The Trottier Family Foundation (TFF) is pleased to announce that we have dedicated $150 million by 2030 towards fighting the climate crisis.
We are at a pivotal moment in the fight against climate change, with only a limited window to mobilize the capital necessary to meet this generational challenge. In response, we are increasing our grant allocations and partially spending down our endowment to support the charities and initiatives working to advance net-zero pathways in Canada.
TFF’s announcement is part of an unprecedented new funding commitment by nine Canadian families and foundations totaling $405M. Brought together by the Clean Economy Fund, the joint effort is the largest philanthropic contribution to climate solutions in Canadian history.
The urgency of the climate crisis calls for immediate and bold action. The next five years are crucial to keeping global warming at or below 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, a critical threshold to prevent the most severe effects of climate change. Every degree of warming we avoid will save lives, preserve ecosystems, and reduce economic damage. At TFF, we believe that solutions are within reach, and philanthropy plays a unique role in driving these efforts forward.
By increasing our climate funding, we aim to catalyze innovative work and accelerate climate solutions across the Canadian economy. The Trottier Family Foundation has chosen to partially spend down its endowment to maximize its impact during this critical period. This hybrid approach reflects the strategic urgency of the climate crisis, while also ensuring that TFF can continue supporting Canada’s long-term transition to net-zero alongside our other strategic priorities for years to come.
This increased funding will support our Climate Program Strategy, which is designed to catalyze solutions that empower Canadian governments, provinces, cities, institutions, charities, and businesses to meet ambitious climate targets. Our approach focuses on both immediate and sustained efforts to reduce emissions over the short, medium, and long term. To achieve this goal, the foundation, has implemented a 2-pronged approach: 1) proactive granting in which TFF staff use rigorous analysis and research to proactively seek out, develop or support projects that accelerate innovative climate solutions, representing about 2/3 of our funding and 2) reactive granting in which the Foundation is solicited for support, representing about 1/3 of our funding. This dual approach enables TFF to both address strategic gaps and remain open to emerging, innovative solutions from new partners.
TFF began its partial spend-down in 2023 and is entering its 3rd year of funding. We will continue ramping up funding over the next several years, with a goal to complete the process by the end of 2030. After this period, our funding will return to the CRA-mandated 5% disbursement quota, allowing us to maintain our mission and support key priorities for the long term.
Our commitment is part of a growing movement of foundations and high-net-worth families in Canada dedicated to using their resources to confront the climate emergency. We are pleased to be joined by other committed organizations, including the Peter Gilgan Foundation, the Ronald S. Roadburg Foundation, the Chisholm Thomson Family Foundation, David Keith and Kirsten Anderson, the Sitka Foundation, the Vohra Miller Foundation, Allan Shiff, and a recommitment from the Ivey Foundation, and are grateful for the leadership of the Clean Economy Fund in uniting these efforts. The Ivey Foundation’s 2022 decision to wind down its operations and fully invest in climate action has been pivotal in energizing this collective movement. We appreciate their bold leadership on this issue.
We hope our combined efforts will encourage more Canadian foundations and families to join us in tackling this urgent challenge. We invite those interested in joining this effort to connect with TFF or the Clean Economy Fund to learn how they can be part of this movement.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why did you choose to commit such a large sum to climate and partially spend down the Foundation’s endowment? Why now?
We are at a crucial moment to address the climate crisis: less than decade remains to ensure that global warming stays below 1.5 degrees Celsius. Tackling climate change requires an urgent, large-scale mobilization of capital and philanthropy has a critical role to play in this movement. Currently, however, less than 1% of philanthropic dollars are dedicated to climate funding.
To meet this challenge, the Board members of the Trottier Family Foundation committed to disbursing $150M through our climate program by the end of 2030. The increased budget will partially spend down our endowment over the next several years.
The decision to go beyond the CRA mandated 5% disbursement quota was made to maximize our impact during this critical moment, while also allowing us to continue to support Canada’s efforts to reach net-zero for years to come. We believe that solutions are possible, and that every action we take now can help to prevent or lessen the worst impacts of climate change. Every degree of warming we avoid means fewer lives lost, ecosystems preserved, and less damage to our economy and eases our ability to adapt to a changing climate.
We hope that others will join us in this commitment. There has never been a more critical or opportune time for Canadian philanthropists to step up and take bold action in this space. We are hoping to ignite a movement.
When does this budget increase come into play?
TFF’s partial spend down began in 2023 and will be ramping up over the coming years. We are about to enter our 3rd year of this 8-year commitment and have already distributed close to 25 million over the last 2 years. We aim to complete our partial spend down by the end of 2030. After 2030, TFF’s funding will gradually return to the CRA mandated 5% disbursement quota and align with the Foundation’s mission and funding priorities.
What do you hope this budget increase will achieve?
Only a small percentage of philanthropic dollars and investments are directed towards solving the climate crisis despite the existential threat this challenge poses to our communities and our planet. We hope that our commitment will inspire and galvanize others to increase their funding in this area. Philanthropy can and must play a bigger role in addressing climate change. The time to act is now.
We want our funding to act as catalytic capital—helping to scale impactful projects and de-risk innovative work. Our hope is that this will unlock more funding for these projects, particularly from other sources that may be hesitant to invest without the early support we can provide. Ultimately, we hope that our capital will help to multiply impact and create a ripple effect that accelerates climate solutions across the Canadian economy.
How much is TFF’s climate budget increasing?
The Trottier Family Foundation’s will distribute $150M towards our climate programs between now and the end of 2030. Our funding began in 2023 and will ramp up over the coming years. While the overall budgets may change year over year, this represents roughly $20M in climate funding annually.
The funding will be allocated alignment with the strategic priorities of our climate program, including: cities, buildings, transportation, energy, industry, strategic opportunities, stainable finance, and health & climate.
Who will the funds go to?
The funds from this commitment will be used to support charities, think tanks, qualified donnees, academic researchers making significant progress on climate solutions.
We are open to funding work across the country, including all cities, provinces and Indigenous communities.
Are TFF’s funding strategies changing due to this increased commitment? Are there new applications processes?
The funds from this commitment will be used to support projects and partnerships that align with TFF’s existing climate strategy, which has been designed to address key issues facing the most important facets of Canada’s economy, while also remaining agile to respond to emerging opportunities and urgent needs. We are entering year 3 of our commitment and have already determined our funding priorities.
Our climate program supports and catalyzes solutions to help Canadian governments, institutions, civil society, companies to meet ambitious climate targets and curb emissions in the short, medium and long term. Specifically, we aim to advance climate action in the areas of cities, buildings, transportation, energy, industry, stainable finance, health & climate, alongside other strategic opportunities. You can find more information about our priority climate funding areas here: https://www.trottierfoundation.com/climate.)
To achieve this goal, the foundation, has implemented a dual approach that allows us to address strategic funding gaps while remaining open to innovative solutions from new partners:
Proactive partnership development: Our team uses rigorous research and analysis to identify gaps and proactively seek out partners to develop or support strategic projects that accelerate innovative climate solutions. This work represents about 2/3 of our funding.
As new strategic opportunities arise, we may issue requests for proposals (RFPs) for specific initiatives or projects. Any future RFPs will be posted on our website, shared on our social media & shared to relevant networks.Reactive granting: We recognize that innovative climate solutions can come from a wide range of sources and organizations. We remain open to receiving new ideas and opportunities through our reactive granting portal. This work represents about 1/3 of our climate funding. We encourage you to read our granting FAQ and Granting Process web pages to ensure your project is a strategic fit before submitting an online application.
Please note that we do not currently fund projects that focus on biodiversity, conservation and adaptation and nature-based solutions.
For any additional questions, don’t hesitate to reach out to the Trottier Foundation team at info@trottierfoundation.com
How can I apply for funding?
Our climate funding is divided between a proactive and reactive funding approach. We are not accepting new applications or expressions of interest for our proactive funding.
All reactive funding applications must be submitted through our online portal. We encourage you to read our Climate, FAQ and Granting Process pages to familiarize yourself with the application process and our funding priorities before you submit an application.
Applications are reviewed all year round. The TFF board meets quarterly (March, June, September and December) to make its decisions about the applications received. We do not have fixed deadlines before each board meeting, as this largely depends on the number of applications received and our internal capacity.
Please note that the entire grant request process, from the moment the letter of intent is submitted to the moment the Foundation informs the applicant of their decision, can take three to six months, depending on the size and nature of the application.
Can I meet with someone to discuss my application?
For capacity reasons and to be fair to all applicants, we do not meet with potential partners before they submit their requests. Please submit your letter of intent through our application portal. We may contact you afterwards.
Are you funding non profits and non qualified donees?
We are supportive of the recent changes by CRA to facilitate direct funding to non-profits and non-qualified donees (NQDs). However, we are awaiting further clarification from the CRA before we can directly support these organizations. Currently our own governance documents do not allow us to take advantage of these changes and to directly fund nonprofits or qualified donees. We are working on making the necessary internal changes but for the moment can only provide funding to Canadian Registered Charities and qualified donees.
Will average funding amounts change?
We do not have any set funding limits for grant proposals; grant sizes are based on the nature of the proposed work and can vary widely. We are open to funding both short-term grants of less than one year, as well as longer term projects depending on the strategy of the project or opportunity. We encourage you to submit a budget that aligns with the opportunity you have identified.
Can current grantees with active grants apply for an increase to their grant amounts or additional grants due to the budget increase, or new grants?
The funding terms for all active grants will remain in place. Any requests for new funding must undergo the usual review process. Please note that we generally only fund organizations with one grant per year, unless TFF is proactively partnering with an organization on strategic projects, or they are acting as a fiscal sponsor for other entities.
If you have questions or concerns about your grant, please do not hesitate to reach out to the TFF team member assigned to your project.
