Convened by Imagine Canada with support from the McConnell Foundation, the delegation of representatives from 12 charitable and non-profit groups, including non-qualified donees, engaged in a series of 25 meetings with parliamentarians and senior officials between May 10-12, including Steven Guilbeault, Mona Fortier, Niki Ashton, Lori Idlout, Gabriel Ste. Marie and Ed Fast. The delegation was also recognized in the Senate by Senator Ratna Omidvar. 

While the nonprofit sector contributes 8.3% to Canada’s GDP, the sector has the country’s largest gap in the adoption and use of digital technologies. To better understand the needs of nonprofits and charities, Imagine Canada conducted stakeholder interviews on four main areas: technology, funding, staffing and capacity, and advocacy.

Charities and nonprofits have no federal entity responsible for the sector’s wellbeing or addressing systemic issues that impact it, despite being one of the three pillars of the Canadian economy.

Government partners with community organizations to deliver crucial programs, but the way it funds these initiatives is burdensome, inefficient, and fails to cover the full cost of service delivery.

Nonprofits are playing a crucial role during the COVID-19 crisis, but many are facing financial losses and increased demand. They need support so they can continue to provide key programs and services.

Many charities and nonprofits engage in business activities in support of their missions, also known as social enterprise activity. However, they face barriers in pursuing these activities that for-profits do not.

Rules aimed at protecting public and charitable funds make it difficult for charities to partner with non-charities, resulting in equity-seeking communities having less access to these funds. 

A lack of economic, organizational and employment data on the nonprofit sector means that public policy, funding and organizational decision making is done without basic information.

Registered charities are required to spend a certain percentage of their assets on charitable programs or on grants to other charities annually. This quota mainly impacts foundations.

A more digitally enabled nonprofit and charitable sector will result in greater efficiency, communication and collaboration. To adequately serve the needs of society, the digital capacity of the sector must be enhanced.