally established as Community Food Centres Canada in 2012, the organization has evolved into Right To Food, maintaining its commitment to dignified, community-led food programs while broadening its focus on policy and systems change. Its national headquarters is in Toronto, and it continues to expand and resource a pan-Canadian network working toward a Canada where everyone can realize their right to food.