Welcome to our 2025 Year in Review

In 2025 we were proud to partner with over 200 incredible organizations leading positive change across Canada. Within our own organization, we established guidelines for ethical partnership, reinvigorated our convening practice and launched a new Democracy focus area to uphold and strengthen democratic institutions and build social cohesion — key conditions for a healthy society.

This Year in Review offers insight into our core activities and celebrates the impact our partners are having across the country. It also provides an overview of our finances, funding and investments.

Ethical partnership in a polarized moment
As funders, we must be aware of the power and privilege we hold in our relationship with partners. Donor overreach, including efforts to influence the public stance of organizations, can have a chilling effect when partners fear financial repercussions. Recent examples have underscored the need for boundaries on donor influence. In 2025 we developed Guidelines and Guardrails: Ethical Partnership in the Practice of Philanthropy. The intent: to respect the independence of our partners, while ensuring our relationships reflect McConnell’s mission, values and principles.

A return to convening
Before the pandemic, the Foundation regularly brought partners together to learn and collaborate. This practice resumed in 2025, with a pair of gatherings to commemorate the 10-year anniversary of the Philanthropic Community’s Declaration of Action in response to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s final report. In November, partners and sector colleagues gathered at the Canadian Canoe Museum in Peterborough to mark the milestone. In December, we partnered with the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation on an event in Ottawa for residential school Survivors, youth, and funders to reflect, learn and reaffirm commitments grounded in respect.

Strengthening democracy
As a foundation committed to advancing the public good, we are concerned by signals that our democracy is under threat. Issues such as foreign interference, mis- and disinformation and rising polarization can undermine the work of organizations across the charitable sector. This is why, in the second half of 2025, the Foundation launched a new Democracy focus area. With limited resources, funding in this area is by invitation only.

Looking forward
With our centennial anniversary on the horizon in 2037, we are increasingly applying an intergenerational view to our decision making. To that end, in 2025 we initiated Project Polaris, an effort to articulate ambitious and measurable goals for the next decade. Going forward, we will put societal impact front and centre, strengthen our monitoring, learning and evaluation, refine our strategies and improve systems that shape the partner experience.

In a time of widening divides, we see bridge building as a responsibility. We aim to convene with purpose and hold ourselves to high standards of ethical practice and positive impact. We appreciate our partners and are grateful to walk alongside them!