Unlocking Canada’s full potential starts with its people.
Together, let’s invest in the full breadth of talent and innovation to drive Canada’s growth.
Meet the champions
Asset Owners
Meet the champions
Asset Managers
Capital continues to flow to a narrow subset of people in Canada, limiting economic growth and innovation.
This is both a challenge to our productivity and a missed opportunity to unlock untapped potential.
Fund Canada is a national campaign aimed at unlocking grants and investments for underfunded and overlooked leaders by 2030.
Now more than ever, it is critical that the philanthropic and financial sectors back the breadth of talent and innovation driving Canada’s growth.
A strong economy relies on investing in diverse talent.
Let’s ensure opportunity for all.
1. Pledge
Take the pledge to become one of the leading Canadian funders and investors committed to unlocking capital for organizations led by underfunded and overlooked leaders.
2. Unlock
Make grants and investments to organizations led by underfunded and overlooked leaders. Leverage New Power Labs’ resources and community to meet your targets.
3. Connect
Get access to a pipeline of funding and investment opportunities, and connect with peers to advance collective action and build a stronger Canada.
4. Measure
Report your disbursements annually until your commitment is fully met or by 2030, whichever comes first. New Power Labs will track pledges, disbursements, and progress with transparency and conduct a final impact assessment in 2031 to measure cumulative outcomes.
5. Inspire
Become a leading voice. Announce your pledge, share your stories, and inspire other Canadian funders and investors to grow the movement and create inclusive economic prosperity.
Become a part of the movement.
Fund Canada.
About the initiative
We call on all Canadian foundations, impact funds, family offices, fund managers, financial institutions, venture capital firms, and other asset holders and managers to pledge dollars toward diverse-led organizations and businesses.
What is the objective of this pledge?
Fund Canada's goal is to direct $500 million in grants and investments to underfunded and overlooked leaders and communities by 2030. This is an opportunity for scaled impact.
Together, we can help level the playing field for capital allocation across gender identity, Indigenous identity, ethnicity, sexual identity, age, religion, abilities, languages, education, immigration and citizenship status, and socioeconomic status.
It is also an opportunity for funders and investors to rethink policies, processes, and practices to remove barriers that block capital from reaching under-resourced leaders and groups.
Who is underfunded?
Diverse-led organizations—including charities, nonprofits, businesses, and fund managers—are critically underfunded in Canada. These organizations, led by Black, Indigenous, women, gender-diverse, and other historically excluded leaders, face systemic barriers in accessing philanthropic funding, investment, and lending. Despite driving social and economic impact, they receive a fraction of available capital due to outdated risk assessments, exclusion from networks, lack of tailored financial products, and other barriers.
Through this campaign, New Power Labs is mobilizing funders and investors to change this reality—unlocking capital for underfunded and overlooked leaders who are building the future.
What are the key reasons to pledge?
Align your capital with your mission and measurable outcomes by backing leaders whose lived or living experience offers outsized insights to build stronger organizations and drive lasting change on the issues that matter most.
Encourage others to fund overlooked leaders by inspiring more capital-deployers to support diverse leaders and grow the movement.
Enable efficient sourcing of opportunities by showing there is a market for diverse-led initiatives, which increases the chances of launching and scaling new projects.
Foster collaboration and best practices by creating space for knowledge-sharing and strengthening the ecosystem for underfunded leaders and communities.
Why pledge now?
Canada’s strength lies in its diversity, and our future competitiveness depends on investing in all our leaders. A resilient and inclusive economy requires capital to reach underfunded leaders, fostering wealth creation and stronger communities.
In a time of growing polarization, reaffirm your commitment to a society that values leaders from all backgrounds and recognizes diversity as a unique asset and source of strength.
Investing in diverse leaders isn’t just about equity—it’s about economic impact. Diverse-led organizations fuel innovation, create jobs, generate higher returns, and strengthen local economies—key to long-term economic resilience.
Economic disparities are widening, and underfunded communities face growing barriers to accessing capital. Your investment helps close racial, gender, and other wealth gaps, building generational prosperity.
Sources: New Power Labs analysis; How Canadian finance managers can unlock an $80-billion opportunity, The Globe and Mail, 2019; The Economic and Social Impacts of Indigenous Financial Institutions: A Model-based Approach with Case Illustrations, The Conference Board of Canada, 2023; The power of parity: Advancing women’s equality in Canada, McKinsey & Company, 2017.
Champion the initiative
Join us as a campaign enabler—whether as a funder or advisor—and power the movement to unlock capital for underfunded leaders and communities. By supporting this work, you’ll fuel a national effort to reshape the financial landscape for a more productive economy.
If you are interested in helping drive this sector-wide initiative, contact Merette Mathieu at merette@newpowerlabs.org.
