Grant and Funding Programs Offered by The Sinneave Family Foundation

The Sinneave Family Foundation is an operating foundation based in Calgary, Alberta, that works with individuals, communities, and organizations across Canada to improve outcomes for Autistic and neurodivergent youth and adults. In addition to delivering its own services and programs, Sinneave acts as a funder by investing in education, employment, and housing initiatives, and by providing direct financial support to individuals and community organizations.

Sinneave’s portfolio of funding tools includes scholarships and awards, community grants, and structured calls for submissions that support external partners. The foundation explicitly highlights access to flexible funding as one of its core strengths, enabling it to respond to emerging needs and to back initiatives that catalyze systems change for the autism community.

Through its Scholarships and Awards service, Sinneave offers several streams of financial assistance for Autistic people and their families. These include a Directors Scholarship focused on post-secondary education and training, an Individual Training Award that supports skill development for specific jobs or needs, and an Advocacy Award that funds training or expenses linked to Autistic self-advocacy. These awards provide scholarships or financial awards for eligible training and are open for applications until annual funding is exhausted.

At the community level, the foundation operates a Community Grant Expression of Interest process. Sinneave commits to coordinating and investing in a portfolio of purposeful initiatives and projects aimed at improving outcomes in post-secondary education, employment, and housing. The organization communicates when annual funds—for example, for 2025—have been fully committed and reopens the opportunity when new funding cycles begin.

Sinneave regularly publishes Requests for Submissions for specific scopes of work, such as expanding the national EmploymentWorks project in Quebec or engaging coaches to support Autistic and neurodivergent job seekers across Canada. These calls seek proposals from service providers and professionals who can deliver pre-employment support, on-the-job coaching, and career coaching, and are backed by foundation funding.

The foundation also collaborates with organizations and research institutions through a Research Opportunity process, where it helps connect research teams with Autistic adults and caregivers and supports evaluation and data collection that can inform social policy and promising practices.

Sinneave’s mission is to reduce barriers and enhance opportunities for Autistic youth and adults. Its funding and services target individuals pursuing further education, seeking or maintaining employment, or working toward independent living and stable housing. Impact reports published annually document the reach of its direct programs, its backbone leadership in collaborative initiatives, and the results of its investments in community projects and systems-change efforts.

By combining direct service delivery with scholarships, awards, grants, and funded collaborations, The Sinneave Family Foundation plays a dual role as both service provider and grantmaker within Canada’s autism and neuroinclusion ecosystem.