Supporting charities and qualified donees in Calgary and beyond

Calgary Foundation grants are available to registered charities and other qualified donees as defined by the Canada Revenue Agency, in Calgary and the surrounding area, and Treaty 7 Nations.

Organizations can apply to more than one grant program at a time. In general, an organization can hold a maximum of one active grant in each program. An exception may apply to organizations supporting a non-charity or group of charities. Please check the grant program guidelines for details.

What we don’t support through application-based grants:

  • Activities that do not align with Calgary Foundation’s stated values
  • Academic research
  • Fundraising activities or salaries
  • Debt retirement and endowments
  • Religious services or proselytizing
Explore Granting Boundaries

Granting Toolkit

Grants Overview

Types of Grants
Major Grants

Supports single or multi-year, large-scale initiatives with transformational impact that broadly enrich the community.

Deadline:

November (check program webpage for precise deadlines)

Funding Level:

Grants sizes vary, the maximum is roughly $1M

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Community Grants

Strengthening all parts of the charitable sector and engaging citizens in building their communities. Projects that are new or represent significant strategic enhancements or expansion to existing programs or services

Deadline:

  • Mid-February
  • Mid-September
  • (Check website for precise deadlines)

Funding Level: Grants sizes vary, the average is $75,000

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Doc Seaman Amateur Sports Grants

Support small, time-sensitive strategic initiatives that help charities:

  • Bring outside expertise into the organization in order to build capacity, strengthen board governance; or support professional development. and/or
  • Advance their work by piloting a new program idea, testing an innovative enhancement to current program offerings, or improving outcomes for program participants

Deadline: First of every month

Funding Level: Grants sizes vary, the maximum is $10,000

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Strategic Opportunity
Grants

Promote a diverse arts sector that supports initiatives that align with Calgary Arts Development’s Living a Creative Life strategy in order to:

  • Build community and engage citizens through arts participation
  • Raise awareness of the arts as an essential part of creating a vibrant community

In 2010, Calgary Foundation and CADA gathered a group of leaders and visionaries in the Calgary Arts Community to answer the question:  What is Calgary’s biggest need in the arts?  If we could do one transformational thing in this area, what should it be?  Calgary always seemed to lose artists to the bigger cities of Vancouver and Toronto.  It was determined that an Arts incubator space was needed.  In 2012, Calgary Arts Development and Calgary Foundation joined forces to purchase the King Edward School to create c-SPACE, a social enterprise that supports communities of artists, non-profits & entrepreneurs working at the creative edge of change.

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Grassroots Grants

Help people implement their own small acts of community, right in the communities where they live, by offering small amounts of money for project expenses.

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Sherling Animal Welfare Fund 

This Fund accepts applications from Canadian registered charitable organizations operating in Alberta with a mandate of caring for animals and finding new loving homes for each adoptable animal. 

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Which Grant is Right for You?

Have any questions?

Contact us