Welcome to the Atkinson Charitable Foundation

We are a private Canadian foundation established in 1942 by Joseph E. Atkinson, former publisher of The Toronto Star newspaper.

Our mission is to "promote social and economic justice in the tradition of our founder," Joseph E. Atkinson.

The Foundation will focus on three priorities in 2009:

Early Childhood Education and Development: Innovative projects that demonstrate how to improve the futures of children and youth at risk through more effective early years programming and policies.

Economic Justice: Innovative projects--including community organizing, research and educational activities—geared to increasing community and policy capacity to reduce poverty. 

The Canadian Index of Wellbeing:  A new approach to measuring how Canadians' lives are getting better – or worse – in areas that matter: health, standard of living, quality of the environment, time use, education and skills, community vitality, civic engagement, and arts and culture.

Click here to learn more about our granting criteria.

In the categories of health, social welfare, economic justice and education the Foundation has given more than $55 million since its inception.

Joseph Atkinson’s Social Crusades Atkinson’s fighting words in print and video   Joseph Atkinson was best known as the publisher of The Toronto Star, running the newspaper from 1899 to 1948.  But in almost every aspect of his life Atkinson challenged Canadians to create a just, equitable, safe and healthy society for every citizen, no matter what their circumstances.   His social justice quest is well captured in a recent book and video:   Big Ideas: The Social Crusades of Joseph E Atkinson, is a book that captures the Atkinson legacy in the words he wrote or commissioned for The Toronto Star during his 49 years at the helm. More by clicking here...   Fighting Words is a new documentary produced by the Atkinson Charitable Foundation that examines the life and times of the Star’s legendary publisher, tells the story of a great newspaper in the making, and charts the City of Toronto’s progress towards a more civil society.   The documentary is now available on Youtube by clicking here… or on DVD from the Foundation by clicking here….