Significant refinements to our Environment Program

Beginning in 2015, the goal of our Environment Program will be to help build a low-carbon, resource efficient, and resilient Canada. We will focus our funding in three areas: Cycle City, Electrifying Movement, and Enabling Solutions. These areas align with our long-standing commitment to advance pragmatic approaches in support of bold visions. We are also rethinking our approach to strengthening the environment sector’s emerging leadership. We will be announcing amendments to our Sustainability Internship program in 2015.

Cycle City. Over 70% of Torontonians would cycle more if infrastructure were improved. The goal of Cycle City is to do just that: help build a constituency and a culture that support cycling in Toronto.

Electrifying Movement. The transportation sector is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Ontario. The goal of Electrifying Movement is to help advance the electrification of transportation and expand access to rapid public transit in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

Enabling Solutions. The goal of Enabling Solutions is to help identify the regulatory, policy, and economic conditions required to build a low-carbon, resource efficient, and resilient Canada. This can include fiscal policy, subsidy reform, targeted public investment, procurement strategies, and innovative market-based instruments.

Metcalf paper tackles labour market deficiencies and income inequality

Is the threat to good jobs inevitable? Definitely not, according to Metcalf Innovation Fellow Tom Zizys. His new paper, Better Work: The path to good jobs is through employers, examines our under-performing labour market. His recommendations focus on the demand side, and the role of employers, intermediaries, government, and citizens to motivate and sustain efforts to create betters jobs for more people. Highlights from Tom’s paper release in October can be seen here.

Performing Arts Internships changes announced

In 2015, the maximum grant request under the Performing Arts Internships is being raised to $30,000. This amount can be used towards 100% of an intern’s salary and statutory benefits. Any other costs related to professional development are still the responsibility of the applicant company. Deadlines are May 11, 2015 and Nov 2, 2015. Guidelines are available here.

John Stapleton in the news

In September, Metcalf Innovation Fellow John Stapleton was a panelist on The Agenda for a segment that examined Ontario’s poverty reduction strategy. He was also featured in a Canadian HR Reporter article on guaranteed minimum incomes. Recently, he was quoted in an article in The Globe and Mail on rising food bank use and in an article in The Toronto Star on hazards facing low-income people when navigating financial services.

Building an Inclusive Local Economies learning community

On Oct 15, close to 20 Metcalf grantees gathered for an afternoon learning session. The focus was a report, Tracking the Informal Economy, which was produced with Metcalf support by West Neighbourhood House. The report is a superb example of community-based research and provides tremendous insights into how the work of our Inclusive Local Economies grantees intersects through informal economy issues that range from micro-entrepreneurship to precarious work.

Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission launches

The aim of Canada’s Ecofiscal Commission is to modernize fiscal systems to help the country achieve economic prosperity and environmental sustainability. The Commission’s Nov 4 launch and release of their inaugural report received widespread media attention, including articles in The Financial Post, The Globe and Mail, and The Toronto Star. Together with a number of other partners, Metcalf is a founding funder of the Commission.

A creative inquiry about Canada's future

How can Canadians create a good future? That question is at the heart of a lively discussion inspired by interviews with 50 insightful Canadians. Excerpts will run in The Globe and Mail each Saturday through December. Please join in the conversation and help shape our future at possiblecanadas.ca #possiblecanadas. This project has been created by Reos Partners, in collaboration with a coalition of philanthropic and community organizations including the Metcalf Foundation.

A report from Community Food Centres Canada

During its first two years, Community Food Centres Canada’s integrated, holistic approach to food issues has inspired communities to grow, cook, share, and advocate for good food. Their recently published 2013-14 Progress Report describes the many ways they are providing leadership to encourage people to think more expansively about the links between access to good food and health, community-building, the environment, and a more just society. Metcalf is a core supporter of CFCC.

SpaceFinder Toronto launches with 250 listings

SpaceFinder Toronto, launched Nov 10, enables artists and event planners to find, schedule, and rent available rehearsal and performance space. SpaceFinder Toronto is one of the projects being launched, under Metcalf’s Creative Strategies Incubator program, to investigate new approaches to revenue for arts companies by monetizing existing resources. It is a collaborative project of TAPA (a Metcalf grantee), ArtsBuild Ontario, and WorkInCulture.

City Building Institute launches at Ryerson

Last week, the Ryerson City Building Institute (CBI) was launched. CBI is a nonpartisan research and educational centre which aims to address urban issues in Canada from a multidisciplinary perspective. An article in The Toronto Star by Christopher Hume describes how the CBI can help encourage change in Toronto by embracing the complexity and multiplicity of our diverse city. Metcalf supports the Visiting Scholar position.

December 5, 2014

Inclusive Local Economies, Opportunities Fund, Letters of Interest due

January 28, 2015

Environment Program, Cycle City applications due

February 18, 2015

Renewal Program, applications due