What is Ontario Community Changemakers?
Ontario Community Changemakers (OCC) is a leadership and micro-grant program created for Ontario residents to help spark new ideas and invigorate change in their local communities. In its fourth year, the program supports leaders from diverse ages, backgrounds and lived experiences to deliver their own creative projects that will activate public space, enhance civic engagement, and/or foster social inclusion.
We are looking for ideas that fall under the following three themes:
Activate
Public Space
Public spaces are areas or places that are welcoming and accessible to all. They play a key role in impacting health equity and community wellbeing. Sidewalks, streets, libraries, parks, gardens, community centres and places for ceremony are all potential locations for project ideas that create renewed energy, celebrate cultural heritage, and add vibrancy to local communities.
Enhance
Civic Engagement
Bringing people and communities together is a fundamental aspect of civic engagement. Projects which address common challenges and are rooted in local contexts, cultural approaches, and traditional knowledge can help spur people to take collective action and increase community participation in civic processes.
Foster
Social Inclusion
Change starts when we recognize visible and invisible barriers to participating in public space and public life. Creating the conditions where everyone, regardless of their lived experience and identity, is able to show up for themselves and one another can help to foster social inclusion. When we consciously design with and for marginalized communities, everyone benefits.
Who Can Apply?
The Ontario Community Changemakers program supports changemakers across multiple generations. The program is open to those residing in the Province of Ontario who are 19 years or older and have a creative solution to a challenge related to public space, civic engagement and/or social inclusion. Applicants may be activists, tactical urbanists, designers, artists, educators, entrepreneurs and more. Individuals with lived experiences that are currently underrepresented in the placemaking sector, including those from Indigenous, Black, and People of Colour communities, and 2SLGBTQI+ backgrounds are strongly encouraged to apply.
We invite applications from emerging Indigenous leaders who centre traditional and evolving approaches to placemaking and placekeeping, including art, dance, ceremony, and commemoration.
Applications for the 2025-2026 program will open soon. Stay tuned.
1 year. $5,000 in seed funding
The selected Changemakers will receive $5000 in seed funding to implement one community project in one year. These projects must address public space, civic engagement and/or foster social inclusion. We are looking for projects that respond to community needs, build on local assets, and are implemented through collaboration. The projects must be in the Province of Ontario or First Nations territories that are within the provincial boundary of Ontario.
Studio
This year’s Studio will consist of one two-hour online session and two full-day in-person sessions in October 2025 in Toronto. There will be regular monthly sessions after that until September 2026. The Studio will inspire the Changemakers and equip them with the tools they need to implement their community projects. The renewed program will connect and help Changemakers to learn from each other across multiple generations, geographies, and lived experiences.
The Ontario Changemakers Network
Changemakers join a supportive and inspiring network of peers from across Ontario. Participants receive ongoing guidance from experts in diverse fields such as planning, design, marketing and more. 8 80 Cities and Balsam Foundation will expose participants to opportunities for professional growth and support along the way.
Are You Eligible?
Must be 19 years or over at the time of application.
Preference will be given to those who can attend all three days of the Studio.*
Applicants must reside in the Province of Ontario or in a First Nations Territory within the provincial boundary of Ontario during the time of project implementation.
Project must take place in the Province of Ontario or in a First Nations Territory within the provincial boundary of Ontario.
Applicants must propose a community project that activates public space, enhances civic engagement, and/or fosters social inclusion.
Applications for the 2025-2026 program will open soon. Stay tuned.
Thank You!
Thank you to our 2024-2025 Advisory Committee —Selina Young, Neil Donaldson, Niko Casuncad, Sue Lantz, Mabe Kyle, and Sara Kae—for helping shape this year's program. Click here to get to know them!
