Sample GrantStation Canadian Insider – January 2012
In 2011, GrantStation delivered more than 13 million copies of the Insider to nonprofit organizations, making the Insider one of the most widely read nonprofit newsletters in the United States.
GrantStation is now offering the Canadian Insider, a monthly newsletter focused on funding opportunities for organizations working in Canada and available exclusively to our Members.
Join the readers who view the GrantStation Canadian Insider each month.
National | Regional & Provincial | Government
National Funding Opportunities
Housing and Adult Education Initiatives Supported
Catherine Donnelly Foundation
The Catherine Donnelly Foundation supports programs throughout Canada designed to promote positive social change and to advance the position and interests of the poor and marginalized. Currently the Foundation is accepting letters of inquiry for housing and adult education initiatives. In the area of housing, the Foundation supports programs and initiatives intended to assist low-income persons or families within affordable transitional housing settings. In the area of adult education, the Foundation focuses on initiatives addressing the needs of new Canadians and marginalized or excluded populations. Registered Canadian charities are eligible to apply. The next deadline for submitting letters of inquiry is February 7, 2012. Visit the Foundation’s website to learn more about the Foundation’s areas of interest and to access application guidelines and forms.
Grants Address Watershed Protection and Access to Water
RBC Blue Water Project
The RBC Blue Water Project offers Leadership Grants, ranging from $25,000 to $500,000, for projects focused on watershed protection or access to safe drinking water. Support is provided for projects including protection and restoration of sensitive natural areas, community-based watershed stewardship, sustainable water use and conservation, watershed awareness, and programs and projects focused on making sure communities have access to safe drinking water. The grants are available to local, regional, national, or trans-border organizations for projects in any of the countries in which RBC is located, including Canada, the United States, the Caribbean, and the U.K. Community Action Grants, ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, are also available to local or community organizations in Canada, the United States, or the Caribbean for local watershed protection projects. Applications for the Leadership Grants are due February 3, 2012. Applications for the Community Action Grants are accepted on an ongoing basis. Visit the RBC website to apply online.
Support for Social and Economic Justice Projects
Unitarian Universalist Association: Fund for a Just Society
The Fund for a Just Society, a program of the Unitarian Universalist Association, supports nonprofit organizations in the U.S. and Canada that are addressing issues of social and economic justice. The Fund makes grants to non-Unitarian Universalist groups that use community organizing to bring about systemic change leading to a more just society; mobilize with those who have been disenfranchised and excluded from resources, power, and the right to self-determination; and have a focused campaign to create systemic change. Priority is given to active, specific campaigns to create change in the economic, social, and political structures that affect people’s lives. The maximum grant is $15,000, with most grants falling between $6,000 and $8,000. The upcoming application deadline is March 15, 2012. Visit the Fund’s website to review the application guidelines.
Youth, Education, and Health Programs Funded
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce Community Investment Program
The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) provides grants of up to $10,000 for programs throughout Canada in the areas of youth, education, and health. The grantmaking focus areas are youth in need, ages 14-21, and access to opportunity to help young people reach their full potential; education, including skills development and mentoring and bursary and scholarship support; and health, with emphasis on breast and pediatric cancer. Canadian registered charities and nonprofit organizations are eligible to apply. (Public, private, or religious schools and day cares, pre-kindergartens, and pre-schools are not supported.) Applications are accepted year-round. The online application form is available on the CIBC website.
Regional and Provincial Funding Opportunities
Grants Enhance Communities throughout Ontario
Ontario Trillium Foundation
The goal of the Ontario Trillium Foundation, an agency of the government of Ontario, is to build healthy and vibrant communities throughout Ontario, and to strengthen the capacity of the voluntary sector through investments in community-based initiatives. The Foundation distributes funding to charities and nonprofit organizations through three granting programs: the Community Program, for activities that take place in one catchment area and have a local impact in one or more communities; the Province-Wide Program, for activities that have a province-wide impact; and the Future Fund, for projects that are focused on Ontario's future. Within those programs, funding is allocated in the following four sectors: arts and culture, environment, sports and recreation, and human and social services. Registered charities, nonprofit organizations, First Nations, and other Aboriginal communities are eligible to apply. The next application deadline is March 1, 2012. Visit the Foundation’s website for application guidelines.
Focus on Health in Atlantic Canada, Ontario, and Quebec
Medavie Blue Cross: Building Healthy Communities Program
The Medavie Blue Cross’s corporate giving program, Building Healthy Communities, is designed to improve lives and healthy outcomes in the communities where company employees live and work. Registered charitable organizations, hospitals, and health research facilities based in Atlantic Canada (New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island), Ontario, or Quebec are eligible to apply for support for activities focused on improving lives and supporting healthy outcomes. Areas of interest include health support efforts related to cancer, heart and stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, and multiple sclerosis; social welfare, including health and non-health related programs and services focusing on solutions to improving lives; and medical care, including research and development opportunities and medical care opportunities. Donations and sponsorships are provided. Applications are accepted year-round. Visit the Medavie Blue Cross website to access the online application.
Funds for the Arts in the Northwest Territories
NWT Arts Council
The NWT Arts Council provides funding to support and encourage the continued development of the arts in the Northwest Territories. Support is provided for the personal creative growth of artists, the creation and production of artistic projects, and the public presentation of artists’ works. Funding disciplines include music and voice audio recording, performing arts (dance, music, storytelling, and theatre), writing and publishing, visual arts, crafts, and film and media arts. Established and emerging artists who are residents of NWT and registered NWT organizations are eligible to apply. The application deadline is February 28, annually. Visit the Council’s website to download the funding guidelines.
Support Targets Company Communities in Western Canada
Canadian Western Bank Group Community Investment Program
Canadian Western Bank Group’s community investment program provides donation and sponsorship support in the communities where the company has a business presence, including communities in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. Support is focused on the areas of health and wellness, education, and community and civic services. Registered Canadian charities are eligible to apply. Applications may be submitted throughout the year. Visit the Canadian Western Bank Group website to access the online application form.
Canadian Government Funding Opportunities
Grants Address Justice System Innovations
Department of Justice
The Justice Partnership and Innovation Program supports activities that respond to the changing conditions affecting Canadian justice policy. Support is provided for projects to promote identification of emerging trends, issues, or gaps and possible responses with respect to the justice system; promote innovations in the justice system to ensure greater access to the justice system; build knowledge, awareness, understanding, and informed dialogue among justice stakeholders and/or the public on justice issues; and inform Canadians about access to justice issues and the justice system. Applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.
Support for Community Festivals and Anniversaries
Canadian Heritage
The Building Communities through Arts and Heritage program provides funding through three separate components: Local Festivals, Community Anniversaries, and The Legacy Fund. The Local Festivals component supports recurring festivals that present the work of local artists, artisans, or historical performers. The Community Anniversaries component provides funding for local events and capital projects that commemorate an anniversary of 100 years or greater in increments of 25 years. The Legacy Fund provides funding for community capital projects that commemorate a local historical anniversary of 100 years or greater in increments of 25 years. Local nonprofit organizations and Aboriginal councils/governments are eligible to apply. The next application deadline is April 1, 2012.
Rural and Northern Community Development Supported
Canada’s Rural Partnership
The objective of the Community Development Program is to help communities in rural or northern areas work together to achieve concrete results in responding to their unique challenges and opportunities. Funding is focused on efforts to enhance the competitiveness of rural and northern regions, foster the transformation of local ideas and untapped assets into sustainable and innovative economic activities, and facilitate the development of new economic opportunities from existing natural and cultural amenities. Funding categories include workshops, partnerships, rural development initiatives, and knowledge building. The final application deadline is June 30, 2012 for partnerships, rural development initiatives, and knowledge building projects. The final application deadline for workshops is September 30, 2012.
Funding for Artist/Community Collaborations
Canada Council for the Arts
The Artists and Community Collaborations Program supports diverse artistic activities that bring together professional artists and the broader community. Funding supports projects involving the work of professional artists and non-arts community members in creative and collaborative relationships in Aboriginal arts, dance, integrated arts and circus art, media arts, music, theatre, visual arts, and writing and publishing. Application deadlines vary by artistic genre.
Back to topEditor: Ashlyn Simmons
Contributing Writer: Joel Terwilliger
Do you have questions about GrantStation or the GrantStation Canadian Insider?
Send an email to info@grantstation.com or call 1.877.784.7268.
Information contained in the GrantStation Canadian Insider may not be posted, reprinted, redistributed, or sold.