Welcome to our 2023 Annual Report. To learn more about any of the topics below, simply click the links. To find the PDF version of the printed report, click here.
LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge the Oakville Community Foundation is located on the Treaty Lands and Territory of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, as well as the Traditional Territory of the Haudenosaunee and Wendat people. Further, we acknowledge that the Town of Oakville is covered by Treaty No 14, the Head of the Lake Purchase (1806) and Treaty 22 (1820).
OUR YEAR IN REVIEW
Our year in review
The Foundation’s 29th year held many highlights:
- The Oakville Chamber of Commerce Community Builder of the Year Award for our work on the Community Education Awards Hub & Debwewin: the Oakville Truth Project.
- Oakville’s first Treaty Report and Treaty Day celebrations.
- Our new “Mini” community research reports focus on issues of hunger and homelessness and the Oakville Data Hub.
- A special local screening of “Uncharitable” on National Philanthropy Day.
- The first Family Founders’ Cup recognizing intergenerational philanthropy in Oakville awarded to Christie and Ren Henderson, and the amazing Nigerian Choir at the Holiday Celebration!
We continue to pursue our purpose: to build community through philanthropy founded in our values of solutions-driven, equitable, collaborative and responsive leadership. Our 5-Year Impact Investment Review demonstrated double bottom-line performance. Based on this past performance, the Foundation will allocate up to 3% of all endowed funds to impact investing next year. Investment Pool returns of 9.85% generated new funds for Fundholders and charities to support important charitable work. It was also the first year of the new federal disbursement quota (DQ) which increased from 3.5% to 5%. The Foundation’s 2023 Disbursement was 8.97%, significantly exceeding this new requirement.
While the Foundation experienced strong fundamentals, there were a number of challenges in the community and charity sector that The Foundation addressed:
- Climate change was evident when our May AGM at Oakville Galleries was forced indoors due to poor air quality from forest fires. In addition to the smoke advisories, our community experienced its highest ever summer temperatures. As signatories to the Canadian Philanthropy Commitment on Climate Change, we published our first Climate Action update and created an advisory group to lead the development of local research.
- We responded to the Intimate Partner Violence epidemic by raising support for local charities through the Oakville Resiliency Fund.
- While the media was reporting donations to charities dropping, our 2023 GIVEOakville campaign grew by almost 8% over 2022 resulting in $740,000 granted to local charities.
We undertook a survey of our Fundholders and again reduced our fees in 2023 to meet our operational priority of being a local philanthropic solutions provider. We are also on track to meet the operational goal of being a living wage employer in 2024, one year ahead of schedule.
Thank you to our family of Fundholders, our local charity partners, our volunteers and sponsors who make our Community Foundation and community a better place.
FINANCE & INVESTMENTS
The Foundation provides careful stewardship of the monies given over to our care. These charts and graphs are a way of providing a clear and concise snapshot of our Fund positions for the past year, as well as demonstrating our historical data.
Our Audited Financial Statements are available here.
LOOKING BACK AT 2023
Winter
Federal Funding Programs
The Foundation distributed $587,000 through the Community Services Recovery Fund, another $200,000 through the Fund for Gender Equality and $1.1 million through the Investment Readiness Program as part of the Golden Horseshoe Partnership, meaning more than $1.8 million in federal funding made it into the hands of local charities.
Community Classroom
Community Classroom launched in January for another year of virtual content, including new videos like Bhangra dancing with Gurdeep Pandher of the Yukon, new Chinese New Year content from the Halton Region Canadian Chinese Association and a “live” virtual performance of Indigenous story Mistatim.
Community Education Awards Hub
The Community Education Awards Hub saw a 37% increase to 1,200 registered users and 600 applications submitted for 49 scholarships, bursaries and education awards. More than $436,000 was awarded by 12 partners.
Foundation Awards
The Alexander and Bernice DeMaio Education Award was awarded to 17 students, thanks to the generosity of our Fundholders, for a total of $25,500. The Miller Family Foundation Award was presented to 7 Indigenous students at $5,000 each.
Debwewin: The Oakville Truth Project
By September 30, a total of 18 Treaty Signs were placed throughout Oakville with another 40 Treaty Plaques sold to local businesses and organizations. More than 1,000 people attended six different events including the first Treaty Celebration that brought together the Mississaugas of the Credit and community members across Oakville.
Treaty Report
The first report of its kind, Friendship, Peace and Respect for All Future Generations: Oakville-based treaty relationships between the Mississaugas and the Crown was released on the 203rd anniversary of the signing of Treaty 22 on February 28.
Gimaa’s Allyship Poetry Contest
On the anniversary of the signing of Treaty 22, three post-secondary students from Sheridan College were recognized for artistic achievement and awarded scholarships: Suha Tariq, Dakota Tabicoe and Nicole Tabiyo. The 30+ entries are publicly available.
Spring and Summer
Are we Hungry?
The Foundation published its first mini research report on the issue of food insecurity in our community. The data was clear— our community is hungry. This is due to a number of reasons, including the increasing price of groceries and of other basics like transportation and shelter.
Can you Afford to Live Here?
The second mini report focused on the rising cost of housing throughout Oakville and Halton. While the average after-tax income in Oakville is $108,000, the unaffordable housing market means dollars don’t go as far.
Fall
Intimate Partner Violence (IPV)
IPV was declared an epidemic by Oakville and Halton councils and triggered The Foundation to invoke the Oakville Resiliency Fund, which can be used to address a local emergency or crisis. Since then, we have been building additional funds for charities addressing IPV.
Oakville Data Hub
The Oakville Data Hub launched in November as a quick and easily accessible way to learn about our community. It’s filled with data from Statistics Canada like average income, demographics, population growth and more.
GIVEOakville
GIVEOakville had another successful year with $740,000 raised for 71 different charitableinitiatives, an 8% increase over the previous year. Annually, The Foundation uses its Community Granting Funds to amplify donations, and provided $187,000 in support, of which 20% was allocated to racialized-led organizations and organizations with a gender equity mandate.
RECOGNITION
In Memoriam
As we look back on the past year, we would like to take this opportunity to recognize and honour the following individuals who, as Fundholders, Friends and Volunteers, we have lost in 2023.
- Louis André Balogh
- Bill Bradley
- Doug Ferguson
- Ted Gittings
- Sundeep Khosla
- Barbara Labbett
- Lyn O’Reilly
- Jane Taylor
20+ Year Funds
We recognize the following Funds that have been building community through their philanthropy in Oakville for more than 20 years.
- Henderson Family Trust No.2
- Halton Women’s Place Endowment
- Kucey Family Foundation
Adrian Coote Volunteer Award
The Adrian Coote Volunteer Award recognizes a volunteer who has given extraordinary services to the Oakville Community Foundation.
- Frank Lochan
Family Founders Cup
The Family Founders Cup is awarded to a local family with multigenerational philanthropic impact in the Oakville community.
- The Henderson Family
Our Staff
(Back row L-R) Alison Moeller, Dan Ierullo, Taline McPhedran
(Third row L-R) Burhan Aziz (RBC Intern), Gillian McLaren, Michael Salem
(Second row L-R) Courtney Waddell, Michelle Collins, Frances Pace, Karin Douglas
(Bottom row) Wendy Rinella
(Not pictured) Lori Armitage
Our Board
(Back row L-R) Sharmila Ali, Fred Pinto, Michael Whitcombe, Les Ross, Lisa Kohler, Lindsay Patrick
(Front row L-R) Bindu Cudjoe (Past Chair), Mike Miller (Chair), Ameeta Vijay (Vice-Chair), Andrew Tyrrell
(Not pictured) Binu Dhas (Secretary), Ronan Ryan, Kevin Tremblay (Treasurer)
*Rob Budhwa, *Bonnie Jackson, *Brian Hanna, *Vik Sachdev
Our Committees
Community Legacy Building Committee
Andrew Tyrrell (Chair), Les Ross (Vice-Chair), Andy Aiklen, Sharmila Ali, Julie Cordeiro, Bindu Cudjoe, Binu Dhas, Geraldine Esemezie, Michael Gesualdi, *Bonnie Jackson, *Pankaj Mehra, Julie Pehar, Jen Zhou
Governance & Nominating Committee
Binu Dhas (Chair), Ameeta Vijay (Vice-Chair), *Rob Budhwa, Bindu Cudjoe, *Brian Hanna, Lisa Kohler, Mike Miller
Finance, Risk & Audit Committee
Kevin Tremblay (Chair), Ronan Ryan (Vice-Chair), Kirby Alguire, Rashpal Brar-Grewal, Christine Langevin, Mike Miller, Grant Redpath, *Vik Sachdev
Investment Committee
Fred Pinto (Chair), Lindsay Patrick (Vice-Chair), Martha Hill, *Natalie Jamison, Xavier Labrecque St-Vincent, *John Lydall, Mike Miller, David Wong
Impact Investment Committee
Ameeta Vijay (Chair), Mike Miller (Vice-Chair), Rob Budhwa, Ronan Ryan, Anusha Shanmugarajah
Alexander and Bernice DeMaio Education Award Review Committee
Geraldine Esemezie, Katherine “Kitty” Hughes, Julie Pehar
