For more information, see Tides Nexus
The Tides Canada Foundation is a Vancouver, Canada-based nonprofit associated with the Tides Nexus, a collection of center-left pass-through grantmaking and fiscal sponsorship nonprofits based in San Francisco, California. Despite its name, Tides Canada is an IRS-designated 501(c)(3) public charity and files annual Form 990 reports in the United States; it is also registered as a “public foundation” in Canada. [1]
Overview
Tides Canada rose to prominence around 2010 when journalist Vivian Krause revealed that the group had quietly funneled $15 million to 36 Canadian activist groups to protest construction of oil pipelines from the Alberta tar sands to refineries in Texas, much of which originated with the Tides Foundation in the United States.[2]
The Tides Foundation served as a pass-through for other environmentalist donors, including the Swiss-based Oak Foundation, which moved $700,000 through it to Tides Canada in 2009 “to raise the visibility of the tar sands issue and slow the expansion of tar sands production by stopping new infrastructure development.” Krause ultimately discovered that some $300 million had flowed from American foundations to Canada’s environmentalist groups between 2000 and 2012.[3]
In 2019, Tides Canada launched an in-house donor-advised fund, ImpactDAF, to channel more money into left-wing activism as part of a new development in philanthropy called “impact investing.” The minimum to open an account is $1 million. All grants are measured against UN Sustainable Development Goals.[4]
Tides Foundation has been described as an organization that “washes” away the paper trail between its grants and the original donor. [5] Tides Founder Drummond Pike stated, “Anonymity is very important to most of the people we work with,” to describe the intentions of Tides’ donors.[6]
Leadership
Board of Directors
According to its 2018 IRS Form 990, Tides Canada’s board of directors included the following individuals: [7]
- Andrew Heintzman (board chair)
- Edwin Levy (board secretary)
- Michael Jantzi
- Justin Ferbey
- Nabil Harfoush
- Jennifer Lynn
- Peter MacLeod
- Lisa O’Hara
- Jane Rabinowicz
- Jodi White
Funding
Financial Overview
The Tides Canada Foundation is a Vancouver, Canada-based nonprofit associated with the Tides organizations in San Francisco. Despite its name, Tides Canada is an IRS-designated 501(c)(3) public charity and files annual Form 990 reports in the United States; it is also registered as a “public foundation” in Canada.
In 2018, Tides Canada Foundation reported total revenues of $1.9 million, total expenditures of $3.7 million, and net assets of $45.3 million. It paid out $2.7 million in grants to other nonprofits. [8]
Tides Canada Initiative Society
The Tides Canada Foundation is closely connected with the Tides Canada Initiatives Society, a Canadian nonprofit equivalent to a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) public charity, whose primary activity involves “programs focused on environmental conservation, education and research, leadership development, civic engagement, capacity building and social welfare programs.” [9]
In 2018, all of Tides Canada’s grants paid went to the Tides Canada Initiatives Society: [10]
- $1,364,500
- $1,288,099
- $92,490
- $254,811
- $25,097