Over the past decade, philanthropy in Canada has grown significantly. The most notable milestone reached was the successful completion of the first one-billion dollar campaign in the country completed in 2004 by the University of Toronto. During this time there has also been a noticeable emergence of new levels of major gift donations not seen before within the LGBT community by leading gay philanthropists.

Meanwhile, in the United States, LGBT philanthropy has established itself as a leading field of research and activity that has grown into a strategic tool to advance the cause of LGBT equality rights. In recognition of this trend, a small group of individuals from a number of LGBT organizations and causes in the Greater Toronto Area came together in the summer of 2006 to discuss ways of further the development of LGBT leadership in philanthropy in this country, in order to support LGBT issues, advocacy and causes. Broader discussions of what was taking place in the United States led to the idea of producing a national conference on LGBT Philanthropy in Canada.

That conference, sponsored by TD Waterhouse, will take place April 5, 2008 in Toronto.

This conference, however, was only seen as the beginning of what could be possible. This group has imagined a longer-term vision of ongoing activity designed to further the development of LGBT philanthropy in Canada that would leave a lasting legacy for future generations in areas such as health care, education, youth, arts and culture, social services and many other fields of human endeavour in our communities.