The purpose of this article is twofold: to present a theoretical framework that can speak to the larger question of the relationship between Canadian grantmaking foundations, social innovation, and societal change; and to present the findings of in-depth interviews with 13 Canadian grantmaking foundations with an active and sustained engagement in public policy.

As this article will demonstrate, there is considerably more to the formulation and implementation of public policy than what reaches the front pages of newspapers or the back rooms of legislatures. There is a wide range of roles that grantmaking foundations can play in the public policy process, from engaging or funding primary research to monitoring policy implementation and community impact. While the Canada Revenue Agency stipulates that as registered charities, 10 percent of a foundation’s resources can be directed toward political activities, only a fraction of public policy activities can be considered political.