The David Suzuki Foundation was born out of public concern. So many caring people responded to David Suzuki’s 1989 radio series It’s a Matter of Survival that he and spouse Tara Cullis decided to follow the talk with action.

Meeting with a group of activists and thinkers on Pender Island, they identified the need for a solutions-based organization to tackle environmental crises. The Foundation was incorporated on September 14, 1990.

It has grown from a small group taking on national and international issues to a larger, bilingual one focusing on Canada’s place and role in a world facing multiple crises, from biodiversity loss to climate disruption. With offices in Vancouver, Montreal and Toronto, the Foundation focuses on evidence-based solutions aimed at climate resilience, ocean health, biodiversity protection, recognition of Indigenous rights and title, and public empowerment.

At the Foundation, we believe respect for nature and interdependence with it must be our species’ top priority.

We began DSF under the Worldwatch Institute’s urgent call for the 1990s to be the turnaround decade. The early years were tough, as we managed projects on no budget and no salaries. But the public wanted us to succeed and encouraged us at every step, driving us through three strong, focused and effective decades, preparing us for the big one we now face.

Tara Cullis and David Suzuki, co-founders