BLACK CHARITY DISCRIMINATION - Black-led charities get just 0.07 per cent of the funds of top 15 Canadian foundations – report

Black-led charities, which cater to a large cross-section of the immigrant community, are being discriminated against when it comes to receiving donations from philanthropic organisations in Canada.

A new report titled: Unfunded: Black Communities Overlooked by Canadian Philanthropy, released on December 2, has found that only six of about 40 leading Canadian foundations with assets totalling nearly $16 billion have donated to black-serving organisations.

In fact, only two of those organisations donated to black-serving organisations between 2017 and 2018, the report found.

“The report’s findings are startling, yet unsurprising,” said Rebecca Darwent, working group member of the Foundation for Black Communities (FBC). “For many black leaders within the charitable and non-profit sector, this report only affirms what we already knew, that Canadian philanthropy has turned a blind eye to black communities,” she added.

The FBC, a first-of-its-kind philanthropic foundation, led by and for black people, focuses on investing in and supporting black communities as a unique opportunity to address what is described as a ‘critical gap’ in Canada’s philanthropic sector.

Black Communities

Prepared by the Network for the Advancement of Black Communities and Carleton University’s Philanthropy and Non-profit Leadership Program, the report revealed that Canadian philanthropy has been largely absent in supporting black people in Canada.

There are currently 1.2 million black people in Canada, representing 3.5 per cent of the total population. By 2036, it is expected that the black population will increase to nearly 5.6 per cent. While black people in Canada make significant contributions to the social, cultural and economic well-being of the country, this community also faces severe inequality.

Worsened by COVID-19, the economic downturn and the enduring crisis of anti-black racism, black communities continue to face poor education and health outcomes, economic exclusion, precarity in housing, food insecurity, over-policing and disproportionate involvement with the criminal justice system.

And despite Canadian philanthropy’s aim to achieve fairness, equity, and equality in opportunity for all Canadians, that remains an unfulfilled commitment for people who live in black communities.

“When you look at the philanthropic sector and you realise that we’re not demographically representative, then you have to conclude that, even with the best intentions, I can’t presume to be meeting your needs, because you’re not telling me, because we’re not in conversation. We’re not in a relationship,” said Kevin McCort, president of the Vancouver Foundation.

“The concerns of black communities are often muted by the question, ‘where’s the data?’” added Liban Abokor, member of the working group for the FBC. “This report lays out the stark numbers. Question is, now that we know, what will we do?”

Fast Facts:

• 1.2 million black people in Canada, representing 3.5 per cent of the total population. By 2036, population of black people expected to increase to nearly 5.6 per cent.

• Most of Canada’s black population live in large urban centres like Toronto and Montreal, but the Prairies have the fastest-growing black population.

• The top 15 community foundations disbursed 0.07 per cent of funds in the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years to black-led organisations, and only 0.7 per cent of funds to black-serving organisations in the same time frame.

• Of the 25 private and public foundations we surveyed, only two foundations funded black-led organisations over the 2017 and 2018 fiscal years, and only six foundations funded black-serving organisations in the same time frame.