Year One Results from Strategic Grants Advancing Indigenous Wellbeing

In June 2024, the Peter Gilgan Foundation committed $2 million in multi-year funding to two transformative organizations working to support Indigenous wellbeing across generations. Future Generations Foundation and Ganawishkadawe – The Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health at Women’s College Hospital will each receive $1 million over four years to sustain, expand, and deepen their impact.

These multi-year commitments reflect a new chapter in PGF’s Indigenous focused granting and are a key next step in our evolving approach to reconciliation through philanthropy. In both cases, the partnerships help to fill gaps left by restrictive funding policies or short-term support, while strengthening organizational stability and leadership that is rooted in lived experience and cultural knowledge.

Future Generations Foundation – the leading First Nations granting organization in Canada – used PGF’s contribution to expand its 2024-2025 Donation Fund. In the first year alone, 360 additional students received support for education and cultural programs, and 22 organizations and communities previously excluded due to constraining eligibility requirements, gained access to funds for healing and revitalization work.

“Together, we are building a future where First Nations communities and cultures will thrive for generations to come.”

— Naomi Racette, Executive Director, Future Generations Foundation

At Women’s College Hospital, Ganawishkadawe – The Centre for Wise Practices in Indigenous Health, is transforming how Indigenous patients experience healthcare. PGF’s grant is the largest the Centre has ever received and is being used to retain long-term staff for research and education programs – two areas that would otherwise face short-term contract cycles. In its first year of funding, the Centre expanded its development program to include younger students and received national recognition for its collaborative research on community-based wellness strategies and culturally safe pain care.  

“By supporting this transformation in health and education, we are forging new pathways to care, ensuring the growth of strong and prosperous communities for generations to come.”

— Sandra Sualim, President & CEO, Women’s College Hospital Foundation

These partnerships reflect PGF’s foundational principle and belief that Indigenous communities know what is needed – and that meaningful reconciliation requires long-term, trusting relationships.