The Law Foundation of Ontario’s Responsive program funded an unprecedented amount in the past two years. In 2024 and 2025, the Foundation made 123 Responsive grants, totaling over $29M.
The Responsive program provides grants to nonprofit organizations for community-driven initiatives that improve access to justice for people in Ontario. Responsive grants support projects/programs delivering new or existing legal services, legal education, and legal research. Exemplifying the ‘community knows what community needs’ principle, Responsive grants support the most promising ideas and priorities identified by nonprofit, grassroots, and Indigenous organizations across Ontario.
Of interest, approximately half of the 2024 and 2025 Responsive grant recipients are first-time grantees of the Foundation. This supports our aim to continue to reach new organizations. Also, while there are thousands of registered charities and nonprofit organizations in Ontario, it is estimated that a fraction of these, around 1% to 3%, are Indigenous-led[1][2]. We are pleased to see that our Responsive program continues to support a fair percentage of Indigenous-led groups: an average of 11% over the two years. A list of all the 2024 and 2025 Responsive grants can be found in the Foundation’s grants made directory.
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[1]Statistics Canada. Table 33-10-0794-01 Senior management positions filled by designated groups in non-profit organizations, 2023.
[2] Ted Rogers School of Management Diversity Institute. (November 2023). Civic Action Report, Diversity and Inclusion in Non-profit Leadership in Ontario: Are We There Yet?
