An update on the Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition

A word from FGM – Summer 2025

I’m writing this newsletter a few weeks after Greater Montreal was struck by an extreme heat wave. This particular event has lead to a spike in emergency services calls due to heat strokes and other heat-related illnesses. More recently, air quality warnings were issued across the region because of wildfires in Western Canada. Of course, other regions of the world are being hit even harder. Record-breaking temperatures and their consequences are just one example of the pervasive and unpredictable impacts of climate change. They also point to the importance of bolstering our communities’ resilience.

Against this backdrop of escalating climate events, the Foundation of Greater Montréal (FGM) is announcing the initiatives we’ll be supporting through the 2025–2026 edition of the Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition. We believe that the most effective and sustainable responses to today’s environmental and social issues are created by and with the people experiencing them. We also think such solutions are rooted in their strong relationships with their neighbourhoods. That’s why this iteration of the Fund was geared towards groups working concretely toward environmental justice in their own communities.

A fund geared towards community needs

As such, the Fund was made open to community organizations, citizen groups, and collectives whose priorities align with the Fund’s principles and objectives, whether their mission is explicitly environmental or not. We also designed this edition to be accessible to groups facing systemic barriers. Those include organizations lacking core funding, those operating without a formal structure, and recently established groups. This was a deliberate decision: such organizations are often best positioned to rally their communities and implement solutions that truly reflect their people and their needs.

To allocate the Fund, FGM once again adopted a participatory grantmaking system. An advisory committee made up of community representatives was formed to issue funding recommendations. Members met four times throughout the review process; their final recommendations greatly benefitted from their productive and thoughtful discussions. We are grateful to the committee members for their efforts and their perspectives.

Beyond the cheque

The Collective Fund for Climate and Ecological Transition is striving to cultivate a decolonial culture. To do so, it encourages concrete actions and ways of thinking and doing that deepen our connection with the natural world. It addresses the inequalities and divides inherited from colonialism, and recognize the vital links between Indigenous sovereignty and the protection of our planet. The Fund also seeks to counter the effects of the traditional philanthropic model, which tends to fuel competition between organizations. That is why we prioritized initiatives grounded in complementarity.

We’ll also be offering non-financial support to organizations that have expressed interest in the Fund. Thanks to a partnership with the Tamarack Institute, these organizations will be invited to participate in a community of practice. This initiative will focus on capacity building and on fostering collaboration and dialogue within the ecosystems.

Read on to learn more about the Fund and the initiatives we’re supporting. Thank you and talk to you soon!

Marie-Andrée Farmer
Interim President and CEO and
Director of Strategic Initiatives and Community Partnerships
Foundation of Greater Montréal