Exactly 351 years ago this week, King Charles II of England fixed his seal to the Hudson’s Bay Company’s Royal Charter, a document that allowed European traders to steal a third of what is now Canada from Indigenous peoples to reap the region’s rich bounty of furs. 

The Royal Charter gave the Hudson’s Bay Company permission to subjugate 3.9 million square kilometres of Indigenous land in what is now Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut — a region known as “Rupert’s Land”, after Prince Rupert of England. On May 2, 2021, Hudson’s Bay Foundation launched a new charter that promises $30 million over the next 10 years to social impact organizations working on racial equity. 

“With a history that in the past has included discrimination and inequity, we as custodians of the company today have a responsibility to acknowledge the past, look ahead, and take meaningful action and drive progress to create a more equitable future,” said Iain Nairn, president and CEO of Hudson’s Bay, in a statement to Future of Good on Thursday. 

Hudson’s Bay Foundation’s Charter for Change will start its 10 year timeline by funding five charitable organizations that work with racialized communities — including Indigenous peoples, and Black and Chinese Canadians — on employment and educational opportunities. 

At Indspire, a national Indigenous charity, the Charter for Change will provide $1.1 million over the next three years to fund four separate programs focused on post-secondary scholarships, student mentorship, and professional development programs for Indigenous educators. Mike DeGagné, president and CEO of Indspire, said he is grateful for the Hudson’s Bay Foundation’s funding — and says it represents a genuine commitment to reconciliation by the company. “People are always looking for a tangible and forward-looking expression of their commitment to reconciliation,” he told Future of Good in an interview. “And this is certainly of them. Hats off to HBC for what they’ve done here.” 

The CEE Centre for Young Black Professionals, a career training organization, will receive funding to sponsor two new programs focused on upskilling and retraining 30 students a year for costuming and cybersecurity jobs. “In a time when many are struggling to find good jobs, these funds will be utilized to create jobs within the entertainment sector as well as Information Technology for Black Youth that are furthest from the labour market in Toronto,” said Agapi Gessesse, the Centre’s executive director, in Hudson’s Bay Foundation’s announcement. 

At CPAC Foundation, the rise of anti-Asian racism during the COVID-19 pandemic is incredibly worrisome. Andi Shi, its executive director, says many Asian community members don’t know what to do when faced with racial epithets or assault. “When you are attacked by something, you are so unprepared,” Shi says in an interview. “You are afraid. You don’t really know what to do.” This is especially true for Asian Canadians who don’t speak or read English, or who may not have access to a computer. 

CPAC Foundation plans on using their funds to translate pamphlets explaining what to do if someone is facing racial threats or an attack into Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Tagalog, and other Asian languages. The pamphlets will also teach readers how to support kids in school if they’re facing racial bullying, and even explain how to report a hate crime. 

Meanwhile, the Black Youth Helpline, an organization that helps connect youth to support services, says the grant will help it scale its Stay-In-School initiative, a program that keeps diverse youth in school, in 15 different school districts a year. “Now more than ever, there is a need to support, empower and extend a hand towards Canada’s most disadvantaged youth,” says Barbara Thompson, Black Youth Helpline’s founder, in Hudson’s Bay Foundation’s announcement. 

And MLSE Foundation’s Change the Game, an initiative focused on helping racialized youth across Ontario get involved in sports, will also receive money from HBC. Change The Game provides programs in racialized communities for kids to try out sports like hockey or basketball, as well as help them develop their academic and personal potential. “We recognize that for a lot of youth, the ability to actually go and participate in sport can be quite a challenge,” says Brett Fyfer, campaign director for MLSE Foundation. “There are financial burdens that are placed on youth depending on their background and we wanted to essentially provide equity in what is an inherently inequitable system.” 

In his statement to Future of Good, Nairn said the Charter for Change’s focus on education, employment, and empowerment came out of consultation with experts from Black, Indigenous and communities of colour “to identify where our support could have the most impactful, long-lasting change.” Nairn said HBC worked with an Indigenous advisory firm and social impact agency to conduct consultations, but did not name them. (HBC did not respond to a follow-up question from Future of Good about the names of both organizations). 

HBC has a lot of history to atone for. While it did eventually surrender its control over Rupert’s land in 1870, two centuries after it first signed the Royal Charter, HBC did so by selling the land to the newly founded Canadian government. As was the case when King Charles II signed the Royal Charter in 1670, Indigenous communities in the region claimed by HBC were given no say in the matter. With the Charter for Change, HBC says it is trying to drive substantial change at a time when Canada is reckoning with its colonial and racist past and present. 

“Racial equity is one of the most pressing issues in Canada today, and our goal is to make a meaningful impact in addressing the issue,” Nairn said. 

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