Canada Gives
Canada Gives is a Canadian registered charity founded in 2005 that administers customized Donor Advised Fund accounts for high-net-worth individuals and families, providing full foundation administration, tax receipting, CRA compliance, and grant processing services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2005
- HeadquartersCollingwood, Canada
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Canada Gives does
Canada Gives is a Canadian registered charity (CRA registration #83306 2144 RR0001) founded in 2005 by Denise Castonguay that administers customized Donor Advised Fund (DAF) accounts for high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. The organization provides a full-service alternative to private foundations, handling account setup, tax receipting, CRA compliance, third-party grant processing, due diligence on qualified donees, and consolidated quarterly reporting. The company positions itself as administratively simpler and faster than private foundations, advertising account setup in less than a day versus up to a year for a private foundation.
The core product is the Canada Gives Foundation Account, supported by a proprietary Foundation Administration Platform and a Client Portal that provides secure online access for tax receipts, grant letters, grant requests, and statistical reporting. Add-on tools include the "How Long Will My Foundation Last?" Calculator for endowment planning and a Charity Research Tool that profiles Canadian registered charities. The product set also encompasses the Global Projects Initiative Program (international giving with Canadian tax benefits), a Grant Application Service (via the Imagine Canada Grant Connect partnership), Boutique Services (foundation profiles, website templates, fundraising support), and the SmartAdvisor program targeting financial advisors and family offices.
Canada Generates revenue through fees on assets held within foundation accounts (not publicly disclosed), with a recommended minimum account size of $100,000 and many clients growing endowments to $1 million or more. Customer acquisition is driven through enterprise field sales to wealth advisors, portfolio managers, family offices, accountants, and legal professionals, supplemented by direct-to-donor engagement via the online portal and an annual flagship event, The Giving Games. The company is governed by a board drawn from law, finance, and investment backgrounds and operates offices in Toronto, Creemore (Collingwood area), and Edmonton. As of 2025, Foundation families placed $35 million in charitable grants with 2,244 grants distributed, and cumulative grants since inception reached nearly $188 million.
Canada Gives firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Canada Gives
- Legal name
- Canada Gives
- Website
- https://canadagives.ca
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2005
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Canada Gives is a Canadian registered charity founded in 2005 that administers customized Donor Advised Fund accounts for high-net-worth individuals and families, providing full foundation administration, tax receipting, CRA compliance, and grant processing services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Canada Gives industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Philanthropic Administration Services
- NAICS
- Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)
- SIC
- Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors (BPAGAKAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments) (FSAAABAH), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)
Keywords
Where Canada Gives is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Collingwood
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Canada Gives business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Marketing or Sales, Others, Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel
Revenue model
- Foundation Account Administration: Canada Gives generates revenue through fees associated with managing donor-advised fund accounts (Canada Gives Foundation accounts). The company provides full administration and reporting services including handling third-party grant requests, tax receipting, and ensuring CRA policy compliance. Specific fee structures are not publicly disclosed but are based on assets under management within foundation accounts.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Annual | Personal or Family Foundation Account |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
Canada Gives product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Canada Gives operates customized donor advised fund (DAF) accounts — branded as Canada Gives Foundation Accounts — and provides the full administrative, compliance, and advisory services required to run them. The company handles third-party grant requests, tax receipting, due diligence on recipient charities, and CRA policy compliance on behalf of donors, supported by a proprietary Foundation Administration Platform and secure Client Portal. Its primary customers are high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families in Canada seeking a flexible, administratively simple alternative to private foundations.
Product overview
Canada Gives operates as a philanthropic platform offering a unified ecosystem centered around its customized Canada Gives Foundation accounts (Donor Advised Funds). The core product is the Foundation Account paired with the proprietary Foundation Administration Platform, which handles all administrative functions including tax receipting, grant processing, and CRA compliance. Supporting this core are the Client Portal (secure online access for account holders), the Charity Research Tool (for profiling and evaluating Canadian charities), and the 'How Long Will My Foundation Last?' Calculator (for endowment planning). Additional services include the Global Projects Initiative Program (for international giving), the Grant Application Service (for receiving charity requests), and Boutique Services (foundation profiles, website templates, fundraising support). The 2026 launch of The Giving Games represents a new interactive philanthropic experience type. Together, these components form an integrated philanthropy infrastructure enabling donors to establish, grow, and manage charitable foundations with administrative simplicity.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- The Giving Games: An immersive philanthropic experience bringing together philanthropists, entrepreneurs, and community changemakers where charities present bold solutions and donors make live funding decisions.
- Canada Gives Foundation Account
- Global Projects Initiative
- SmartAdvisor
- Client Portal
- How Long Will My Foundation Last Calculator
Products and services
- Canada Gives Foundation Account (Donor Advised Fund) Customized foundation accounts (Donor Advised Funds) that enable philanthropists to make charitable donations, receive immediate tax receipts, and distribute grants to charities over time. Offers the same funding choices as private foundations with lower administrative costs, greater flexibility, and setup in less than a day.
- Client Portal Secure online portal providing Foundation account holders with access to official tax receipts, grant letters, grant request submissions, and statistical reports showing Foundation activity, charitable impact, and causes supported.
- Global Projects Initiative Program Program enabling philanthropists to support international charitable activities and projects in developing countries while receiving Canadian tax benefits. Canada Gives undertakes project management including due diligence, progress reporting, monitoring, and outcome evaluations.
- Grant Application Service Service that allows Canada Gives Foundation accounts to receive and evaluate grant applications from charities through industry partnerships and collaboration tools. Includes Foundation Profile development, application vetting, and facilitated introductions to charities via the Imagine Canada Grant Connect platform.
- SmartAdvisor Service Service that helps financial advisors integrate charitable giving strategies into their client wealth, tax, and estate planning, including advisor-facing thought leadership, educational resources, and a referral pathway to customized Foundation accounts for their HNW/UHNW clients.
- Boutique Services Suite of customized services including Foundation Profile development, vetting of incoming grant applications, research and due diligence on Canadian charities, foundation website templates and development, and fundraising support for event and P2P campaign platforms.
- Estate Gifts Service Service supporting testamentary charitable giving and estate planning integration, enabling donors to leave a lasting philanthropic legacy through their wills and estate plans.
Quantifiable outcome
- Foundation setup time reduced from up to 1 year (private foundation) to less than 1 day
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Canada Gives
Customer profileNamed customers10 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Canada Gives technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
Feature4 records
Canada Gives partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Three partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.
- Prime QuadrantminorPrime Quadrant is the presenting sponsor for The Giving Games 2026 event held at the Art Gallery of Ontario on May 28, 2026.
- Imagine Canada (Grant Connect)coreCanada Gives has an innovative industry partnership with Imagine Canada, using their Grant Connect platform. Foundation profiles can be listed in Grant Connect, an innovative research tool developed by Imagine Canada, allowing Canada Gives Foundations to receive grant applications from charities in a standardized format.
- Watermark Philanthropic CounselminorWatermark Philanthropic Counsel published 'Growing Together: Informing a Positive Dialogue Between Charities and DAF Foundations' report in June 2026, which recognized Canada Gives as having the most active DAFs in Canada with above-sector-average granting activity.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Canada Gives competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Charitable Impact Foundation: Canadian registered charity operating donor-advised fund accounts for individuals and families, with a digital-first platform; the closest direct competitor to Canada Gives in the Canadian DAF sponsor market.
- Vancouver Foundation: Canada's largest community foundation, administering donor funds and endowment assets for BC donors; competes for the same HNW donor-advised fund mandate, especially in Western Canada where Canada Gives recently expanded.
- Calgary Foundation: Major Alberta-based community foundation offering donor-advised and endowed funds to HNW philanthropists in Western Canada; directly comparable service offering and regional overlap with Canada Gives' Edmonton office.
- Toronto Foundation: Toronto-based community foundation providing donor-advised funds and philanthropic advisory to HNW families in the same GTA geography where Canada Gives is headquartered.
- CanadaHelps: Canada's leading online charitable giving platform, already integrated with Canada Gives for credit-card donations; competes for both donor relationships and charity-side grant application workflows.
- Foundation Source: US-based provider of private foundation administration services to HNW families; directly comparable service model (administration, compliance, grant processing) for clients who might otherwise choose a DAF sponsor.
Broad incumbents
- Fidelity Charitable: The largest US donor-advised fund sponsor, part of Fidelity's broader wealth platform; sets the scale benchmark and competitive threat that Canadian players like Canada Gives face from cross-border DAF sponsors.
- Schwab Charitable: Major US DAF sponsor affiliated with Charles Schwab; comparable service offering at much larger scale and a likely reference point for HNW Canadians evaluating DAF options.
- National Philanthropic Trust: US DAF sponsor and donor-advised fund service provider; comparable offering in a larger market, often cited as a sector benchmark for DAF administration and grantmaking services.
Others
- Imagine Canada: Canadian sector umbrella organization that operates the Grant Connect charity research platform integrated with Canada Gives; an ecosystem enabler and partner rather than a direct competitor.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Canada Gives financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Canada Gives leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles12 records
Canada Gives funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Canada Gives M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Canada Gives
What does Canada Gives do?
Canada Gives operates customized donor advised fund (DAF) accounts — branded as Canada Gives Foundation Accounts — and provides the full administrative, compliance, and advisory services required to run them. The company handles third-party grant requests, tax receipting, due diligence on recipient charities, and CRA policy compliance on behalf of donors, supported by a proprietary Foundation Administration Platform and secure Client Portal. Its primary customers are high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families in Canada seeking a flexible, administratively simple alternative to private foundations.
Is Canada Gives a public or private company?
Canada Gives is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Canada Gives founded?
Canada Gives was founded in 2005. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Canada Gives based?
Canada Gives is headquartered in Collingwood, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Canada Gives make money?
One revenue line is on record: foundation Account Administration.
Who are Canada Gives's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Charitable Impact Foundation, Vancouver Foundation, Calgary Foundation, Toronto Foundation, CanadaHelps and Foundation Source. Broad incumbents are Fidelity Charitable, Schwab Charitable and National Philanthropic Trust. Imagine Canada is listed as an others.
Does Canada Gives have an API?
No public API is recorded for Canada Gives.
What industry is Canada Gives in?
Canada Gives's product category is Philanthropic Administration Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAF, Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) Sponsors, with a secondary code of FSAAABAH, Philanthropy & Foundations Advisory (Donor-Advised Funds, Endowments). Its NAICS code is 813211 and its SIC code is 8600.