Why Philanthropy Is a Core Practice at Northland Wealth
- May 31, 2016
- 5 min read
Updated: Mar 17
At Northland Wealth Management, philanthropy is not a sideline activity. It is a core practice woven into how we operate as a firm and how we advise the families we serve. Since our founding in 2011, Northland and its team members have donated more than $250,000 to Canadian not-for-profit organizations, contributed hundreds of hours of volunteer time, and participated in initiatives that range from youth entrepreneurship programs to children’s mental health advocacy. We believe that giving back is not separate from wealth management. It is an essential part of it.
Why Does Philanthropy Matter for Family Office?
The easy answer is that it is the right thing to do. But there is a more specific reason philanthropy sits at the centre of our practice: the families we work with care deeply about it, and so do we.
For ultra-high-net-worth families, philanthropy serves three distinct functions. First, it is a values statement. How a family deploys resources beyond its own needs reveals what that family stands for. Second, it is a governance tool. Involving children and grandchildren in philanthropic decision-making teaches accountability, stewardship, and the skills needed to manage family wealth responsibly. Third, it is a tax planning lever. Charitable donations, private foundations, and donor-advised funds are all instruments that, when structured properly, can meaningfully reduce a family’s tax burden while directing capital toward causes that matter to them.
We have written extensively about the role of philanthropy in preparing the next generation for wealth. Children who learn to give before they learn what they have tend to develop a healthier relationship with money and a stronger sense of purpose.
How Does Northland Give Back?
Our giving is not concentrated in a single cause. It reflects the interests and communities of our team across our offices in Oakville and Calgary. Over the past decade, we have supported organizations including Family Enterprise Canada, True Patriot Love, Capitalize for Kids, Bikes for Kids (Pace Performance), Camp Ooch & Camp Trillium, Burlington Performing Arts Centre, Reconnect Community Health Services, and Blue Door Shelters. A full list of organizations we support is on our Giving Back page.
Three initiatives illustrate the range of our involvement:
Youth Entrepreneurship: Pythons’ Pit
Arthur Salzer served as a “Python” for the Rotary Club of Halton’s Pythons’ Pit program, a community initiative modelled on the pitch competition format. High school students and entrepreneurial residents of Halton Region presented business ideas to a panel of local business leaders. Finalists received capital, scholarships, in-kind assistance, and mentoring. Northland donated $5,000 directly and helped raise an additional $5,000 from Fibernetics, alongside 20 hours of Arthur’s time as a judge and mentor. The program aired 11 episodes on Cogeco TV in 2015.
Programs like Pythons’ Pit matter because they create a direct bridge between established business leaders and young people who are just starting to think about enterprise. For a firm that works with family enterprises across generations, fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs is not abstract. It is part of the ecosystem we operate in.
Children’s Mental Health: Capitalize for Kids
Northland has been a long-standing supporter of Capitalize for Kids (C4K), a charity focused on improving the accessibility of children’s mental health services in Canada. C4K’s annual Investors Conference brings together leading global fund managers and institutional investors in Toronto. All net proceeds support mental health service providers serving children and youth. Since its founding in 2013, C4K has raised over $21 million and supported more than 75 community mental health organizations, reaching over one million young people and their families.
The C4K model resonates with us because it combines two things we believe in: high-quality investment thinking and directed philanthropic impact. The conference is not a gala. It is a working event where investment professionals exchange ideas and generate real capital for a cause that affects every community in Canada.
Arts and Culture: Burlington Performing Arts Centre
Arthur served on the Board of Directors of the Burlington Performing Arts Centre (BPAC) from 2014 to 2020, contributing both governance time and financial sponsorship of performances. BPAC is a cornerstone cultural institution in the Burlington-Halton community, and Arthur’s six years of board service reflect a commitment that goes beyond writing cheques. Sitting on a not-for-profit board means attending meetings, reviewing budgets, fundraising, and helping set strategic direction. For a wealth manager who advises families on governance, participating in that governance personally is a form of practice what you preach.
Community Support: Camp Ooch, True Patriot Love, and Blue Door
Our team members contribute to causes that reflect their personal commitments. Camp Ooch & Camp Trillium provides camp experiences for children affected by childhood cancer. True Patriot Love supports Canadian military families. Blue Door Shelters provides emergency housing and support services for people experiencing homelessness in York Region. These are not corporate sponsorships chasing brand visibility. They are personal contributions from our staff to organizations making a difference in the communities where we live and work.
Youth Cycling: Bikes for Kids with Pace Performance
Arthur and Northland have been ongoing supporters of Bikes for Kids, a program created by Greg Pace of Pace Performance that provides new bicycles, helmets, and locks to children in Halton Region who might not otherwise receive a gift at Christmas. The program operates through a partnership with the Halton Children’s Aid Society and Canadian Tire. It is a simple, direct initiative: identify children in need, put a new bike under the tree, and give them the freedom and confidence that come with it. For a firm rooted in the Halton community, Bikes for Kids reflects the kind of hands-on, local giving that our team values most.
Sending the Elevator Back Down
Actor Jack Lemmon once said: “No matter how successful you get, always send the elevator back down.” That line has stayed with our team since Northland’s earliest days. It captures something we see in the families we serve: the ones who build lasting, multi-generational wealth are almost always the ones who give generously, teach their children to give, and treat philanthropy not as an obligation but as a privilege.
At Northland, we try to live that principle. Not because it makes business sense (though it does), but because the kind of people we want to be, and the kind of firm we want to run, requires it.
How Does Northland Help Families With Their Own Philanthropy?
Beyond our own giving, we work with client families to integrate philanthropy into their broader wealth strategy. This can include:
Structuring charitable giving for tax efficiency. Donations of publicly traded securities, private foundation structures, donor-advised funds, and charitable remainder trusts all have different tax implications. We coordinate with your accountant and legal counsel to determine the approach that maximizes both the philanthropic impact and the tax benefit.
Involving the next generation. We help families design philanthropic programs that give children and grandchildren real decision-making roles. Whether it is a family giving circle, a junior advisory board for the family foundation, or an annual allocation that the next generation directs independently, these structures build stewardship skills that transfer directly to managing family wealth.
Aligning giving with family governance. Philanthropy is most effective when it is connected to the family’s mission statement and governance framework. We help families articulate their values, define their philanthropic priorities, and build the giving program into the same governance structure that governs their investment and estate plans.
For a broader perspective on how we integrate financial and human capital management, see: Family Office Investing: Managing Financial and Human Capital.
