Inclusive Local Economies 2025

Advancing economic dignity and prosperity for low-income people and communities in Toronto

Focus

We concentrate our efforts in three core areas.

Care Economy Investing in strategies that bolster the care economy – specifically improving low-wage work for personal support and childcare workers. Good Jobs Underpinning innovative models that enable access to good jobs and inform public policy for decent work. Neighbourhoods Leveraging neighbourhood assets to improve the economic livelihoods of its residents.

Approach

We advance this work through a mix of complementary approaches.

Exploring ideas and testing solutions Building innovative models Collaborating to influence and change systems Strengthening leadership and capacity Informing and influencing public policy

Spotlight

These are some of the many organizations and initiatives that we fund.

  • Migrant Workers Alliance for Change is advancing policy change for migrant workers through peer mentorship, leadership development, and research on the care economy.
    Migrant Workers Alliance for Change
  • Wellesley Institute is applying its Thriving at Work framework to examine how early childhood educators and personal support workers experience low-wage care work — and how it can be improved.
    Wellesley Institute
  • The Toronto Shelter Network is developing a shelter sector framework and workforce model to employ people with lived experience of homelessness and poverty.
    Toronto Shelter Network
  • Building Up is exploring subtrade acquisitions to strengthen the reach and resilience of its workforce model.
    Building Up
  • John Howard Society of Ontario is building the capacity of the employer-led Fair Chances Coalition to champion inclusive hiring practices for people with criminal records.
    John Howard Society of Ontario
  • North York Harvest Food Bank is exploring how its relocation can catalyze the development of a community hub focused on food access and workforce development.
    North York Harvest Food Bank
  • Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust is expanding its portfolio of community-owned assets by mobilizing social finance and strengthening its capacity to engage in neighbourhood redevelopment.
    Parkdale Neighbourhood Land Trust
  • The Toronto Chinatown Land Trust is exploring how community-driven entrepreneurship can generate equitable job opportunities for marginalized, low-wage, and migrant workers.
    Toronto Chinatown Land Trust
  • The Jane/Finch Centre is advancing the neighbourhood’s community benefits framework to reduce precarious work, increase access to good jobs, and strengthen the local employment ecosystem.
    Jane/Finch Centre

Inclusive Local Economies News

How North York Harvest Food Bank Is Redefining What a Food Bank Can Be

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CecilVenues: A Grand Space Rooted in Community
Working Towards a Fairer and Better Economy for All
Grounded Leadership: Underpinning Strategic Experimentation and Success
Flaunt It Studio: An Inclusive Creative Coworking Space in Jane-Finch
The Local: The Finch West Issue
Opportunities Fund: Recent Grantee Highlights
Metcalf Fellow Kuni Kamizaki to Explore the Promise of Community Land Trusts
Adriana Beemans Shares Reflections on Her Bousfield Visitorship
Highlights and Challenges in Building Inclusive Local Economies
Tireless Efforts of Advocates and Migrant Student Workers Result in Significant Immigration Changes and Improved Workers’ Rights
Adriana Beemans Named Bousfield Distinguished Visitor in Planning by the University of Toronto
Metcalf’s 2022 Opportunities Fund — the Process and Grantees
Documenting the Important History of the Ongoing Regent Park Revitalization
A Long-Fought Victory for Workers Achieved With $15 Minimum Wage in Ontario
Fair Chances Coalition Building More Equitable Hiring Practices and Better Businesses
Toronto Workforce Funder Collaborative — an Opportunity to Learn Together for Greater Impact
Load More +

Funding

Note: For 2026 new funding will focus on the care economy. Funding will be available on an invitation-only basis. Periodically, we may post request for proposals with a public deadline.