Applications are OPEN!
Please read carefully through eligibility requirements and application instructions on this page.
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The CFNS VISIONS Fund (Visionary Initiatives Strengthening Inclusion & Opportunity in Nova Scotia) was established by an anonymous donor to support initiatives that make Nova Scotia a better place to live and learn. The endowed fund will grant its earned interest in perpetuity, driving continuous and impactful support for the province – forever.
The CFNS VISIONS Fund has two priorities:
What is a charitable partner?
There are many groups, individuals, and organizations whose purpose is beneficial to the community but who are not registered as charities or qualified donees with CRA. Charities and non-charities often partner to increase their community impact. For example, a youth-serving charity may partner with a non-charity youth group to offer a summer camp. The partnership enables the charity to reach more youth and allows the non-charity to provide activities that might not otherwise be available.
Applications are reviewed by two independent, arms-length evaluation committees, one for each funding priority. Our committees are intentionally diverse in age, gender identity, cultural background, and lived experience, and include members from urban and rural communities across the province. Evaluators bring both professional expertise and lived experience and are compensated for their time.
Our approach is grounded in trust-based philanthropy. We believe community organizations know their communities best, so we aim to make our process as straightforward and human as possible. Application questions reflect the fact that real people read them, reporting is kept to a minimum, and our grants can support programs and projects and/or the real costs of doing the work, including staff wages and other core organizational expenses.
Our Letter of Intent (LOI) helps reduce the burden on applicants by allowing us to determine basic eligibility and fit before asking you to invest significant time in a full application. LOI decisions will be based on the content of your responses but also take into account the goal of achieving a balanced portfolio of projects that represent diverse causes, regions, and beneficiaries across Nova Scotia. As such, your program’s alignment with the CFNS VISIONS Fund priorities may not be the only factor in determining which LOIs are accepted.
We are proud of this approach, but we know we are not done. Traditional grant making processes can create barriers, particularly for equity-deserving groups, and we are committed to learning, listening, and making our processes more inclusive each year.
If our application process creates a barrier for you, or you would like to request an accommodation to submit your application in another format, please reach out to grants@cfns.ca or call us at 902-490-9916. We are happy to work with you to find an approach that works.
The CFNS VISIONS Fund has a total of $383,500 available to grant in 2026. Of this, $220,500 is already committed to multi-year grants awarded in 2024 and 2025. This leaves $163,000 available for new projects in 2026, across both funding priorities.
Maximum Funding Request: $40,000
Multi-year Funding Requests Accepted: Yes*
Letter of Intent (LOI) Open: September 8
Letter of Intent (LOI) Close: October 9
Applications Open for Accepted LOIs: October 15
Applications Close: October 29
Notification of Success: Early December 2026
Fund Disbursement: December 2026
Project Timeline: The majority of granted funds must be spent by December 31, 2027. For multi-year projects, grants will be received annually. A majority of the grant must be spent within the year that it is received.
* Note for Multi-Year Funding in 2026: CFNS believes strongly in the value of multi-year funding. Because of this, a portion of annual VISIONS Fund funding is already committed to projects and organizations we have supported in previous years.
With several large commitments made in 2024 & 2025, we expect to make fewer multi-year commitments with 2026 funding than we have in previous years. We believe in being transparent about the funding available each year for your consideration when applying.
CFNS has transitioned to a new online granting portal developed by Foundant Technologies and trusted by thousands of charitable Foundations.
This portal will allow you, and others from your organization, to keep track of all grant requests in one place.
If you need support navigating this portal, please see the online guide here.
If you have any questions or need further information, please reach out to us at Grants@cfns.ca.
If a written application poses a barrier to submission, alternatives are available. Please contact us at Grants@cfns.ca or call 902-490-9916.
The CFNS VISIONS Fund is currently accepting Letters of Intent (LOIs) until October 9, 2026.
