Waterloo Region Community Foundation grants
Public foundation in Kitchener, Ontario · Website
- Given to charities in 2024
- $7.1 million
- Charities funded in 2024
- 346
- Typical gift (median)
- $5,600
How to apply
Accepts applications
- How
- Apply through the application link on specific grant pages found in the Granting drop-down menu on the WRCF website. Verbal applications are also available.
- Deadlines
- Streams open annually: Kids to Camp (Dec); Arts, Community, Racial Equity (Feb); Youth in Recreation, International Plowing Match, Woolwich Community Fund (Aug). Musagetes Fund will not accept applications in 2026.
- What they fund
- New programs, capital needs, student assistance, camp subsidies, arts initiatives, community wellbeing, racial equity (Indigenous, Black, POC-led/serving), youth recreation, agriculture, health, education, and Woolwich Township needs.
- Where
- Waterloo Region (including Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, North Dumfries, Wellesley, Wilmot, and Woolwich), Ontario.
Summarized by AI from Waterloo Region Community Foundation's own website on October 17, 2026. Check their site before you apply, because programs and deadlines change. Read from: wrcf.ca/logo-use, wrcf.ca/about-grants, wrcf.ca/faq-grants
In their 2024 filing they held 428 donor-advised funds worth $129.8 million; donors added $6.1 million and $7.5 million was granted from them. Gifts from donor-advised funds are chosen by each fund's donors, so some of the giving below was not open to applications.
Who Waterloo Region Community Foundation funded in 2024
The 15 largest of 346 gifts to registered charities.
- Rare Charitable Research ReserveOntario$516,800
- Kidsability FoundationOntario$270,084
- United Way Waterloo Region CommunitiesOntario$204,054
- House of FriendshipOntario$164,059
- Yw Kitchener-WaterlooOntario$153,740
- The Working CentreOntario$143,534
- Women's Crisis Services of Waterloo RegionOntario$134,500
- Kinbridge Community AssociationOntario$114,920
- St. Mary's General Hospital FoundationOntario$110,965
- Grand River Hospital FoundationOntario$104,902
- Cambridge Memorial Hospital FoundationOntario$99,305
- Beyond HousingOntario$98,229
- Sexual Assault Support Centre of Waterloo RegionOntario$96,967
- Greenway-Chaplin Community CentreOntario$95,975
- The Food Bank of Waterloo RegionOntario$95,623
Where the money went in 2024
- Ontario325 charities, $7 million
- Nova Scotia4 charities, $34,700
- Alberta4 charities, $27,000
- Quebec2 charities, $25,000
- Manitoba3 charities, $20,100
- British Columbia5 charities, $17,500
- Saskatchewan2 charities, $2,000
- Province not filed1 charity, $550
Giving by year
| Year | Total given | Gifts | Median gift |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $7.1 million | 346 | $5,600 |
| 2023 | $7.9 million | 361 | $5,733 |
| 2022 | $5 million | 300 | $5,355 |
| 2021 | $4.4 million | 248 | $5,350 |
| 2020 | $5.1 million | 243 | $5,500 |
| 2019 | $3 million | 197 | $4,800 |
What they told the CRA they do
- Waterloo Region Community Foundation (wrcf) collaborates with partners to ensure our communities are equitable connected and sustainable; and people are thriving. We strengthen local organizations spaces and experiences to increase connection with communities across the three cities and four townships of Waterloo Region. We make philantropy easy for individuals and companies to support organizations and issues they care about. Wrcf is focused on granting investing and mobilizing to make measurable and sustainable impacts. Gifts are directed to wrcf's endowed funds with the income generated being distributed in partnership with fundholders through grants and investments that support a wide range of charitable causes that drive positive change within our Community. We are growing our assets in a socially-responsible way without compromising financial returns and transitioning to a 100% mission-aligned portfolio. These investments include directing at least 10% of our portfolio to impact investments. As a leading community-building organization we also work to amplify voices and issues of importance by mobilizing conversations and sharing information which leads people to action while approaching our work with an equity mindset.
Giving figures are gifts to registered charities (qualified donees) as Waterloo Region Community Foundation reported them in its T3010 returns to the Canada Revenue Agency, fiscal 2019 to 2024. Business number 132170994RR0001.
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