2026 National Conference

Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island from June 8-10, 2026 (funders-only gathering)

Unlocking new economic pathways to anchor environmental progress

Building on EFC’s 2025 annual conference in Whitehorse, Navigate 2025, we are excited to welcome you to Charlottetown for Generate 2026!

As environment funders, we often reflect on the need to design durable environmental solutions by ensuring their relevance to, and impact on, everyday life, health, safety and wellbeing at the community level. We have learned, often the hard way, that environmental solutions must be anchored within broader social and economic agendas in order to stand the test of time, or risk being politicized as they are built up or torn down with every swing of the political pendulum. The days of funding ‘carbon tunnel vision’ projects and protection of pristine, untouched ecosystems that are out of sight and out of mind are now making way for initiatives that aim to garner broad public support.

As funders we are uniquely positioned to shape social, economic and environmental strategies. We have also seen time and time again that even the most well-crafted strategies will certainly fail without the cultural conditions that enable us to embrace and implement them. There is also ample evidence that culture is significantly shaped by microeconomics (the part of economics concerned with single factors rather than the economic system as a whole). Microeconomic conditions can dynamically alter deeply held beliefs and values, social norms, social cohesiveness and political and institutional engagement.

Therefore, it is incumbent on us as environmental funders to ensure that the environmental initiatives we fund are embedded within economic solutions that truly benefit people by generating good jobs, community wealth and infrastructure, and long-term savings to the public purse that can be redirected to critical areas of need such as healthcare, natural disaster responses, poverty reduction and much more.

Against the backdrop of strained Canada-US relations, the new federal approvals process for ‘nation-building’ projects, insufficient funding for the non-profit sector, significant backsliding on climate progress and nature protection, ever widening income disparity, increasing demand on public resources to respond to environmental crises, and the massive cloud of disinformation, decreasing trust and polarization:

• How can we deepen our own capacity as funders to make better connections between environment and economy?
• How do we unlock economic pathways that enable ecosystem restoration and regeneration, reduce emissions, spur clean innovation, and benefit as many people as possible by growing community wealth and resilience?
• Can this be done within the status quo of our current economic system, or do these people-focused economic pathways need to be nested within alternative economic models? Who is our economic growth for? Who bears the economic costs of environmental degradation and climate change?
• What can we learn from the wisdom of Indigenous communities and leaders in how to build holistic and regenerative economies that benefit current and future generations?  

EFC aims to serve as both a navigator and a safe harbour for our members, and our annual conference is THE must-attend event for environmental funders. It’s a unique opportunity to draw inspiration from a beautiful Canadian landscape, and to fortify our resolve and resilience to face the challenges ahead. Our gatherings are curated to offer space for connection, reflection, grounding, curiosity and thought-provoking presentations that lead to honest and genuine dialogue and action.

Join us in beautiful Epekwitk (Prince Edward Island) to celebrate successes, explore burning questions, and strengthen the cohesiveness of this special community, as we pursue our collective vision of a safe and thriving planet that sustains all life.