What does it mean for Canadian philanthropy to meet this moment? In 2025, the Philanthropic Foundations Canada network gathered across the country to ask this urgent question. PFC’s president and CEO shares what they heard, as well as three commitments for the new year.
What does Joni Mitchell’s famous 1966 song about love have to do with Canadian philanthropy in 2026? Perhaps more than we’d expect. Just as her lyrics reflect the complexity and shifting perspectives of love, the philanthropic landscape has become more challenging and unpredictable. The political and economic grounds have shifted so forcefully that they are now shaking. Long-held assumptions about stability and impact are being tested by forces that disregard the rule of law and even basic norms of behaviour. This is not about naive longing for the good old days; it is about navigating a world that has fundamentally and irreparably changed.
While we must deepen our understanding of these harsh and complex realities, our work continues to be guided by what endures: human needs, compassion, empathy, and a profound sense of community. These are the constants that can help us move through uncertainty, or our own “clouds,” toward a future where giving and shared humanity remain powerful forces for good.
Yet, challenges to these values are gaining traction, with critics portraying them as weak, fragile, or even the “fatal flaw of Western civilization.” These ideas are not new, but they are increasingly amplified by powerful voices that seek to polarize and divide. Such narratives thrive on fear and resentment, and they must be rejected for what they are: nihilistic and rooted in prejudice.
The wide range of approaches and issues supported by philanthropy provides an important foundation for a pluralistic and democratic society.
A deep belief that a better world for all is possible remains an essential part of the philanthropic ethos. The wide range of approaches and issues supported by philanthropy provides an important foundation for a pluralistic and democratic society: there are many ways to support the public good, and our understanding of what constitutes the public good will also vary. This diversity is at the heart of our collective contributions.
Domestic and international volatility and a US administration that sees us – at best – as a vassal state are reshaping the landscape in ways that strike at the core of Canada’s economy, sovereignty, and security. In this environment, long-standing assumptions can no longer be trusted. For foundations, this reality demands clarity and courage because the cost of inaction will not be abstract. It will be felt in eroded legitimacy and fractured communities.
Throughout 2025, our network gathered across the country around one urgent question: What does it mean for Canadian philanthropy to meet this moment? Our conversations identified several shared conclusions, with, as always, many perspectives on how best to address them. Here is what we heard.
When we act, and especially when we act together, we reinforce social infrastructure and confidence in democratic institutions.
First, disinformation, polarization, and rising threats to social cohesion are lived realities in communities across the country. Almost every member of Philanthropic Foundations Canada has shared that they are receiving a deluge of proposals and increased requests for help. Communities feel the strain, while priorities from youth resilience to water sovereignty to affordable housing remain vastly under-resourced. This is not a climate for cautiousness or staying the course. It is a call to mobilize with clarity in ways that philanthropy knows how to: with long-term perspective, flexible capital, and deep relationships across civil society, business, and governments. When we act, and especially when we act together, we reinforce social infrastructure and confidence in democratic institutions.
Second, we must consider how money moves. Trust-based practices are not just a trend; they offer an operating discipline that builds organizational resilience and capacity. Multi-year flexible funding, streamlined processes, transparency, and support beyond the cheque are now baseline expectations that have yielded promising results. Many of our global peers have issued commitments to collaborate, increase grant budgets, and reduce administrative burdens so non-profits can focus on mission. In Canada, many foundations are encouraging peers to join them in embracing this posture and adapting it to our own operating environment.
Third, grants alone cannot meet the historical challenges that we are facing. All levels of governments across Canada have introduced austerity measures and reset priorities: at the federal level alone, cuts will represent $60 billion over five years. Grants from institutional philanthropy ($10 to $11 billion a year) can not replace state funding that is vanishing. However, our endowments and investments can make significant contributions. Many foundations are expressing a desire for greater impact and mission alignment in their investments. Our shared challenge is to unlock catalytic capital at scale with support from the federal government in derisking investments and the emergence of sound market offerings that yield economic, social, and environmental returns. Every form of capital must be leveraged to its fullest potential. Institutional investors must be at the table, and government must use its policy-making capacity to enable blended finance models that generate economically and deliver public benefit. Today, political signals do not yet reflect this opportunity. Pieces of the puzzle exist, but a national strategy is missing. We must help build it so both sides of philanthropy (grants and investments) can work to support the public good.
Fourth, we must deepen a social capital agenda for Canada. This agenda is practical: move investment dollars toward community outcomes alongside granting dollars; learn from innovators testing new mechanisms and bold uses of capital; develop fit-for-purpose lending and guarantee tools for charities, non-profits, and social enterprises, drawing lessons from Quebec and other regions; use policy dialogue to remove barriers to community finance; and build platforms that help local actors scale what works. Above all, widen the circle: municipalities, Indigenous partners, credit unions, pension funds, private investors, and public agencies aligned around measurable community vitality. It is within reach, and it is imperative. Philanthropy has a leadership role to play here – in supporting pilot initiatives, in sharing what works and what does not – as an integral element of civil society in this country.
In 2026, PFC will deepen this work with three commitments. We will support our network to align grantmaking and investment strategies to drive community outcomes, offering practical tools to activate portfolios consistent with fiduciary duty and public benefit. We will use convening power to connect the network with sector peers and those in government and finance who can unlock catalytic capital. And we will advance policy dialogue to strengthen the regulatory environment and to ensure that philanthropy can responsibly contribute to systems-level change now and over the long term.
Our goal is to ensure that PFC, led by our membership, is ready to engage constructively in shaping policy and help lead evidence-based national conversations.
These commitments will come to life through concrete actions. We are hosting our national conference in Winnipeg this September, our most ambitious gathering yet, designed to strengthen reciprocity across sectors and communities. We will convene new roundtables on housing and on reconciliation to deepen collaboration on issues that define community well-being. We will publish our Working in Canadian Foundations report to provide fresh insights on talent, culture, and practice in our sector. And we are preparing for a likely review of the disbursement quota in 2027, building on lessons from previous consultations, while addressing related policy issues that influence the sector’s capacity for impact. Our goal is to ensure that PFC, led by our membership, is ready to engage constructively in shaping policy and help lead evidence-based national conversations.
This is our architecture for change, and the operational and leadership scaffolding for resilience, prosperity, and social impact in a pluralist Canada. I invite all of you to participate, to share your experiences, and to shape common offerings for meeting the moment we are in.
Headlines may suggest division and scarcity, but 2025 demonstrated the quiet power of our sector. Philanthropy helped advance meaningful societal gains, from supporting an online harms bill to better address hate and protect children and jobs, to expanding food security through school lunch programs, to fostering Indigenous-led rights-based economic development while also addressing deep inter-generational trauma. These efforts show that we have the capacity to help stabilize essential services, amplify community voices, and strengthen public policy objectives through practical collaboration.
Government cannot meet this moment alone. Neither can business. Nor can philanthropy. But together, we can make generational investments in social cohesion and community vitality that compound over time.
My message for the year ahead is simple: stay ambitious, pragmatic, and, as Joni reminds us in “Both Sides Now,” humble. Measure success by outcomes that communities can own and recognize. Treat trust as an operating system, capital as a tool, and collaboration as the default. If we do our work with realism and imagination, philanthropy can feed hope that a more just, inclusive, and sustainable world still remains possible. Let’s help Canada be the light on the hill during these dark days.
