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Youth Opportunities Fund – Family Innovations Test Grant │ Ontario Trillium Foundation

April 15, 2026

Value

Maximum $100,000.

Description

The Youth Opportunities Fund (YOF) recognizes the impact that healthy and resilient families have on the future success of young people.

With a Family Innovations Test grant, parents, guardians and caregivers can:

  • Try out a new idea that has the potential to make a positive impact on the wellbeing of parents, guardians and caregivers
  • Research, learn and understand more about a specific topic or issue
  • Bring parents, guardians and caregivers together to discuss an issue and explore new approaches collectively

Eligible Applicants

YOF supports projects led by parents, guardians and caregivers who share identities, experiences, and face the same systemic barriers as the parents, guardians and caregivers who will benefit from the project. This “led by and for” principle is a requirement in all YOF funding streams.

A grassroots group that is not registered as a charity or as an incorporated not-for-profit

  • The work of a parent, guardian and caregiver-led grassroots group is community-led and community-inspired. Grassroots group means that core group members share the identities and lived experiences of the parents, guardians and caregivers who will benefit from the project.
  • If you are a grassroots group from a First Nation, you are eligible to apply. Your group cannot have more than 50% of its members as part of the band office or band council.

An organization incorporated as a not-for-profit corporation without share capital in a Canadian jurisdiction 

  • This includes a Chartered Community Council, operating under the Métis Nation of Ontario, or Inuit communities that are registered as not-for-profit corporations without share capital in Canada.
  • The organization cannot have more than $50,000 in gross revenue in each of the last two fiscal years. Revenue also needs to be independently managed.
  • Board members and day-to-day management must also be parents, guardians and caregivers.
  • The group is led by parents, guardians and caregivers.

Eligible Expenses

Test grants aim to drive positive change in your community by implementing a new idea and evaluating the results. Explore what we fund below through this grant stream.

Three types of projects qualify for a Test grant. All project types must align with one Priority Outcome. Choose the type that most closely aligns with your project:

Pilot a new project idea

This type of project focuses on trying out a new idea that has the potential to make a positive impact on the lives of parents, guardians and caregivers. For example:

  • Start a new project that supports parents, guardians and caregivers to access resources and navigate social systems.
  • Adapt and pilot an idea that has been tested in other parts of the province to meet the needs of parents, guardians and caregivers in your community.
  • Establish a learning circle that supports parents, guardians and caregivers in navigating specific experiences like supporting children with disabilities, and/or to improving mental health and wellbeing.
  • Create a space that honors the cultural traditions of parents, guardians and caregivers and celebrates the sharing of knowledge or culture.

The idea your group wants to test must align with one of the Family Innovations Priority Outcomes.

Research an issue or new concept

Choose this project type if your group wants to learn and understand more about a specific topic or issue. For example:

  • Develop participatory research about an experience families face.
  • Explore something new in your community that can be enhanced through technology or a new approach.
  • Discover how something new may impact parents, guardians and caregivers in your community.

Consider how your group will conduct the research, how much time this work will take, and how your group will share what you learn, for example through a research paper, report, website, or presentation.If your group chooses this project type, the research topic must align with one of the Family Innovations Priority Outcomes.

Strategize around an issue affecting Parents, Guardians and Caregivers

This is an opportunity to bring parents, guardians and caregivers together to discuss an issue and explore new approaches collectively with their community. Depending on your group’s aims and the stage of the discussion, what you learn could include:

  • Understanding an issue and its impact on your community.
  • Discover who is already working on an issue, who is joining the conversation, and who might be left out.
  • Develop some common goals or strategies to respond to the issue.
  • Come up with next steps as a collective.

The focus of your group’s strategy must align with one of the Family Innovations Priority Outcomes.

Deadline Date

April 15, 2026

Contact

Contact Name: OTF

E-mail Address: otf@otf.ca

Website: https://otf.ca/our-grants/youth-opportunities-fund/family-innovations-test-grant#what-we-fund

Industry:

Non-Profit

Location:

Ontario

Tags:

Family

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