The Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy (PGFL) is excited to announce the launch of the Peter Gzowski Foundation Literacy Grants!

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.

We recognized the Foundation’s endowment could be used in other ways to continue to support literacy activities. We have decided to provide funding through grants. Our objective is to encourage a positive impact through direct financial support without the resources required to organize fundraising events.

We thank our PGI Partners for their years of effort to mount fundraising activities to promote literacy awareness in Canada. We thank the thousands of people who have come out over the years to support literacy, including the volunteers, poet laureates, musicians, sponsors, and Learner Award and Peter Gzowski Award recipients.

We believe that Peter’s vision can continue to live on by using the PGFL endowment funds in this new way. The Board of Directors for the Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy (PGFL) decided to end the PGIs for Literacy as of December 31, 2022. 

We look forward to launching this next phase of the Peter Gzowski Foundation for Literacy.

Grant Applications Open on April 3, 2023