Catherine Donnelly Foundation Spring 2025 Civic Engagement for Social Change, Environment and Housing grants support 36 organizations with $525,000 in funding

Catherine Donnelly Foundation Spring 2025 Civic Engagement for Social Change, Environment and Housing grants support 36 organizations with $525,000 in funding

                                                                                                                                                August 2025

Spring 2025 grants from the Catherine Donnelly Foundation encourage transformative solutions that promote civic engagement to foster active citizenship and personal and social transformation, promote a just, green and equitable future and mobilize and advocate for effective housing solutions.

“Last fall, our granting committees substantially increased the number of multi-year grants and sought to boost organizational capacity in our funding sectors,” says Claire Barcik, Executive Director of the Catherine Donnelly Foundation. “This latest funding round continues that work to be more accessible, transparent and equitable in our granting, including ongoing efforts to expand and deepen our relationships with Indigenous, Black and People of Colour (BIPOC) -led and -serving organizations to address historic shortfalls in funding.”

Civic Engagement for Social Change granted $185,000 to 11 organizations focused on strengthening civic institutions and promoting a more inclusive, just and sustainable society. The Black Women’s Institute for Health will work to amplify Black women’s voices in healthcare and raise awareness of systemic barriers, while First Nations Child & Family Caring Society will support First Nations communities, agencies, and organizations to develop child and family service programs across the country. STAC Hamilton will facilitate leadership experiences for Black youth that leverage Afrocentric approaches to community and youth development, while N’Dinawemak, a Winnipeg centre providing culturally appropriate services for unsheltered First Nations community members, will offer training, professional development and wages to create pathways to employment for unsheltered clients.

Environment granted $175,000 to 12 organizations supporting climate justice to build the future we need. Montreal’s Decolonial Solidarity is building climate solidarity with Indigenous communities working to encourage financial institutions to stop financing projects that violate human rights, while BizforClimate in Winnipeg is educating and mobilizing Canadian businesses to advance climate solutions. In Halifax, Ecology Action Centre is helping to launch a grassroots movement in Cape Breton that promotes green power and alleviates energy poverty. Many of these grants support national initiatives, such as ENRICH which works to address the social, economic, political, and health effects of environmental racism and climate change impacts in Indigenous, Black, and other racialized communities.

Housing granted $165,000 to 12 organizations to initiate and scale community-led affordable housing, help communities respond to rural homelessness and connect seniors to secure, safe and affordable rentals. CP Planning received funds to ensure major Ontario development projects meet the needs and priorities of racialized communities. The new National Social Purpose Real Estate Accelerator program of the School of Cities at University of Toronto offers strategies and capacity building to non-profit organizations seeking to develop affordable housing projects. Edmonton’s Rural Housing Network will assist rural Alberta communities to build capacity to understand their unique housing, homelessness, and service needs, while BGC Prince County in Summerside, PEI will develop strategies for support and scalability of community-led affordable housing across Atlantic Canada.

“To better serve partners in our granting areas and to address the increasing demands on those organizations, the Foundation is providing more operational grants and more capacity building support,” says Anne Mark, CDF Director of Programs. “In this grant round organizations such as Wildseed Centre/Black Lives Matter, Senior Women Living Together CP Planning and the Sîhtoskâtowin Program, among others, received funding that isn’t tied to a specific program.”

Find a complete description of all Spring 2025 grants below.

The Catherine Donnelly Foundation’s granting guidelines may be found at:  https://catherinedonnellyfoundation.org/granting/process/

 

Civic Engagement for Social Change 11 one-year grants totaling $185,000

Black Women’s Institute for Health • Black Women’s Civic Engagement & Policy Advocacy Expansion • Toronto, ON • $35,000

This grant aims to build on previous funding that amplifies Black women’s voices, raises awareness of systemic barriers in healthcare, and fosters civic engagement to drive meaningful change. The Institute plans to strengthen participatory research and community-led advocacy, continue and expand peer mentorship and community-led workshops and develop a resource navigation support service to provide tailored referrals and information. Funding also provides support for staffing, partnerships and policy engagement as well as administration and operational support.

Brique par Brique • Parc-Exchange: A Platform for Civic Engagement in Parc-Extension • Montreal, QC • $15,000

Brique par Brique is a nonprofit founded by community organizers and professionals of colour to respond to the need for affordable housing in Montreal’s Parc-Extension neighborhood. Focused on the goal of improving the living conditions of diverse low-income residents – notably newcomers, asylum seekers and other immigrants who face discrimination – the organization works to cultivate solidarity and leverage community assets. Funding supports a non-monetary service exchange and peer-learning program to promote knowledge-sharing, connection, mutual aid and foster leadership and self-sufficiency. www.briqueparbrique.com/

Climate Caucus • Climate Caucus Women’s Cohort: Supporting locally elected women climate leaders • Whistler, BC / national • $20,000

Climate Caucus is a non-partisan, national non-profit working at the intersection of two essential pillars of shared prosperity: local democracy and climate policy. Funds will provide operating support for Climate Caucus’ cohort of locally elected women and non-binary leaders supporting climate action through regular caucus meetings, training, and written resources. Funds will also support a communications campaign to encourage more women with a climate justice focus to run for local politics. https://climatecaucus.ca/

Democratic Engagement Exchange (Toronto Metropolitan University) • Toronto, ON • $5,000

The Democratic Engagement Exchange is Canada’s premier nonpartisan leader in civic and voter engagement, working closely with Elections Canada and community-based organizations across the country to train local leaders to integrate nonpartisan voter engagement into their programming, develop trusted tools and resources to make voting easy, familiar, and accessible and partner with community organizations to ensure engagement efforts reflect the needs of diverse communities. Funding supports nonpartisan voter engagement training for community organizations that equip local leaders to engage voters, provide trusted, evidence-based resources to build voter confidence and demystify the voting process and ensure community organizations have the training, materials and resources to support voter engagement efforts. www.engagedemocracy.ca/

Environment Leadership Canada • Toronto, ON • Youth Climate Assembly • $15,000

Environmental Leadership Canada is a non-partisan organization that builds democratic literacy and works to build a new generation of environmental leaders. In partnership with the Parliamentary working group Senators for Climate Solutions, this project aims to increase youth engagement and agency in federal climate decision-making. Environmental Leadership Canada will convene a Youth Citizens Assembly, bringing together 36 youth from across Canada to learn, deliberate and make recommendations to Parliament on climate action priorities. www.environmentalleadership.ca/

First Nations Child & Family Caring Society • Jordan’s Principle: Upholding a Sacred Responsibility • Ottawa, ON / national • $20,000

The First Nations Child & Family Caring Society provides reconciliation-based public education, policy guidance, research, advocacy, and support to promote the safety and well-being of First Nations children, young people and families. Funds will support the Caring Society in their work with First Nations communities, agencies, and organizations in upholding Jordan’s Principle and to develop, implement, and advance child and family service programs across the country. Jordan’s Principle is a human rights principle established to ensure First Nations children do not face barriers in accessing government services due to their identity as First Nations children. https://fncaringsociety.com/

Good Neighbour Builders Society • Ellershouse, NS • $10,000

Good Neighbour Builders work to transform the lives of those most in need by supporting strategies to build networks and community. Funding will support an initiative to encourage connectedness and belonging at the municipal and community level. The initiative will employ the Good Neighbour Method, a process where people meet in person to develop trusting and mutually supportive relationships that encourage volunteerism and civic engagement. With a proven track record in Yarmouth and Lunenberg, NS, they will expand programming to new communities in Quebec, Manitoba, Alberta, and British Columbia. https://goodneighbourbuilders.org/

M4BJ – Wildseed Centre/Black Lives Matter • Earthseed Community Garden and World Building Initiative • Toronto, ON • $10,000

The Earthseed Community Garden program offers mentorship and other supports for formerly incarcerated Black people through employment and volunteer opportunities in a community garden. Participants receive counselling to re-enter society as active citizens. The program promotes sustainable gardening and nourishment of the land, offers land-based healing justice workshops and addresses food insecurity by distributing the harvest through a community fridge program. Organizers hope to use learnings from the Community Garden to expand the initiative to other underserved groups.www.wildseedcentre.com/black-lives-matter/

N’dinawemak Incorporated • N’Dinawemak Community Care Team • Winnipeg, MB • $17,500

N’Dinawemak, is a Winnipeg drop-in warming centre and a safe place to sleep that provides culturally appropriate and trauma-informed services and support for unsheltered First Nations community members. This grant will support training, professional development and contribute to wages of the Community Care Team, an operational component that creates pathways to employment and out of homelessness for unsheltered clients of N’Dinawemak. Nearly one-quarter of staff at N’Dinawemak are former Community Care Team volunteers.

STAC Hamilton • Youth Mentorship Program • Hamilton, ON • $17,500

STAC Hamilton provides youth from equity-deserving communities with athletic, academic and life-skills opportunities. Their Youth Mentorship Program will facilitate group experiences for Black youth that leverage Afrocentric approaches to community and youth development, including positive racial identity development and addressing systemic barriers in education and justice systems. The program will assist high school youth with resources to help them develop the necessary skills to access post-secondary education and opportunities while encouraging advocacy, leadership and active citizenship. https://stachamilton.ca/

Tamarack Institute • Communities Building Belonging • Waterloo, ON / national • $20,000

The Tamarack Institute’s Communities Building Belonging network is a national peer network connecting 30 to 50 leaders in sectors including community development, health and social services, housing and poverty reduction as well as local government, to co-create strategies for belonging, equity, and resilience. Funding will support Tamarack to expand the Neighbourhood Learning Community of Practice which builds capacity for those working on the ground, while fostering belonging and social cohesion within communities across Canada. www.tamarackcommunity.ca/

Environment 12 one-year grants totaling $175,000

Beyond the Choir (DI Foundation) • Building Power for lasting climate action • Atlantic Provinces • $15,000

Beyond the Choir provides strategic regranting and infrastructure support for climate and social justice movement building in the Maritime provinces. The initiative will support base-building organizations with grants to grow their members lists, target key constituencies, build political organizing capacity, and test communication and messaging strategies. The goal is to build a well-organized and politically engaged movement of citizens who can hold political candidates and elected officials accountable for more ambitious climate plans. This geographic focus responds to a documented lack of funding for climate justice work in the Atlantic region. https://difoundation.ca/

BizforClimate • Winnipeg, MB • $10,000

BizforClimate is focused on mobilizing business owners to advance climate solutions and promote policies that support the rapid transition to an emissions-free, environmentally sustainable economy. Funding will support a project aimed at demonstrating to policy makers, business associations, and the public that broad support exists to address the climate crisis and promote collective action. https://bizforclimate.com/

David Suzuki Foundation • Community Engagement and Youth Empowerment • Vancouver, BC / national • $20,000

Funding to the David Suzuki Foundation will support vital climate action and engagement efforts in Regina, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver among frontline communities, racialized and Indigenous organizers, youth leaders and advocacy networks. Planned work includes climate justice art projects in Regina, support for youth working on public transit, affordable housing and active transportation advocacy in Calgary, helping facilitate community dialogue in Dene and Karhiio wards in Edmonton and engaging Metro Vancouver Regional District directors to prevent the rollback of climate policies. https://davidsuzuki.org/

Decolonial Solidarity (DI Foundation) • Expanding the frontlines • Montreal, QC / national • $15,000

The Expanding the Frontlines project is focused on building solidarity with Indigenous communities resisting LNG expansion to encourage financial institutions to stop financing projects that violate Indigenous and human rights. Funding will assist with the creation of resources to educate the public on climate action and fossil finance as well as for capacity building of organizations engaging with artists and faith communities to promote mutual learning and encourage collective action in solidarity with Indigenous land defenders.

Ecology Action Centre • People for Policy: community mobilization on energy poverty in Cape Breton, NS • Halifax, NS • $20,00

The Ecology Action Centre seeks to build a grassroots movement of rural, low-income citizens in Unama’ki/Cape Breton to advocate for affordable, safe and sustainable home energy as a means of alleviating energy poverty. Funding will support the development of resources and a community education campaign for People for Policy to educate and engage locals, host townhalls and assist local individuals and organizations to create advocacy strategies, support actions and build an Unama’ki/Cape Breton energy poverty network.. https://ecologyaction.ca /

The ENRICH Project (MakeWay) • Hamilton, ON / national • $15,000

ENRICH leads projects and aims to support organizations working in the areas of environmental and climate justice to address the social, economic, political, and health effects of environmental racism and climate change impacts in Indigenous, Black, and other racialized communities in Canada. Funding is to support organizational capacity at ENRICH. https://www.enrichproject.org/

For Our Kids • Parents Talk Climate • Duncan, BC / national • $10,000

For Our Kids offers a pathway for Canadian parents and grandparents concerned about climate change to get active, train a new generation of leaders, build a new constituency for progress on climate change, and to support climate organizing. Funding supports in-person Parents Talk Climate workshops with parents, grandparents and caregivers in rural, suburban, and other communities that are under-represented in the climate movement. For Our Kids will hold workshops with existing network members and seek new collaborators nationwide. https://www.forourkids.ca/

Green Budget Coalition • Green Budget Coalition’s federal budget campaign • Ottawa, ON / national • $15,000

The Green Budget Coalition brings together nearly two dozen leading Canadian environmental organizations to collaboratively develop, refine, and promote a comprehensive set of detailed, strategic recommendations for the annual federal government’s budget. Funding supports the Green Budget Coalition to prepare strategic environmental recommendations for the 2025 and 2026 federal budgets and build federal government support for their adoption. https://greenbudget.ca/

Mikana • Land Back Educational Tool • Montreal, QC • $10,000

Mikana will develop an educational and user-friendly website about the Land Back movement that explores the historical context, significance, and contemporary initiatives for public consumption. Content will help non-Indigenous individuals learn more about anti-racism and decolonization. Readers will also be able to use the website to crowdsource grassroots initiatives that promote Indigenous land rights and sovereignty and empower individuals to engage in meaningful discussions and actions that support Indigenous rights. https://mikana.ca/

Sîhtoskâtowin Program (MakeWay Foundation) • SK • $15,000

The Sîhtoskâtowin program is designed to bring more accessible philanthropic funding and supports to rural and remote Indigenous community-led work in Saskatchewan. The program is guided by a Saskatchewan-based working group and special advisors involved in Indigenous-led community work. The program’s three interwoven priorities are Indigenous Food Systems, Cultural Reclamation and Health and Healing, which includes Indigenous-led work on community wellness, community food sovereignty, and cultural activities. Funding from CDF is to be used for re-granting through the Sîhtoskâtowin program.

Anishnabe Moose Committee (Small Change Fund) • Anishnabe-led Moose Research Project • Le Verendrye, QC • $20,000

The Anishnabe-led Moose Research Project engages with all nine Algonquin Anishnabe communities in and around La Verendrye Park to conduct community-led research and educational activities to build community knowledge that helps protect the moose populations, strengthen Anishnabe self-governance, reinvigorate traditional knowledge systems, and unify Anishnabe communities. Funding supports land-based camps, which are integral to fostering intergenerational knowledge transmission and empowering youth as future land stewards. A key focus is launching the Traditional Food Systems toolkit. Anishnabe Moose Committee also received funding in 2024. https://anishnabeanikiwin.wordpress.com/

The Starfish Canada • Victoria, BC / national • $10,000

The Starfish Canada celebrates young environmental leaders by connecting them with a platform for storytelling and a community of change-makers. Funding is for operating support of their youth climate leadership programming, which includes the Climate 75 Fellowship, Editorial Toolkit, and Youth Environmental Changemaker Summit. Through these programs, they seek to ensure that young voices, particularly those from equity-deserving groups, are not only heard, but actively shape decision-making processes and environmental solutions. https://thestarfish.ca/

Housing 12 one-year grants totaling $165,000

 BGC Prince County • LifeHouse Forward PEI • Summerside, PEI • $10,000

BCG Prince County programming delivers healthy living, education, physical activity, and creative expression for Prince Edward Island children, youth and families. Funding will provide operating support for BGC Prince County’s LifeHouse, an emergency shelter and transitional housing program for women, trans and non-binary individuals and their children, as they refine and share their successful model with other non-profit and non-governmental organizations. The long-term goal is to develop strategies for support and scalability of community-led affordable housing across PEI and Atlantic Canada. https://bgcprincecounty.com/

Clean Economy Fund • Housing & Climate Initiative • Ottawa, ON / national • $15,000

This initiative seeks to reinvigorate the 2024 Blueprint for More and Better Housing with new research, communications and engagement activities to ensure governments implement recommendations for building affordable, low-carbon and resilient housing. Funding for 2025-26 will support the production of a report card that grades provincial governments on their implementation of earlier Task Force recommendations, engagement with governments through events, media, advertising and meetings, and encourage the development of practical housing solutions. www.cleaneconomyfund.ca/en/

CP Planning • Blueprint to Unlock Housing Equity • Toronto, ON / national • $10,000

CP Planning facilitates community economic development through strategic planning, mentorship, relationship-building, and knowledge mobilization to break down barriers preventing racialized communities from influencing the Land Use Planning Economy. Funds will be used for operating support. A focus of their work in 2025/26 will be Phase 2 of their Roadmap for Redevelopment Plans to Confront Systemic Racism, which works to ensure major Ontario development projects meet the needs and priorities of racialized communities, including the provision of affordable housing. This work seeks long-term solutions to the housing crisis while tackling systemic racism. https://cpplanning.ca/

First United Church Community Ministry • Law Reform and Systems Change • Vancouver, BC • $15,000

Funds will be used for general program support to advance First United’s on-going work of tenancy law reform across British Columbia. Based on the findings from the BC Evictions Mapping Survey, First United seeks to influence law reform to improve protections for renters, reduce homelessness, eviction, and displacement. This is a second grant in support of this work. https://firstunited.ca/

Jubilee Fund • Rent Guarantee Program Expansion • Winnipeg, MB • $15,000

The Rent Guarantee Program helps women in Manitoba by co-signing rental agreements in the for-profit housing market once they have reached their maximum stay at provincial and federal shelters or transitional housing. Funding will support the next stage of the program, which includes expanding services to other groups who face barriers in securing safe housing without rental history, including previously incarcerated individuals, youth coming out of care, and newcomers to Canada. https://www.jubileefund.ca/

Mouvement pour mettre fin à l’itinérance à Montréal • Montreal, QC • $5,000

The Mouvement pour mettre fin à l’itinérance à Montréal (Movement to End Homelessness in Montreal) is a network of business, research and community committed to ending homelessness. Prioritizing a “housing first” approach to the homelessness crisis that prioritizes access to permanent housing and support services, MMFIM also advocates for better coordination of existing resources, relevant data collection and the implementation of best practices. Funds support the organization’s role as a host organization of the 2025 Canadian Alliance to End Homelessness Conference. https://mmfim.ca/

Indigenous Friendship Centre in Sault Ste Marie • Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound • Sault Ste Marie, ON • $25,000

The Urban Indigenous Homeward Bound program seeks to address systemic barriers faced by sole-parenting Indigenous women who are attempting to return to post-secondary education. Offered through seven Friendship Centres across Ontario, the program currently supports 83 mothers and 160 dependents with safe housing, childcare, transportation, case coordination, health access and mental health supports as well as opportunities for career-track employment upon graduation. https://ofifc.org/program/urban-indigenous-homeward-bound/

Rural Development Network • Edmonton, AB • $15,000

The Rural Development Network supports communities in planning for and responding to rural homelessness through community engagement and education, data collection, action plans and advocacy. Funding will help rural Alberta communities to build the capacity to understand their unique housing, homelessness, and service needs and address systemic data gaps in rural communities. RDN will provide tools to collect accurate data on housing insecurity and homelessness and use that information as well as the insights of people with lived experience of homelessness to develop recommendations to advocate for policy changes that address systemic issues related to access and availability of affordable rural housing. https://ruraldevelopment.ca/

School of Cities at University of Toronto • National Social Purpose Real Estate Accelerator • Toronto, ON / national • $15,000

Recent work at the School of Cities has helped them conclude that impact investors, and foundations in particular, can play a significant role as investors to spark the development of affordable housing in Canada. Beginning in 2022, their Social Purpose Real Estate Accelerator program identified necessary financial structures and risk management strategies and provides capacity building to non-profit organizations seeking to develop affordable housing projects. Funding supports turning this Ontario-based program into a national initiative to be launched in the Fall of 2025. Specifically, the new National Accelerator is designed for groups developing social purpose real estate projects, with a confirmed site or partnerships in place, and in search of support through the pre-development phase of a project. https://schoolofcities.utoronto.ca/

Senior Women Living Together • Peterborough, ON • $10,000

Senior Women Living Together offers Ontario women and those who identify as women with the tools and supports to achieve their human right to have safe, affordable, and secure housing through an online platform which helps individuals find compatible homemates in long-term shared rental accommodation. Founded in 2019 as a Facebook group for those aged 55 years and older, funding will help SWLT build capacity by increasing and strengthening partnerships with other non-profit organizations, private landlords, real estate investors, and affordable housing builders, and augmenting their website. Senior Women Living Together will also engage and support single, senior women in Ontario living with poverty or in unaffordable housing regarding the benefits of shared living. supports https://swlt.ca/

Territoires solidaires (formerly Solutions Immobilier Solidaire) • Port-Joli, QC • $20,000

With funding from the Foundation, Territoires solidaires will develop a comprehensive toolkit for new community land trusts (CLTs) in Québec that includes legal templates for structuring, financial models that demonstrate economic feasibility, governance frameworks to support democratic, community-led management and communication tools to increase awareness and mobilize stakeholders. Territoires solidaires will also help establish one or two new regional CLTs in Québec. The CLT model ensures permanent affordability and shields land from speculation, addresses the root causes of housing insecurity, fosters community-led governance, empowers residents and local stakeholders, and strengthens multi-sector partnerships in the non-profit housing system. . www.territoiressolidaires.ca/

Toronto Shelter Network • Building Brighter Futures Globally • Toronto, ON / national • $10,000

Beginning in 2021, Toronto Shelter Network’s Re-Imagining Toronto’s Shelter System project documented the positive impacts of the shelter hotel model Toronto implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A second phase of this initiative examined a different housing transition model that prioritized medium- and high-support needs individuals gaining tenancy in permanent affordable and supportive housing. New funding is aimed at deepening understanding of best practices in the design of emergency shelter sites and the selection of sites for housing conversion as well as sharing findings with local, national and international organizations. The goal of this long-term project is to chronicle developments in housing models to end homelessness locally and advance recognition of housing as a human right. The Foundation has helped fund all three stages of this project. https://www.torontoshelternetwork.com/