The RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant (CSG), formerly known as the Community Infrastructure Fund, helps fund retrofits, repairs or upgrades of existing public community buildings and spaces as well as construction of new public spaces that reduce environmental impacts of their operation and/or improve its building accessibility.

RBC Foundation is supporting initiatives to help Canada’s buildings be:

More environmentally sustainable

  • Buildings are the third highest emitter[1]
  • ~40% of commercial & institutional buildings were built 50 years ago[2]

More accessible

  • 26% of Canadians identified as having a disability[3]
  • Nearly 60% of buildings mapped in Canada’s Largest Accessibility Research Effort aren’t accessible

Numerous ways RBC Foundation is helping

  • 78 projects funded across Canada totaling $18.62 Million in single and multi-year pledges
  • 49 donations related to accessibility
  • 29 donations related to environmental sustainability
  • 66 unique Canadian cities and towns impacted
  • 18 gathering places that are installing wheelchair ramps, lifts or elevators
  • 7 gathering places that will now be more accessible thanks to new wayfinding signage
  • 16 gathering places will have solar or other energy efficiency upgrades
  • 39 types of community gathering places getting infrastructure improvements, from museums to theatres to libraries to hospitals to food banks
  • 7 gathering places that will build accessible washrooms

Additional Canadian Impact

The RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grants awarded in 2024 & 2025 are making community gathering places more accessible or environmentally sustainable in a variety of locally-relevant ways:

  • Nuxalk Nation Brand Office
  • Royal Inland Hospital Foundation
  • Francis Winspear Centre for Music
  • Werklund Centre (Arts Commons)
  • Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan
  • Oxbow & District Recreation Board
  • St. Boniface Hospital Foundation Inc.
  • Magnus Theatre Company Northwest Incorporated
  • Parry Sound Friendship Centre
  • Waterloo Regional Health Network Foundation (Kitchener)
  • Eva Rothwell Centre (Hamilton)
  • Art Gallery of Ontario
  • The Toronto Public Library Foundation
  • KANIEN’KEHAKA ONKWAWEN:NA RAOTITIOHKWA/Mohawk Cultural and Arts Centre
  • Native Women’s Shelter of Montreal
  • Valley Regional Hospital Foundation
  • Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society
  • Health Care Foundation St. John’s (ATL – St. Johns)
  • Kin8at-Ensemble (QC – Mont Tremblant)
  • Power to Be (BC – Victoria)
  • Regional Connections (MSNWO – Manitoba, Morden)
  • YMCA of Northeastern Ontario (MSNWO – Ontario, Sudbury)

Please note – this is not the full list of community recipients. To view the full list, please visit: https://www.rbc.com/our-impact/apply-for-funding/rbc-foundation-community-spaces-grant/index.html

[1] The $2 Trillion Transition: Canada’s Road to Net Zero – RBC

[2] The Canada Green Buildings Strategy: Transforming Canada’s buildings sector for a net-zero and resilient future – Natural Resources Canada

[3] A demographic, employment and income profile of persons with disabilities aged 15 years and over in Canada, 2022

 

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