The Opportunities Fund is the Inclusive Local Economies program’s only open call for grant applications. It supports innovative ideas and compelling approaches that improve the economic livelihoods of low-income people in Toronto.

The Opportunities Fund only funds organizations that have a current charitable registration number from the Canada Revenue Agency. If your organization is a nonprofit or grassroots group — but not a registered charity — you can apply through a joint application with a registered charity you have a working relationship with and whose mission complements your own. 

No, eligible applicants must be located and operate in the City of Toronto. We do not make Opportunities Fund grants outside of Toronto. 

We recognize that ongoing funding for programming and service delivery is a significant challenge for many charitable organizations. However, we focus our funding on long-term strategies — we work with organizations that have a clearly identified goal within our strategic priorities and a credible approach to achieve progress and lasting impact.  

No, we do not consider more than one application from an organization at a time. While we recognize that organizations may be involved in many projects, we encourage you to focus on the project that is most closely aligned to one of the Opportunities Fund strategic areas.  

There is no maximum or minimum grant amount; however, based on our granting budget, it is unlikely that a grant would exceed $90,000/year. We encourage you to look at our database of current and past Opportunities Fund grants and our biennial reports to see the range of funding. 

Yes, organizations can apply for funding for up to two years. We allow funds to be carried over until the project is completed.  

Yes, organizations can apply for subsequent funding to continue to advance their strategy. We will fund an organization’s project up to a maximum of four grants or six years, whichever is longer. We encourage you to connect with Foundation staff, as the next steps of a project are often discussed in the final report and Metcalf-grantee meetings. 

Our Inclusive Local Economies Program Director Adriana Beemans is happy to discuss potential applications so that organizations can craft a more focused proposal for funding. We encourage you to reach out to her at abeemans@metcalffoundation.com in advance of applying. We do not, however, read drafts of applications prior to their submission. 

The Opportunities Fund is a competitive grant process. We receive an average of 40 letters of interest (LOI) submissions. We invite between 30-50% of LOIs to submit a full application to be reviewed by an external advisory committee and our board approves approximately 50-75% of those full applications.  

Yes, we encourage organizations to reach out — should they be declined at either the letter of interest or full application stage — to understand the rationale for decline. Organizations can always reapply to a subsequent round.  

If deemed relevant to the application, additional materials such as annual reports, newsletters, research reports, or workshop proceedings can be attached as background information. However, it is not mandatory, and depending on the volume, it may not be read by the advisory committee.