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Support and Funding for Black-Led Organizations in Quebec

In order to mark this year’s Black History Month here at COCo, we wanted to create a roundup of resources for Black-led organizations in Quebec (almost all of which are also available to organizations across Canada). If you know of resources that we have missed – please let us know, and we will add them to the list!

The Reality of Black-Led Organizations in Canada and Quebec

The reality of Black-led organizations is often reflective of the systemic racism faced by Black communities across Québec and Canada. In 2021, a research project from Carleton University, the “Unfunded Report”, was released showing clearly that Black serving and Black-led organizations received funding that was “minuscule” or “sporadic” compared to other organizations, and demonstrated a systemic underinvestment in the strength of Black community organizations, and that less than 0.1% of all philanthropic funding in Canada is allocated to Black-led charitable organizations. This report caused waves, and both the government and foundations created capacity building initiatives in response or changed their funding strategies, and many of the resources listed below were created partially in response. However, it remains to be seen whether these initiatives will address the systemic issues outlined in the report, or continue the “sporadic” funding issues they outlined, especially in quickly shifting political context.

COCo’s own research with groups in Quebec going back to 2008 shows that organizations serving “cultural communities”, “ethnocultural groups” and so on in Quebec have smaller budgets, less capacity, and less access to funding, especially if they are not “first language French” speaking

Funding and Support Opportunities for Black-Led Organizations

In perusing these resources, it might be helpful to know the shorthand for a “B3” organization, which is used in many of the descriptions on the websites below. B3 means “Black-mandated, Black-led, and Black-serving” organization.

Network for the Advancement of Black Communities

In their own words,

The Network for the Advancement of Black Communities (NABC) aspires to build a strong and sustainable Black community sector by enabling the conditions for systems change. We do this collaboratively through network convening, knowledge mobilization, service coordination, evaluation, learning, policy, research, and smart grantmaking. NABC provides innovative support to organizations and groups to strengthen their adaptive capacity to be effective participants and leaders in driving positive outcomes for Black communities locally, regionally, and nationally.

They have a lot of really interesting initiatives and supports, including:

The Pan-Canadian System Transformation Network, bringing together organizations with similar goals of transforming systemic racism in Canada
Black Communities Technical Housing Resource Centre (BCHC) for organizations working on housing issues
Transforming Funding & Evaluation, training Black organizations in evaluation approaches
Grounding Perspectives for Grant Seeking & Writing – training and supporting grant writers for Black organizations
A project supporting Black Food sovereignty initiatives

These are truly only some pieces of what they do – you should really check them out. They also do some of their own granting, which if you might want to stay abreast of!

The Black Opportunity Fund

The mission of the Black Opportunity Fund is to:

Dismantle the impacts of systemic racism, by providing funding and helping to build the capacity of Canadian Black led businesses, as well as Black led, Black community serving charities and not for profit organizations.

They offer services to community groups and to entrepreneurs and small businesses. For community groups, their work is focused on providing grants to Black-led not for profits and charities, who are leading initiatives that impact the quality of life in Canada’s Black communities. Their areas of focus include:

Arts and Culture
Criminal Justice
Capacity Building
Education
Health

Foundation for Black Communities

The Foundation for Black Communities ensures that:

Black-led, Black-serving, and Black-focused non-profit, charitable, and grassroots organizations have the sustained resources and infrastructures they need to make a meaningful impact.

They regularly distribute different grants for social purpose organizations of many kinds, and it is worth keeping up with what is currently on offer.

Black Canadian Fundraisers Collective

Starting out as part of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and now becoming their own “thing”, the BCFC is there to support “offering support to both current and emerging Black Canadian Fundraisers across Canada”.

They have two initiatives right now worth looking at:

The Capacity Building Academy, providing training, resources, tools, and operational capacity supports
A directory of Black Coaches

The BCFC is relatively new, but also keeping busy, so make sure to keep up with the work they are doing!

Group 3737

Groupe 3737, based in Montreal but with offices across Canada, provides many different resources to ethnocultural community organizations (and to entrepreneurs and businesses). They have also been the “pass through” organization for the federal government’s “Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative” in Quebec. Their mission is:

To create and develop more businesses, organizations, jobs and wealth in Canada through the projects of ethnoculturally diverse individuals, by pooling our professional expertise, that of our partners and our networks to achieve a significant economic and social impact.

Other kinds of support they offer include training, coaching, and infrastructure support.

The Federation of Black Canadians

Although the Federation of Black Canadians is not a grant making organization or a capacity building organization, they keep a monthly roundup of funding opportunities for Black organizations in Canada. Here is their roundup for February of 2026.

Other Resources for Funding at COCo

We recently published another blog post about capacity building funding for organizations in Quebec! Check it out.

COCo offers free access to Grant Connect to non-profits for one week. Grant Connect (formerly AJAH) is a funder database that allows you to search for funders based on different criteria. If you are interested in applying for this access, you can fill out our intake form. Please choose “Tech Strategy or IT Support” as the Request Topic and mention Grant Connect in the description.

Are you wanting to support Black organizations, but aren’t one?

We wanted to share a couple resources that might be helpful to you in this context, although a similar resource on funding and support would be a separate project!

The Observatoire des Communautes Noires released a report on Philanthropy in Black Communities in Quebec in 2025, and is highly worth a read for foundations and governments
Canada Helps has a good article about the challenges faced by Black organizations and how individuals and agencies can “plug in” to support
Tamarack has published an interesting piece on engaging with “equity denied” groups in ethical and community rooted ways
This resource from Imagine Canada about how to set your organization up for success in tackling anti-Black racism

COCo’s Services

If you are interested in getting personalized support, training, coaching, or accompaniment for your organization, especially if you are based in Quebec, you can reach out to us!

Support and Funding for Black-Led Organizations in Quebec

Support and Funding for Black-Led Organizations in Quebec

The Reality of Black-Led Organizations in Canada and Quebec

Funding and Support Opportunities for Black-Led Organizations