The Toronto Community Foundation is dedicated to making Toronto the best place to live, work, learn and grow. For over 25 years, we have been connecting philanthropic individuals and families with a wide range of charitable organizations that help improve Toronto’s quality of life.

As a community foundation, we invest the charitable gifts of a wide range of donors into pooled, income-earning endowment funds. We make grants from the earnings to support a broad range of registered charities. The capital remains untouched, creating granting income for generations to come.

We help donors create personal endowment funds to suit their desired level of philanthropic involvement, and through our signature community endowment, the Toronto Fund, respond quickly to address community needs.

We act as a catalyst for change by bringing people and organizations together to convene community dialogues and build partnerships to address local issues and leverage opportunities.

While our focus is Toronto, donors can grant to any provincial, national or international charity recognized by Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).

Current Status

The Toronto Community Foundation currently administers an asset base of $225 million and granted in excess of $9 million to local charities and community organizations during the 2007/2008 fiscal year.
Our Mission: To connect philanthropy to community needs and opportunities.

Our Vision: To ensure the vitality of Toronto and to make it the best place to live, work, learn and grow through the power of giving.



For more details see the rest of this section:
Message from the Chair – Martin Connell welcomes you to the Toronto Community Foundation andinvites you to learn more through our web site.   
History – Since the Toronto Community Foundation was established in 1981, we have steadily grown our capacity to support the community.
Our People – Talented people who are dedicated to improving Toronto work together to connect philanthropy to community needs and opportunities.
Financial Information – The Toronto Community Foundation provides trusted professional investment management. We have a proven track record of investment returns near or above top-quartile for the past five years.

Did You Know?
Community foundations are one of the fastest growing segments of philanthropy. Today, 155 community foundations across Canada have close to $3 billion in combined assets and contribute more than $137 million to charitable organizations every year. Please see our FAQ to learn more.   

   

Toronto's Vital Signs® 2008

A Message from The Foundation's President and Chair
Ten years ago the boundaries of the old city of Toronto were expanded and what was then six separate municipalities within a region became the new city of Toronto through a process that came to be known as “Amalgamation”.

Since that important event the Toronto Community Foundation has been monitoring the health of the new city of Toronto through its annual Toronto’s Vital Signs® report. As its name implies, our report looks at important indicators of Toronto’s quality of life and the overall health of our city based on current statistics and special studies. It is a snapshot of Toronto that tracks emerging trends and highlights some of the new realities of how we live, work and play. This year provides a unique opportunity to look back over the past decade and see how the new Toronto has fared since coming together.

Amalgamation held the promise of creating one city; a unified, efficient and prosperous Toronto. Some aspects of this goal have been realized.

Toronto Community Foundation
25 Years of High Impact Milestones
 
2007
Assets under administration have grown to $200 million. Toronto Community Foundation manages over 300 individual, family and corporate endowments.
Through the Arts on Track subway revitalization project, the Museum station will be renovated to provide transit riders with a visual experience.

2006
Vital Signs® became a national initiative with reports launched in Vancouver, Victoria, Ottawa and Montreal.
Toronto Community Foundation celebrated its 25th Anniversary and announced two $10 million gifts, the largest to date.

2005
Vital Conversation event engaged 200 leading Torontonians around the “Tale of Two Cities” with Mayor David Miller and Glenn Murray, Former Mayor of Winnipeg.

2004 - 2006
Toronto Community Foundation convened Toronto Dialogues around key issues and catalyzed collaborative responses including the Strong Communities Housing Allowance pilot, the Arts on Track Subway Station Revitalization program, the Toronto Sports Leadership program and the African Canadian Christian Network Fund.

2004
Vital Ideas launched as companion to Toronto’s Vital Signs® – a measure of high impact grant opportunities exclusive to Toronto Community Foundation donors to improve Toronto’s vital signs.

2003
Toronto’s Vital Signs® adapted as the core of the Toronto Community Foundation’s strategic framework to improve Toronto’s quality of life across all of its activities.
Toronto Community Foundation launched the Council of 100 – community ambassadors and seed funders for the Toronto Fund to enable the creation of discretionary grant streams targeted at improving Toronto’s Vital Signs®
Doug Crashley established the Foundation’s largest Field of Interest Fund, giving $2.5 million to further beautify Toronto parks.

2002
Toronto Community Foundation donors surpassed the $1 million matching endowment challenge from the Province’s Ontario Endowment for Children and Youth in Recreation Program resulting in the creation of today’s Growing Active Kids program.

2001
Toronto Community Foundation released its first Toronto’s Vital Signs® report on the quality of life in Toronto. Assets reached 84 million with total gifts to the community of more than three million.

1999
Seed funding from the Toronto Community Foundation and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund enabled the Toronto Renewable Energy Cooperative to build the wind turbine at Exhibition Place that provides energy to over 250 homes.

1995
Mary Rowell Jackman's bequest of $2.3 million became the largest gift received by the Foundation, benefiting charitable organizations in the arts, education, women’s issues and children’s health.

1994
Toronto Community Foundation initiated the Safe City Awards in response to growing concern about violence in Toronto communities.

1991
Assets reached more than $5 million with total gifts to the community of more than $1.25 million.

1985
First full-time CEO, Marjorie Sharpe was appointed.

1983
The first bequest to the Foundation was made by the Flora Morrison estate.

1981
The Toronto Community Foundation was founded by Fraser Deacon and became a registered charity on September 28, 1981.

The Expanded Version
Welcome to the expanded version of Toronto's Vital Signs® 2008. Some of the material in this year’s report has been highlighted in the special insert of the Toronto Star  (October 7, 2008) This expanded version gives a fuller picture of the state of the City’s health and provides you with further background information and active links to the original sources of all the indicators. Additional charts and maps, such as those showing diabetes prevalence in the city or young children's readiness to learn, give an indication of the ways that many of the issues affecting the City are inter-related. You will find a glossary of terms included at the end of the report.