Monday, October 20, 2025
From zoos to hospitals to museums, RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant is impacting some of Canada’s most innovative public infrastructure projects.
Available to hospitals, cultural institutions, community centres and other registered charities in Canada, the grant helps fund retrofits, repairs or upgrades to existing public community buildings and spaces, as well as construction of new public spaces that reduce environmental impacts and/or improve building accessibility.
In Toronto, a donation from the RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant is helping to support energy-smart solutions like electric in-floor heating at the Toronto Zoo’s new Community Conservation Centre.
The Centre will be made up of two publicly accessible, energy efficient buildings just outside the admission gates. An educational building will feature classrooms, laboratories, offices and meeting spaces for students and educators. A second building will feature an engaging river otter habitat, a new home for the Blanding’s turtle head-starting program, retail space and an Indigenous welcome garden.
“Our donation to Toronto Zoo Wildlife Conservancy is an example of RBC’s ambition to support the transition to a net-zero economy,” said Michael Gray, Regional Vice President of Toronto Northeast at RBC. “Through RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant, we’re proud to support capital improvements aimed at reducing the environmental impact of the Toronto Zoo Community Conservation Centre.”
Coast to coast impact
Toronto is one of 35 Canadian towns and cities impacted by a donation from the 2025 RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant (formerly the RBC Foundation Community Infrastructure Fund).
In Montreal, a donation to the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will help make the facility’s bathrooms and doors more accessible. In nearby Mont Tremblant, a donation to KINA8AT, a nonprofit organization offering a range of training programs inspired by First Nations’ philosophy and traditions, will support the installation of a quiet and efficient geothermal heating system.
In Southeastern Ontario, the all-new Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital will be the first un-encapsulated mass timber hospital in North America. The installation of solar panels, enabled by a donation from RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant, will add to its credentials as one of the most energy efficient acute care hospitals in Canada.
“This donation from the RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant comes at a pivotal moment in history,” said Shannon Coull, Executive Director of the Prince Edward County Memorial Hospital (PECMH) Foundation. “We have the chance to redefine healthcare—not only by delivering advanced medical services but also by building a hospital designed to reach net-zero carbon emissions in the future. The solar panels this donation supports will create clean energy and lower costs.”
In Atlantic Canada, a donation to the new Mi’kmaw Native Friendship Society hub in Halifax will support the installation of a high efficiency HVAC system. Construction of the new, purpose-built 75,000-square-foot community hub began this summer.
Also in Halifax, a donation to the Canadian Maritime Heritage Foundation’s Maritime Museum of the Atlantic will enable a lift to make the second floor of its new community Boat School more accessible.
“Boats and maritime skills are part of our heritage, and our connections with the sea,” said John Hennigar-Shuh, President of the Canadian Maritime Heritage Foundation. “This is the driving force behind the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic’s new Boat School, a new and beautiful space where youth will build pride, purpose and a sense of belonging through hands-on maritime skills. This donation from RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant will help ensure Boat School officially opens its doors to underserved youth in the spring of 2026.”
In Alberta, a donation to the Strathcona Food Bank will support the installation of ramps and automated doors in its new Nourish Centre, an 18,000 sq. ft. purpose-built facility that will triple capacity of the Food Bank.
“This support from the RBC Foundation is a powerful statement that no one in our community should go hungry,” said Kathryn Howden, Co-Chair of the Strathcona Food Bank. “It is both timely and essential, allowing us to move forward with the Nourish Centre at a moment when demand is at crisis levels.”
Applications reopen in November
In total, $16.2 million in single and multi-year donations were awarded this year; 27 to support projects related to improving accessibility and 19 grants to support projects related to improving sustainability. Applications for the 2026 RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant reopen in November 2025.
“From wayfinding signage to wheelchair ramps to solar panels, the RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant is in place to help increase environmental sustainability and improve the accessibility of the buildings where Canadians gather,” said Andrea Barrack, SVP, Sustainability & Impact, RBC. “Donations are making community gathering places more accessible or environmentally sustainable in locally-relevant ways.”
The RBC Foundation Community Spaces Grant is open to hospitals, cultural institutions, community centres and other registered charities in Canada. The amount of funding is based on the organization’s size, reach, and regional population. Projects must be completed within the approved funding term. For more information visit rbc.com/communityspacesgrant
