The Law Foundation of Ontario is coming “Together for Justice” with community foundations. In April 2025, the Foundation approved a $1.5M Strategic Partnerships grant to the Community Foundations of Canada (CFC).
CFC is the national leadership organization for Canada’s 200+ local community foundations, 51 of which are in Ontario. CFC and its member foundations engage regularly with their communities and have deep local knowledge, donor networks, and relationships with grassroots organizations.
“This is the Foundation’s first grant to and collaboration with CFC,” said Noah Aiken-Klar, the Foundation’s Director of Grants & Programs. “We’re excited by the opportunity to tap into the knowledge and networks of community foundations and to help increase the legal literacy, capacity, and connections of organizations who are tackling access to justice in rural, remote, and northern Ontario communities.”
In September 2025, CFC recruited five community foundations to participate in the Together for Justice project. They are the Algoma Community Foundation, Kawartha Lakes Community Foundation, Perth and District Community Foundation, Sudbury Community Foundation, and Windsor-Essex Community Foundation. Each community foundation will receive funds to lead the project locally and to make micro-grants of up to $25K to up to 6 local nonprofit groups. All grants will adhere to the Foundation’s eligibility criteria, which includes prioritizing access to justice initiatives that benefit people in rural, remote, or northern Ontario communities. CFC will provide ongoing oversight, with additional resources and guidance from the Law Foundation.
In 2026, each of the five community foundations will host up to three Community Tables where grantees can share their learnings and discuss ongoing strategies to respond to their community’s justice-related needs. All participating organizations will receive honoraria to support their participation at these events. The five foundations, CFC, and the Law Foundation will then meet to conclude the project and contribute to a recommendations report about potential next steps.
“The Together for Justice partnership is an opportunity to strengthen Ontario’s access to justice ecosystem,” says Alyssa Becker, CFC’s Network Initiatives Manager. “It will give CFC, local foundations, and the Law Foundation space to connect and learn from each other, and it creates pathways for systems change. Bringing together local organizations to be part of creating the solutions and transforming funding mindsets shifts power into local communities.”
