Minutes Confirmed on February 9, 2018

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the item for information.

Welcome and Introductions by the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the item for information.

The Chief Executive Officer gave an overview of the report (December 4, 2017) from the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Atmospheric Fund.

The Manager, Legislative Information and Standards, City Clerk's Office gave an update on the remote participation progress.

This report provides an update on Toronto Atmospheric Fund initiatives with regard to Governance and Organizational Matters, Strategic Programs, and Operations.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the item for information.

Laura McNally and Colin Brown from McNally Brown Group, and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Atmospheric Fund gave a presentation on Management System Assessment and Recommendations for Improvement.

Presentation on Management Systems Assessment and Tune-up from Laura McNally and Colin Brown from McNally Brown Group.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the Regional Stakeholder Outreach Report and the Regional Inventory Report, appended to the report (December 5, 2017) from the Vice President, Programs and Partnerships, for information.

2.  Received the summary presentations of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund Management System Assessment and Recommendations for Improvement and the Toronto Atmospheric Fund Regional Cultivation Strategy for information, and directed staff to reflect the findings of these reports in Toronto Atmospheric Fund's 2018 Business Plan.

The Vice President, Programs and Partnerships, and the Grant Manager and Policy Advisor, Toronto Atmospheric Fund gave a presentation on Regional Cultivation Strategy.

Laura McNally and Colin Brown from McNally Brown Group, and the Chief Executive Officer, Toronto Atmospheric Fund gave a presentation on Management System Assessment and Recommendations for Improvement.

During 2017, Toronto Atmospheric Fund has been strengthening internal capacity, assessing regional greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions sources, and seeking community advice to support effective deployment of the proceeds of Provincial endowment funds to projects and initiatives throughout the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). Efforts have been made on three fronts: a third-party examination of Toronto Atmospheric Fund's internal systems was completed and actions are underway to implement the resulting recommendations to ensure TAF can support its expanded role with excellence; independent research has mapped region-wide stakeholder activity and capacity needs to inform Toronto Atmospheric Fund’s Regional Outreach Strategy, with initial focus on 2018-2019; and a region-wide greenhouse emissions inventory has been developed, in collaboration with the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area municipalities and regions, to identify and evaluate emissions trends and reduction opportunities.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the item for information.

The unaudited financial results to the end of the third quarter ending September 30, 2017 are compared to the approved 2017 budget pro-rated for nine (9) months. Overall results are very favourable driven by strong "paper gains" of Toronto Atmospheric Fund's securities portfolio while operating expenses remained below budget.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Approved Toronto Atmospheric Fund's 2018 Consolidated Operating Budget with total expenditures of $4.4 million.

Toronto Atmospheric Fund's draft 2018 Consolidated Operating Budget is attached for Board approval. The proposed budget reflects returns from both the Toronto and Ontario endowments as well as our GTHA-wide programming costs. The draft budget has been submitted for City approval with no change in core staff positions (currently 10) and "net zero" impact on the City's budget.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the item for information.

Minutes of the Investment Committee Meeting held on November 23, 2017 for information.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Adopted the recommendation in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (December 5, 2017) from the Vice President, Impact Investing.

2.  Directed that the confidential information contained in Confidential Attachment 1 to the report (December 5, 2017) from the Vice President, Impact Investing remain confidential in its entirety, as it involves the security of property belonging to the City or one of its agencies or corporations.

The Investment Committee is recommending the rescission of a Direct Investment of $1.6 million that was previously approved by the Board.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Received the item for information.

Minutes of the Grants and Programs Committee Meeting held on November 22, 2017 for information.

The Board of Directors of the Toronto Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Approved the following grant requests:

a.  Up to $112,458 over two years to Environment Hamilton to build a strong collective of diverse organizations to call for greater municipal investment in public transit in the City of Hamilton.

b.  Up to $60,050 over six months to the Ontario Public Health Association to bring together experts from a range of health and environment groups to design a communications strategy focused on the health benefits of strong climate action, and to use the strategy to increase public support for strong climate policy.

c.  Up to $58,000 over six months to MaRS to complete the design of two to three shared mobility pilots in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

d.  Up to $26,000 over six months to the Region of Peel to undertake an off-peak delivery pilot project that involves working with businesses to shift truck traffic from peak to off-peak hours throughout the Region of Peel.

e.  Up to $17,839 over one year to Enviromentum to conduct a feasibility study to explore the question how community hubs can serve as launch points for wider community engagement in developing low carbon communities.

2.  Declined the following grant requests:

a.  Up to $195,000 over two years to Ryerson University to conduct a systematic evaluation of climate change related travel behaviour techniques within their CarbonCount system.

b.  Up to $60,000 over seven months to the Residential and Civil Construction Alliance of Ontario to advance the discussion on mobility pricing for freight in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area.

3.  Approved the following internal project allocation requests:

a.  Up to $200,000 over one year for a new phase of the TowerWise work that aims to accelerate deep energy retrofits (≥40% energy and emission reductions) across the residential building sector.

b.  Up to $51,700 over one year to smoothly transfer the Energy Savings Performance Agreement (ESPA) license to new owners, and to improve the user experience and understanding of the value proposition of the Energy Savings Performance Agreement for the target market.

c.  Up to $90,000 over two years to establish a Social Innovation Skill Building Fund to allow individuals working on Toronto Atmospheric Fund-supported initiatives to access local training opportunities.

At its November 22, 2017 meeting, the Toronto Atmospheric Fund Grants and Programs Committee recommended that the Board approve four grants with a combined value of $161,889 and three internal projects with a value of $341,700.  The Committee supports staff's recommendation that the Board approve a fifth grant with a value of $112,458.

The Board of Directors of the Atmospheric Fund:

1.  Approved the following 2018 Board meeting dates:

Friday, February 9, 2018                 9:30 a.m.   

Monday, April 30, 2018                  9:30 a.m.   

Thursday, July 19, 2018                  9:30 a.m.   

Thursday, November 1, 2018          9:30 a.m.

Four meeting dates are proposed for 2018. The date in April would be Toronto Atmospheric Fund's Annual General Meeting.