Strengthening Jewish Identity & Education

The future of the Jewish community depends on providing our youth with strong connections to our roots and our heritage. That is why UJA Federation places such a strong emphasis on investing in Jewish education and a vast array of Jewish identity programs.

  • Day School Affordability (tuition subsidies, middle income programs and operating grants)
    • $10,090,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje
    • UJA Federation is committed to making our day schools affordable and sustainable. Subsidies and grants enable 14 funded Jewish day schools to welcome children from lower and middle-income families into their classes. This is the largest tuition subsidy to Jewish day schools in North America and demonstrates UJA Federation’s ongoing commitment to Jewish education. This includes the support of the Julia and Henry Koschitzky Day School Grant which promotes Hebrew and Bible literacy.

  • TanenbaumCHAT Affordabilty Initiative
    • $3,000,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje
    • This initiative lowered tuition from $28,000 to $18,500/year, making a Jewish high school education more affordable and sustainable, resulting in a 70% increase in the size of the grade 9 entry class.

  • Education Programs & Services
    • $121,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje
    • Services include: Third Party Accreditation Process for Day Schools, Israel engagement programs, Zimriyah, Bible Contest, school marketing, the David & Syma Forberg Media Centre, and Professional and Lay Communities of Practice. This initiative ensures the highest quality of education programs in our day schools.

  • Supplementary Schools
    • $565,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje
    • These funds are used to support supplementary school initiatives to improve quality and expand outreach. Through the WOW! Initiative in supplementary education, UJA is seeding new Jewish education programs designed to engage those who currently receive no formal Jewish education.

  • Capacity Building for Jewish Education
    • $86,000
    • Professional development programs to improve the quality of education, conduct community-wide research and advance web portal development to ensure a respectful process for subsidy applications.

  • The Julia and Henry Koschitzky Centre for Jewish Education (CJE)
    • $848,633
    • CJE capacity building and administrative costs include educational staff, shared services, occupancy and expenses.

  • PJ Library
    • $221,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/pj-library
    • A collaboration with the Harold Grinspoon Foundation that sends monthly Jewish children’s books to children aged six months to eight years old free of charge to 6,500 families in the Greater Toronto Area.

  • One Happy Camper and Other Summer Camp Programs
    • $398,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje/camp/ohc
    • Provides financial incentives to families of first-time campers to encourage parents to choose Jewish summer camp, and funds other summer camp initiatives.

  • The House
    • $30,000
    • thehousetoronto.com
    • A dynamic organization that is leading the way in engaging the next generation of inspired Jewish young adults through creative programming and collaborative community partnerships. Reaching thousands of Jewish young adults annually, The House creates a comfortable environment open to young Jewish adults from all streams of Judaism.

  • BBYO
    • $45,000
    • bbyo.org
    • BBYO is the leading pluralistic teen movement aspiring to involve growing numbers of Jewish teens in meaningful Jewish experiences. For over 90 years, BBYO has provided exceptional identity enrichment and leadership development experiences for hundreds of thousands of Jewish teens.

  • Birthright Israel Leadership Training & Alumni Engagement
    • $150,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje
    • Birthright Israel is a powerful Jewish experience. UJA Federation ensures the impact of the program lasts beyond the ten-day experience by engaging participants in programs and leadership training initiatives through UJA and throughout the community.

  • Diller Teen Leadership Program
    • $30,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/diller
    • A year-long teen leadership program for students in grades 10 and 11. Together with their counterpart group in Eilat-Eilot, Israel, Fellows develop leadership skills, explore their Jewish identity and connections to Israel and engage in meaningful tikun olam/social justice opportunities.

  • UJA - Sarah and Chaim Neuberger Holocaust Education Centre
    • $542,636
    • holocaustcentre.com
    • Serves Toronto’s school children, educators and our community with outstanding educational and remembrance programming throughout the year.

  • Hillel Ontario
    • $1,234,100
    • hillelontario.org
    • Hillel, the voice of Jewish students on campuses across Ontario, provides a wide variety of social, educational and cultural programs for Jewish students across Southern Ontario, including initiatives designed to connect Russian and Israeli students to each other and to the wider Jewish community on campus. The Wolfond Centre for Jewish Campus Life, located in the heart of the University of Toronto’s campus, houses multiple organizations, including Hillel Ontario, Reena, the Annex Shul and City Shul.

  • Israel Engagement: ShinShinim Program
    • $500,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/shinshinim
    • ShinShinim are Israeli young leaders who come to the GTA following high school to perform one year of volunteer service in our community. Hosted by local Toronto-area families, these young emissaries engage thousands of Jewish community members through synagogues, day schools, summer camps, youth movements and community events with cutting edge programs focusing on contemporary Israel.

  • Joshua Institute
    • $20,000
    • A leadership initiative that identifies, places, and supports a growing number of leaders who are now better equipped to take on leadership roles at UJA Federation or in the community-at-large.

  • Emerging Communities – Jewish Education Initiatives
    • $115,000
    • Investing in developing and nurturing Jewish identity in young generations. Our investments are focused on young families, youth and teen programs that are carried out by or in collaboration with our partner agencies. We also focus on engagement through Israeli culture and Jewish celebrations.

      • MNJCC New Teen Israeli Program ($15K)
      • Camp Gesher ($15K)
      • Kachol Lavan (SRC) ($35K)
      • Jroots (SRC) ($35K)
      • Tzofim (Scouts) ($15K)
  • Teen & Youth Programs for the Russian-Speaking Jewish Community
    • $170,000
    • srcentre.ca/jacademy/
    • An investment in programs for the Russian-speaking Jewish community at Schwartz/Reisman Centre (SRC), including J.Academy, which helps teens from the Russian-speaking Jewish community strengthen their Jewish identity through arts, sports and educational initiatives. Programs for the Russianspeaking Jewish community of the GTA are run in partnership with the Genesis Philanthropy Group.

  • Canada Israel Experience
    • $822,000
    • canadaisraelexperience.ca
    • The leading Israel program organizer in Canada offering unforgettable trips to Israel for youth and young adults. Programs include:

      • March of the Living
      • Birthright Israel
      • High School Israel
      • Masa Israel Journey
      • Onward Israel Journey
  • Young Professionals & Community Engagement Initiatives
    • $50,000
    • Includes mini grants for grassroots and individuals; JAM (Jewish and Modern) young professionals outreach; intergenerational volunteering programs and other initiatives.

  • Limmud FSU Canada
    • $30,000
    • limmudfsucanada.org
    • Limmud FSU focuses on revitalizing Jewish culture and heritage for Russian-speaking Jews in the GTA through volunteer engagement and an annual threeday educational retreat for all ages.

  • Israeli Initiatives
    • $36,400
    • Grassroots initiatives for the Israeli community in the GTA, including an Israeli film festival, Israeli dance festival, “Israeli Faces of Toronto” photo exhibition, supporting Beit Chabad Israeli Community Centre, engagement and information evenings, youth programs and holiday celebrations.

  • CJMT (Moroccan Community)
    • $5,000
    • cjmt.org
    • As an umbrella association for Toronto’s Moroccan Jewish community, CJMT organizes and communicates community programs and events.

  • UJA - Ontario Jewish Archives, Blankenstein Family Heritage Centre
    • $416,879
    • ontariojewisharchives.org
    • A world-class repository for the collection, preservation and publication of important documents pertaining to the history of Jewish life in Ontario.

  • Toronto Jewish Film Festival
    • $30,000
    • tjff.com
    • The Toronto Jewish Film Festival is a window and a mirror of Jewish culture, striving to be inclusive of all aspects of the Toronto community, showing films of excellence that reflect the diversity of Jewish life.

  • Ashkenaz Festival
    • $50,556
    • ashkenazfestival.ca
    • Ashkenaz raises the profile of Jewish diasporic culture and provides a window to the broader community on the most cutting-edge elements of Yiddish culture.

  • Committee for Yiddish
    • $20,000
    • committeeforyiddish.com
    • The Committee for Yiddish promotes Yiddish culture and language by sponsoring lectures, classes and other community events.

  • Koffler Centre of the Arts
    • $80,000
    • kofflerarts.org
    • A cultural platform that engages audiences of all ages and backgrounds in a vibrant dialogue exploring critical ideas and concerns of our time. The Koffler Centre aims to foster social justice, equality and inclusiveness while nurturing a passion for learning and understanding through exhibitions, performances, discussions, publications and digital initiatives.

  • Harold Green Theatre
    • $15,000
    • hgjewishtheatre.com
    • The Harold Green Jewish Theatre Company embraces and celebrates stories about Jewish history, stories about Jewish beliefs and stories about Jewish struggles and triumphs.

  • Kultura Collective
    • $145,000
    • The Kultura Collective is a coalition of Jewish arts, culture and heritage organizations working collaboratively to highlight the importance of Jewish artistic and cultural traditions, and to create meaningful connections to Jewish identity through engaging cultural programming, community events, and other opportunities.

  • Prosserman Jewish Community Centre
    • $780,064
    • prossermanjcc.com
    • Located on North York’s Sherman Campus, the Prosserman Jewish Community Centre is home to social, educational, cultural, health and wellness programs rooted in Jewish values and innovative collaboration.

  • Schwartz/Reisman Centre (SRC)
    • $1,042,000
    • srcentre.ca
    • Housed on the Vaughan Jewish Community Campus in Vaughan, the SRC is a non-profit Jewish Community Centre that provides opportunities for social, cultural, spiritual, educational and physical activities. Programming designed for all ages and backgrounds, including initiatives specifically for Jewish and Russian newcomers to Canada, helps strengthen and enrich individuals, families and communities in an inclusive and welcoming environment.

  • Jewish Russian Community Centre (JRCC)
    • $50,000
    • jrcc.org
    • The mission of the JRCC is to is to foster Jewish identity, continuity and integrity among Jews from the Former Soviet Union (FSU), and their families by providing educational, spiritual, religious and cultural community services.

  • Special Education
    • $500,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/cje
    • Funding supports Jewish day schools in providing student assessments, social work services, educational remediation services and consultations, to address special learning needs of the school population.

  • Itanu Inclusion Initiative
    • $15,000
    • jewishtoronto.com/itanu
    • Develops and oversees the implementation of community strategies to ensure that people with special needs are included in all facets of Jewish communal life.

  • Jews for Judaism
  • Miles Nadal Jewish Community Centre (MNJCC)
    • $269,536
    • mnjcc.ca
    • The centre of downtown urban Jewish life, the MNJCC is an inclusive and dynamic hub that helps build Jewish identity, enrich Jewish education, promote Israeli engagement, welcome Russian and Israeli newcomers to Toronto, serve seniors and the vulnerable, and bring the community together for Jewish celebrations, community gatherings and events.

  • Ameinu
    • $30,000
    • Provides adult education, Jewish Studies in Russian, and outreach to the Russian Jewish community in Toronto.