Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy Grants Program

Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy Grants Program is sponsored by Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy (PGFL). The Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy grants support literacy initiatives to build capacity or enhance promising practices in adult and family literacy across Canada. Grants can also be used for operational expenses.

Changing Lives by Supporting Adult Literacy Changing Lives by Supporting Adult Literacy Changing Lives by Supporting Adult Literacy In 2026, the Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy provided support for two types of grants: the One-Year Grants Program and the Two-Year Grants Program. Below is a list of grant recipients.

The One-Year Grants program provides a grant of $25,000 to support literacy project which build capacity or enhance promising practices. Grants may also be used for program expenses. This year we received 72 applications and awarded 15 grants.

2026 One-Year Grants Approvals Alexandra Park Neighbourhood Learning Centre (APNLC) | Toronto, ON APNLC Community Action Group Alexandra Park Neighbourhood Learning Centre’s (APNLC) Community Action Group is a one-year initiative engaging 10–15 adult literacy learners through popular education, civic literacy, and community organizing.

The project builds leadership and advocacy skills while strengthening participants’ capacity for collective action. Learners will address issues such as housing affordability, food security, and systemic inequities, while fostering community connection and well-being.

Bookmates Inc. | Winnipeg, MB Bookmates Operational Funding This funding supports general operating expenses, enabling Bookmates to maintain core activities and respond to increasing community needs and demands for services. It will also help build long-term sustainability and expand the organization’s impact. Centre de Formation Manitouwadge Learning Centre | Manitouwadge, ON manitouwadgelearningcentre.

ca Improving Outreach and the Efficacy of Our Literacy Services to the Community of Manitouwadge Operational funding will support expanded community outreach and increased public visibility. It will also allow for enhancements to the learning space, creating a more welcoming and effective environment for adult literacy development.

Conseil pour le développement de l’alphabétisme et des compétences des adultes du Nouveau-Brunswick (CODAC NB) | Moncton, NB Write Together, Grow Together CODAC NB will develop and deliver 10 play-based family literacy workshops for Francophone, exogamous, and newcomer families in New Brunswick. Parents and children (ages 3–8) will explore writing together and receive practical take-home tools to support literacy learning.

Kitimat Community Services Society | Kitimat, BC kitimatcommunityservices. ca Operational funding will support essential program infrastructure, including classroom rental costs and staff wages required to deliver literacy services in the community.

Literal Change | Lindsay, ON Restoring Literacy and Opportunity: Sustaining Adult Learning in the Justice System and Community Operational funding sustains and strengthens Literal Change’s Adult Literacy Initiative, providing free, one-on-one structured tutoring in the community and at the Toronto South Detention Centre.

Funding supports staff coordination, volunteer training, and program infrastructure to ensure continued access to literacy services. Metro Toronto Movement for Literacy (MTML) | Toronto, ON Evolving Adult Literacies: Preparing Ontario Learners for the Future MTML will develop a series of podcasts exploring evolving literacy needs in Ontario across four key areas: AI and digital literacy, apprenticeship, employment, and independence.

Informed by research and insights from learners, instructors, managers, and workforce stakeholders, the series will examine future literacy demands Peace Association for Life Long Learning | Peace River, AB Building Phonics Strengths for Adult Learners This project will develop an eight-level adult phonics practice workbook series that strengthens decoding skills through structured, high-volume practice.

Designed for use in literacy programs, the materials are adult-appropriate, reusable, and supplement existing instruction while increasing program capacity and reducing instructor preparation time. Portage Learning and Literacy Centre (PLLC) | Portage la Prairie, MB Modernizing the Adult Literacy Program PLLC will update its adult literacy program to address post-pandemic learning gaps and increased reliance on digital media.

The initiative aims to better support learners in achieving educational and employment goals and serve as a model for other literacy centres. Project READ Literacy Network Waterloo-Wellington | Kitchener, ON Pre-CAEC Tests for Level 2 Learners This project will develop four Level 2 pre-CAEC (Canadian Adult Education Credential) assessments in Reading, Numeracy, Science, and Social Studies.

Aligned with Skills for Success (S4S) and the Ontario Adult Literacy Curriculum Framework (OALCF), these tools will help learners build test-taking skills for this GED replacement test and can be used by all literacy programs for assessment purposes.

South Okanagan Community Adult Literacy Program | Penticton, BC Supporting Adult Literacy Access in South Okanagan Communities Operational funding will support the delivery of community-based literacy programming across the South Okanagan. This includes program coordination, space rentals, volunteer tutor training and support, and learning resources to ensure accessible, flexible tutoring for adults in both urban and rural areas.

Street Haven at the Crossroads | Toronto, ON Literacy for Opportunity (Volunteer literacy and ESL Support for Vulnerable Women) This project expands literacy and ESL support for women facing multiple barriers through a volunteer-led model. Trained volunteers will provide small-group and one-on-one language support to strengthen essential communication skills for daily life, community integration, and employment.

Trent Valley Learning Association | Peterborough, ON Strengthening Volunteer Tutor Capacity through Trauma-Informed Literacy Training at TVLA TVLA will redesign the volunteer tutor program by developing structured training, integrating trauma-informed literacy supports, and a certificate-based recognition system. The project will strengthen tutor effectiveness, improve learner outcomes, and create practical, shareable resources.

University nuxełhot’įne thaaɁehots’į nistameyimâkanak Blue Quills | St. Paul, AB Adult Literacy Reading Materials on Residential Schools: Blue Quills This project will develop localized, leveled adult literacy and Indigenous language materials focused on Indian Residential Schools.

It will specifically explore the history of the Blue Quills Indian Residential School (1930–1970), supporting both literacy development and cultural understanding. Victoria Literacy Connection Society | Victoria, BC victorialiteracyconnection.

ca Adult Voices – Being Heard on Literacy Needs The Greater Victoria Alliance for Literacy will conduct a regional adult literacy needs assessment across Southern Vancouver Island, focusing on underserved adults. Through surveys, focus groups, and interviews, trained volunteers will gather data to strengthen service planning, advocacy and equitable access to literacy supports.

The Two-Year Grants program provides grants of $60,000 over two years. These grants are for larger projects or more intensive activity that can not be completed in one year. Supported are projects that build capacity or enhance promising practices.

This year we received 56 applications and awarded 5 grants. 2026 Two-Year Grants Approvals Comox Valley Lifelong Learning Centre | Courtenay, BC Fighting words – Literacy Interventions to further recovery of Persons who use Drugs (PWUD) This project delivers literacy-based instruction and activities for individuals with substance use disorder who are presently in active recovery.

The initiative aims to improve literacy skills, create pathways to further education, and support long-term recovery by helping participants build confidence and reduce the risk of relapse. Fort Nelson Community Literacy Society | Fort Nelson, BC The Little Town that Welcomes All In this remote northern community, literacy support is essential to daily life.

Operational funding will sustain frontline staff who provide one-on-one foundational and digital literacy support, helping adults navigate essential systems, access services, and build confidence and independence in a service-sparse region with a growing vulnerable population.

Literacy Haida Gwaii | Daajing Giids, Haida Gwaii, BC Sustaining Essential Adult Literacy Operations on Haida Gwaii Operational support for free adult literacy services across six remote communities.

Programs are gender-inclusive and open to all residents, offering instruction in digital skills, English as an Additional Language (EAL), Adult Dogwood completion, and workplace upgrading to ensure islanders remain literacy-proficient and are able to access vital knowledge and tools.

Literacy Northwest | Thunder Bay, ON Get SET for Justice is a 24-month initiative led by Literacy Northwest in partnership with Kenamatewin Native Learning Centre.

Through Indigenous-led community consultation, the project will co-develop three culturally grounded curriculum modules for justice-involved Indigenous adult learners Northwestern Ontario’s Corrections Literacy Initiative and share findings through a Promising Practice Toolkit. Murphy Centre Inc. | St.

John’s, NL Stabilizing Community-Based Adult Literacy Program Space in Rural Newfoundland and Labrador Operational funding will stabilize adult literacy programming in rural communities. Delivered in Corner Brook and Happy Valley–Goose Bay, the initiative supports accessible learning spaces for ACCESS to Learning where adults facing barriers can build foundational literacy, numeracy, and digital skills.

View the 2026 grant guidelines and FAQ One-Year Grants Guidelines Two-Year Grants Guidelines Peter Gzowski began the Peter Gzowski Invitationals (PGIs) in 1986 to raise money for and awareness about the literacy challenges facing the country. Following Peter’s death in 2002, the PGFL, created with an endowment from the federal government, took on responsibility for the PGIs.

The 20th anniversary of Peter’s death along with changes observed in fundraising efforts and the impact of COVID-19 led PGFL’s Board of Directors to discuss how the PGFL could have a different impact on the literacy challenge. As a result, the Board of Directors for the Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy (PGFL) ended the PGIs for Literacy on December 31, 2022.

The Foundation now provides grants to organizations working in the area of literacy. Peter’s vision lives on through financial support to literacy projects across the country. In 2023, ten grants were made and in 2024,16 grants were provided and in 2025, 20 grants were awarded.

View the 2025 grant recipients , the 2024 grant recipients and the 2023 grant recipients . The Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy (PGFL) is the national body that stewards an endowment dedicated to promoting literacy awareness and supporting adult literacy programming across Canada. In 1985, while playing on what had been his grandfather’s favorite golf course, award winning Canadian broadcaster and journalist Peter Gzowski an idea…