Federally Incorporated · Toronto, ON
Turning Funding
Into Impact
Grant research, writing, budget planning and tracking for non-profits, Indigenous organizations and community-led missions across Canada.
Unlocking Funding · Building Communities
About
AA Grant Consulting Inc. — the firm and the founder.
A federally incorporated Canadian consulting firm built to make competitive grant funding accessible to non-profits, charities, and Indigenous-serving organizations.
Business Overview
- Legal Name: AA Grant Consulting Inc.
- Structure: Federally incorporated Canadian corporation (Canada Business Corporations Act)
- Jurisdiction: Government of Canada · Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario
- Founded: 2026 — formalizing two years of independent grant-writing practice serving non-profits and Indigenous-serving organizations across Canada
- Ownership: Sole proprietor — wholly owned and operated by the founder & lead consultant, Aliyah Ali
Goals & Mandate
- · Build a sustainable practice serving 10–15 retainer clients within three years.
- · Prioritize Indigenous-led and community-led organizations underserved by traditional consulting firms.
- · Maintain a published, transparent track record of applications, approvals and funding secured.
- · Reinvest a portion of labour revenue into pro-bono support for early-stage grassroots groups.
Meet the Consultant
Aliyah Ali, MA
Founder & Lead Grant Consultant. Aliyah holds graduate training in social justice research and a decade of experience in trauma-informed, community-centred work. She translates that lens into proposals that funders fund — clear narratives, defensible budgets, and reporting frameworks that protect the relationship after the award.
Education
Master of Arts — Gender, Race, Sexuality and Social Justice
University of British Columbia · 2020 – 2023
Thesis: "Encountering violence: The stories of gender nonbinary IBPOC" (UBC Open Access, 2023).
Bachelor of Arts (Honours) — Criminology
Kwantlen Polytechnic University · 2015 – 2020
Honours Thesis: "The Experiences of Black LGBQ Canadians within the Workplace" (KORA, 2020).
Relevant Professional Experience
- Grant Writer — Xwéwenaqw Xwexwilmexw (Whonnock People) Cultural Reclamation Society (Aug 2025 – Present)
- Grant Writer — Unique Get Together Society, Kamloops BC (Jan 2024 – 2025)
- Graduate Teaching Assistant — University of British Columbia (2021 – 2023)
Research Ethics Board (REB) Service
- Community Member — University of Toronto, Social Sciences, Humanities & Education Research Ethics Board (2025 – 2027)
- Community Member — Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Faculty of Arts Research Ethics Board (2022 – 2024)
Community Volunteer Service
- Peer Support Volunteer — The Digital Sexual Violence Support Centre (2024 – 2025)
- Senior Crisis Line & Intake Volunteer — Battered Women's Support Services (2019 – 2021)
Awards & Accomplishments
- January Marie Lapuz Youth Leadership Award — Honourable Mention, Sher Vancouver (2024)
- Michelle Lynn Rose Memorial Prize — UBC Institute for Gender, Race, Sexuality & Social Justice (2021)
- Faculty of Arts Graduate Scholarship — UBC (2020)
- Contributions to Scholarship Award — Kwantlen Polytechnic University (2020)
- Community Engagement Award — Kwantlen Polytechnic University (2020)
Credentials, Grant Certificates & Qualifications
- Tri-Council Policy Statement: Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans (PRE, Government of Canada, 2022)
- Grant Seeking Essentials Certificate — NonprofitReady (2024)
- Writing Grant Reports — NonprofitReady (2024)
- Fundraising Essentials Certificate — NonprofitReady (2024)
- Nonprofit Board Members Essentials Certificate — NonprofitReady (2024)
- Financial Literacy Training Plan — NonprofitReady (2024)
- Turbocharge your Grant Writing Skills — GrantStation (2024)
- Technical Writing Essentials Certificate — Alison (2025)
- Privacy and Information Security Fundamentals (Parts 1 & 2) — UBC (2021)
The Problem
Funding is available.
Access is broken.
Most community organizations are doing extraordinary work with little capacity for the back-office grant operation funders actually reward.
Missed Deadlines
Funding windows close before applications are submitted — leaving thousands of dollars on the table every cycle.
Weak Narratives
Generic proposals fail to capture the mission, the community impact, or the measurable outcomes funders demand.
No Tracking System
Without a central pipeline, organizations lose visibility on what was applied for, awarded, declined, or due for reporting.
References
- Lu, J. (2020). Fear the worst: A meta-analysis of nonprofit financial vulnerability. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 30(4), 627–645.
- Pue, K., Hubay, M., & Phillips, S. (2021). Capacity constraints in Canadian charities. Carleton University Centre for Voluntary Sector Research.
- Imagine Canada (2023). Sector Monitor: Charities and the funding cycle.
Our Solution
A complete grant operation, on retainer.
Six service pillars adapted directly from our service agreement — designed around the way Canadian funders actually evaluate applications.
Grant Research
Prospect identification, eligibility vetting and opportunity pipelines aligned to your mission.
Grant Writing
LOIs, full proposals and narratives that translate community impact into funder language.
Budget Planning
Project budgets, financial templates and matching-funds strategy that pass funder review.
Grant Tracking
Live calendars, submission logs and reporting cadence so nothing is ever missed.
Application Review
Final editorial and compliance sweep before submission — your safety net at the deadline.
Reporting & Stewardship
Post-award reporting frameworks that protect the relationship and unlock renewal funding.
Evidence Base — Service Design
- Carnochan, S., Samples, M., Myers, M., & Austin, M. J. (2014). Performance measurement challenges in nonprofit human service organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(6), 1014–1032.
- Mosley, J. E., & Smith, S. R. (2018). Nonprofit organizations and the changing forms of government engagement. Nonprofit Policy Forum, 9(4).
- Imagine Canada (2023). Sector Monitor: Charities and the funding cycle.
Market Opportunity
A sector built on funding — underserved by expertise.
The demand for skilled grant consultants outpaces supply, particularly in Indigenous-serving and community-led organizations.
Charitable & non-profit organizations in Canada (Statistics Canada, 2023)
In federal transfer payments distributed annually to community organizations
First Nations communities across Canada (Indigenous Services Canada)
Average success rate for unassisted grant applications (Imagine Canada, 2023)
Market Research
Evidence for the opportunity.
A summary of the scholarly and sector literature that informs how we design and price our service.
Capacity gap drives outsourcing
Small and mid-size Canadian charities consistently report grant writing as their most under-resourced function, with fewer than one in three having dedicated fundraising staff.
Pue, Hubay & Phillips (2021); Imagine Canada (2023)
Professional support improves outcomes
Peer-reviewed studies of US and Canadian non-profits show professionally written proposals are awarded at materially higher rates than in-house applications of comparable scope.
Hager et al. (2004); Lu (2020)
Indigenous-serving organizations are underserved
Indigenous community organizations face disproportionate administrative reporting burdens relative to operating budgets, limiting time available to pursue new funding.
Yellowhead Institute (2021); Auditor General of Canada (2022)
Selected References
- Hager, M. A., Pollak, T., Rooney, P., & Wing, K. (2004). Getting What We Pay For: Low Overhead Limits Nonprofit Effectiveness. Urban Institute, Nonprofit Overhead Cost Project.
- Lu, J. (2020). Fear the worst: A meta-analysis of nonprofit financial vulnerability. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 30(4), 627–645.
- Mosley, J. E., & Smith, S. R. (2018). Nonprofit organizations and the changing forms of government engagement. Nonprofit Policy Forum, 9(4).
- Pue, K., Hubay, M., & Phillips, S. (2021). Capacity constraints in Canadian charities. Carleton University Centre for Voluntary Sector Research.
- Carnochan, S., Samples, M., Myers, M., & Austin, M. J. (2014). Performance measurement challenges in nonprofit human service organizations. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 43(6), 1014–1032.
- Yellowhead Institute (2021). Cash Back: A Red Paper on Indigenous economic restitution.
- Office of the Auditor General of Canada (2022). Reports on Indigenous services and program delivery.
- Statistics Canada (2023). Non-profit Institutions and Volunteering Satellite Account.
- Imagine Canada (2023). Sector Monitor: Charities and the funding cycle.
Business Model & Revenue
Transparent fees, aligned incentives.
Choose the retainer cadence that fits your organization. Labour applies only on funds you actually receive — never on declined applications.
Weekly Retainer
Light, ongoing weekly support for a single program or pipeline.
Bi-Weekly Retainer
Most popular cadence — balanced research, writing, and reporting.
Monthly Retainer
Full monthly grant operation across multiple streams.
Labour Fees
Labour is charged only on awarded and received funding. Retainer fees cover the active grant operation regardless of outcome.
3-Year Revenue Projection
Modelled on a growing book of retainer clients plus labour on awarded grants — scaled from the firm's current track record.
Client Track Record
Real applications, measurable wins.
A live portfolio of completed and awarded applications, drawn from active client engagements across Canada.
Grant Applications Completed
Confirmed Approvals to Date
Total Funding Secured
Approval Rate (decisions returned)
Approved Grants
Verified portfolio · 2024 – 2026
Additional applications totalling over $7M+ in requested funding are currently under review with funders including the Government of Canada, Indigenous Youth Roots, the First Peoples' Cultural Council, the McConnell Foundation and the Vancouver Foundation.
Competitive Advantage
Why organizations choose AA.
Federally Incorporated
Operating as a registered Canadian corporation — credibility, contracts and compliance built-in.
Indigenous-Focused Practice
Deep experience with First Nations and Indigenous-led organizations and their unique funder landscape.
Labour-Aligned
You only pay labour on funding you actually receive. We win when you win.
Transparent Pricing
Published tier model, written agreements, no hidden fees — ever.
Editorial-Grade Writing
Narratives crafted to funder voice, not template-recycled prose that screens out at first review.
Systems & Cadence
Live tracking, deadline alerts and a reporting rhythm that protects renewals long after the award.
Business & Financial Readiness
A business built to scale.
Beyond the work itself — the operational foundation that makes AA a stable, accountable partner for multi-year engagements.
Corporate Account
Separate business banking established for AA Grant Consulting Inc. — clean ledgers, audit-ready.
E-Transfer Intake
Client deposits and retainer payments collected via secure Interac e-Transfer with auto-receipting.
HST Registered
Registered for HST upon crossing the $30K threshold — invoices fully tax-compliant.
Labour Fee Reserve
Dedicated reserve account holds labour liability until awarded funds disburse to client.
T2 Corporate Filing
Annual T2 corporate return, financial statements and CRA compliance handled on schedule.
Business Credit Card
Corporate card separates expenses, builds business credit and powers categorized bookkeeping.
Terms & Legal
Business terms, clearly stated.
Summary of the standard terms, conditions and legal rights that apply to engagements with AA Grant Consulting Inc. This summary is for reference only — the executed service contract governs each engagement.
Client Rights
- Receive professional, timely, and confidential grant consulting services as described in the executed service agreement.
- Retain full ownership of all background intellectual property, organizational data, and final deliverables once paid for.
- Request reasonable revisions to drafts and deliverables within the scope and timeline of the active retainer.
- Terminate the engagement with written notice as specified in the service contract.
- Have personal and organizational information handled in accordance with applicable Canadian privacy laws (PIPEDA).
Consultant Rights
- Receive timely payment of retainer fees and any agreed labour on awarded and received funding.
- Receive complete, accurate, and timely information, materials and approvals required to perform the work.
- Decline work that falls outside the agreed scope, violates funder rules, or raises ethical or legal concerns.
- Refer publicly to the engagement (funder, program and award amount) for portfolio purposes, unless confidentiality is requested in writing.
- Suspend services for non-payment after written notice, in accordance with the service contract.
Scope of Services
Services are limited to those set out in the executed service agreement (grant research, writing, budget planning, tracking, application review, reporting and stewardship). Work outside the agreed scope is billed at the published overage rate or quoted separately.
Retainers, Fees & Labour
Retainer fees are payable in advance for the applicable weekly, bi-weekly or monthly period. Labour applies only on funding that is both awarded and received by the client, at the rates published on this site and confirmed in the service contract. No labour is charged on declined or withdrawn applications.
Confidentiality
Each party agrees to keep the other's non-public information confidential. The consultant may reference funder names, program names and award amounts for portfolio purposes unless the client requests confidentiality in writing.
Intellectual Property
Final deliverables prepared specifically for the client become the client's property upon full payment. The consultant retains ownership of pre-existing templates, methodologies and know-how used to produce those deliverables.
Limitation of Liability
Grant outcomes are determined solely by funders. The consultant does not guarantee that any application will be approved. Total liability under any engagement is limited to fees actually paid by the client in the three (3) months preceding the claim.
Termination
Either party may terminate an engagement with the written notice period set out in the service contract. Earned retainer fees and any labour already due on awarded funding remain payable.
Governing Law
Engagements are governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario and the federal laws of Canada applicable therein. Disputes will be resolved in the courts of Ontario unless the parties agree in writing to mediation or arbitration.
Let's Talk Funding
Book a free 30-minute consultation.
Tell us about your mission. We'll map the most promising funding pathways and a realistic plan to pursue them — no obligation.
One complimentary pre-scheduled 30-minute consultation per person.
Business Details
Legal Name
AA Grant Consulting Inc.
Jurisdiction
Federally Incorporated · Canada
Head Office
Toronto, Ontario
Founded
2026