Examining the COVID-19 Response of Canadian Grantmaking Foundations: Possibilities, Tensions, and Long-Term Implications

Abstract

This article explores how Canadian philanthropic foundations with social justice mandates responded to the social and economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic by loosening restrictions for grantees; collaborating on new initiatives; elevating grassroots knowledge; and balancing short-and long-term priorities. This response, however, revealed a series of tensions in the dominant pre-COVID-19 philanthropic model—specifically, as a mechanism to address the social, economic, and ecological crises that predate COVID-19. The early pandemic response of grantmaking foundations can therefore serve as a model for what a more democratic, agile, collaborative, and justice-oriented philanthropic sector can look like.