Empowering Black Futures: The Impact of the Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative

The Supporting Black Canadian Communities Initiative (SBCCI) is a transformative, five-year, federally funded program dedicated to uplifting Black communities across Canada. As part of its participation in the United Nations Decade for People of African Descent, and in response to the inequities faced by Black communities across Canada, the federal government launched the initiative in 2020. The goals of the SBCCI are multi-faceted: to celebrate and disseminate knowledge about the invaluable contributions of people of African descent in Canada, strengthen vibrant Black communities nationwide, ensure Black voices are represented in policies and programs that affect their lives, and to eliminate barriers perpetuated by anti-Black racism and other systemic inequities.

Understanding the Need

SBCCI recognizes the deep-rooted challenges Black communities face, stemming from systemic and structural inequities. Black-led and Black- serving not-for-profit organizations play a pivotal role in addressing these challenges, as they are intricately connected to the communities they serve. These organizations, guided by shared experiences and perspectives, are uniquely positioned to develop relevant and impactful interventions. However, their success has often been hampered by a lack of resources, capital, and organizational capacity—challenges exacerbated by chronic underfunding.

To effectively serve Black communities, it is imperative that Black-led and Black-serving not-for-profit organizations are adequately equipped. A cornerstone of the SBCCI is its grants program, which provides capital assistance and capacity-building grants. These grants focus on diversifying funding sources, strengthening board governance, and enhancing operational management—key components for the longevity and success of any organization.

BBI’s Role in the Initiative

The Black Business Initiative (BBI) is one of four intermediaries administering SBCCI grants, alongside Groupe 3737 in Quebec, Tropicana Community Services in Ontario, and Africa Centre in Alberta (which joined in 2021). As Canada’s longest-serving Black business development organization, with nearly three decades of experience in nurturing Black businesses and mentoring other organizations nationwide, BBI was well-positioned to serve as an intermediary for this national initiative.

Initially, BBI was set to receive just under $4 million to support 50 to 70 organizations across Canada over four years. However, the initiative’s overwhelming success has led to significant expansion. Now, in its final year and after three calls for proposals, BBI has funded over 900 projects with an investment exceeding $25 million. This substantial increase in investment underscores the program’s success and BBI’s capacity to manage and administer a grant of this magnitude effectively.

A Collaborative Effort

Collaboration has been instrumental in the program’s success. The four intermediaries, collectively known as the Black National Funders Intermediary Network (BNFIN), have worked in unison to support Black-led, Black-serving not-for-profit organizations across the country. Their collaborative efforts have even resulted in the production of a documentary on SBCCI, highlighting the initiative’s importance andimpact.

Additionally, in the administration of the grant, the intermediarieshave brought several voices of Black community leaders together, withgrant applications being assessed by independent committees of grantreview committee members from across Canada and guided by anassessment criteria available to organizations ahead of their submissions.“It was important to have a committee made up of Black leaders fromdifferent Black communities because these leaders understand theunique challenges, needs, and strengths of Black Canadian communities,allowing them to assess applications within these contexts,” says EdgarAdda, BBI’s SBCCI Project Lead. The eligibility criteria for organizationshave remained the same throughout all three calls for proposals;organizations must be Black-led, Black-serving, and registered not-for-profit organizations based in Canada.

Beyond Grants: Transformational Support

A unique aspect of SBCCI is that the intermediary model being used isone where Black-led and Black-serving not-for-profit organizations arebeing funded by organizations just like them, meaning that they are beingfunded by organizations that both comprehend and share many of theirexperiences and perspectives, and so can work with them from a place ofunderstanding and without perpetuating the challenges that make accessto funding so difficult for Black nonprofit organizations.

Although a main component of the SBCCI has been its grants, theintermediaries have taken the approach of transformational as opposedto transactional funding, meaning that the relationship betweenintermediaries and funded organizations goes beyond providing fundingand receiving reports. For BBI, other wrap-around supports have beenmade available for funded and, in some cases, unfunded organizations. These supports include wrap-around grants, cyber-security grants, webinars, workshops, focus groups, and a virtual community of practice, which currently has over 400 Black nonprofit leaders. The virtual community of practice is particularly valuable to organizations as it allows them to share knowledge, resources and best practices, as well as collaborate on projects and funding applications. BBI’s first SBCCI Conference last year was able to turn that virtual community of practice to a physical reality for over 200 Black nonprofit leaders across Canada who came to Halifax for the three-day conference.

The network of hundreds of organizations funded by BBI through SBCCI, as well as the hundreds of thousands of Black individuals served by those organizations, has put BBI in a position where it can serve as both an advocate with, and convenor of Black communities across Canada. In 2022, BBI, along with the other three intermediaries, led the engagement of Black communities across Canada during the review of Canada’s Employment Equity Act, resulting in a pledge by the federal government to add Black workers as a designated group in the Act.

Advocating for the Future

As the SBCCI approaches its conclusion on March 31, 2025, BNFIN is working diligently to ensure that Black-led and Black-serving not-for- profit organizations continue to receive support beyond that date and has been actively engaging both government officials and Black communities in its advocacy efforts. “The initiative has achieved so much and been so impactful in the last four years,” says BBI COO, Chiedza Jones, “but for organizations that have been underfunded to the extent that Black nonprofit organizations have been, four years is not enough to get those organizations where they need to be. We also know that there are other organizations who are yet to benefit from this initiative because the need is so great. So, the last four years have served as a foundation of sorts; one that we need to build on for the sustainability of these organizations and the benefit of Black communities nationwide.”

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