Policy priority: Help for nonprofits through COVID-19 and the recovery

Nonprofits have played a crucial role during the COVID-19 crisis, but many have also faced financial losses and increased demand. They need support so they can continue to provide key programs and services as we recover from COVID.

• As of Spring 2021, more than 4 in 10 charities were still facing declines in revenue and among these charities, the average revenue decline is 44%.
• Sources of unrestricted revenues (i.e. those that can be spent on core operating costs) such as donations and earned income have been destabilized by the pandemic. 
• The diversity of the nonprofit sector is under threat. Larger organizations are more likely to be innovating and experimenting with new ways of carrying out their missions, while smaller organizations are more likely to temporarily cease operations.

• Implement the Community Service Recovery Fund (CSRF), announced in Budget 2021. Ensure that all public benefit nonprofits and registered charities are eligible to receive funding through the CSRF on the basis of need. Provide organizations funded through the CRSF with an adequate amount of time to spend the funding in a way that allows them to truly adapt and build capacity. 
• When creating additional COVID-19-related programs, whether focused on emergency support or the recovery, charities and nonprofits must be included. 
• Additionally, the unique characteristics of the sector must be taken into account when designing these programs. We recommend that the government:
  • Ensure programs are designed to accommodate the unique revenue models of the nonprofit and charitable sector. 
  • Ensure programs targeting workers include support for independent contractors.
  • When offering relief to for-profit companies through tax credits, provide alternative relief measures to charities and nonprofits.
  • Ensure charities and nonprofits are included when designing programs for business enterprises. 

• The creation of the $350 million Emergency Community Services Fund
• The creation of the $400 million Community Services Recovery Fund
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy. $3 billion had flown to registered charities through this program as of March 31, 2021. The amount of support that went to other nonprofits during that period is unknown.
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Temporary Wage Subsidy for Employers
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Canada Emergency Rent Subsidy and the lockdown support. $39 million had flown to registered charities through this program as of March 31, 2021. The amount of support that went to other nonprofits during that period is unknown.
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Canada Emergency Commercial Rent Subsidy
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Canada Emergency Business Account
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Sectoral Workforce Solutions Program
• The $31 million Canada Healthy Communities Initiative, which was available to charities, nonprofits, municipal governments and Indigenous communities
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Canada Recovery Hiring Benefit
• Targeted supports for food banks; seniors organizations; women’s shelters and sexual assault centres; mental health organizations; cultural, heritage and sport organizations; and more.
• Increased focus on the nonprofit sector in Parliament; While prior to the pandemic, mentions of our sector in Parliament were few and far between, from March to December of 2020 there were more than 65 and there had already been more than 75 in the first 5 months of 2021.
• The Minister of Families, Children and Social Development was given a mandate to “continue to work across government to ensure that charities and nonprofits have the tools that they need to modernize as they emerge from the pandemic to support the Government’s overall agenda in a manner that responds to the needs of Canadians in every region” in January 2021.
• The House of Commons passed a motion calling on the Government to include measures to support the charitable sector in the 2021 federal budget with support from all four opposition parties in March 2021.
• Budget 2021 recognized the nonprofit sector as a key partner in recovery and included numerous measures targeting nonprofits and charities. 
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Tourism and Hospitality Recovery Program (THRP) and the Local Lockdown Program.
• The inclusion of the nonprofit sector in the Hardest-Hit Business Recovery Program (HHBRP)