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Our new report with partner Assemblée de la francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO) has the latest data from our province-wide survey on the state of the nonprofit sector three months in the pandemic. 

Nearly 1,200 organizations from across the province responded to the survey. Thank you to all respondents, as well as our partners for sharing the survey!

The survey follows the ONN’s COVID-19 Flash Survey and AFO’s Analyse du sondage sur la relance économique franco-ontarienne which provided a foundational perspective of the impact of COVID-19 on nonprofits at the start of the pandemic.

Read the report

Highlights:

COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on nonprofits and charities

  • $90 million in revenue losses among the 1,100 organizations that completed the survey
  • 1 in 5 organizations expecting to close within six months
  • Findings are consistent across the sector, from health and social services, arts and culture, sports and recreation, faith groups, environmental groups- all of these organizations are vital to Ontario communities
  • 23 per cent of nonprofits expect their situation to get worse, including 40 per cent of sports, recreation and other social clubs and 31 per cent of arts, culture and heritage organizations

Federal and provincial government support are not reaching organizations

Government supports have failed to recognize the size, scope, and economic impact of the nonprofit sector. They have fallen far short of what is needed to help nonprofits.

  • Three-quarters of respondents did not benefit from any provincial funding measures
  • Many social service and health organizations that delivered services through the worst days of the crisis were still waiting for pandemic pay at the end of June
  • Two-thirds of Ontario nonprofits did not benefit from provincial tax relief measures such as the Employer Health Tax temporary reduction
  • Two-thirds did not benefit from any federal relief measures, though some measures were still being rolled out at the time of the survey, including the Emergency Community Support Fund

The good news: Nonprofits are collaborating in new ways to adapt and serve

Nonprofits across the sector remain optimistic, while continuing to demonstrate incredible resilience. Grassroots organizations and what we call “mutual aid networks”-  local groups exchanging resources and services for free to help each other –  have stepped up to play a critical role, especially given the disruption of traditional services and direct service delivery.

Five solutions to support nonprofits and Ontario communities

We want Ontarians to once again enjoy arts performances, summer camps, and minor softball and soccer clubs, to be able to access mental health services, women’s shelters, community health centres, and food banks, connect to support from Friendship Centres and nonprofit housing, and care for animals and the environment. We want Ontario’s five million volunteers to be able to connect to their communities and feel part of them by doing good work.

  1. The Ontario government must create a nonprofit sector stabilization fund to backstop massive revenue losses, prevent permanent job losses and closures, support the sector to “re-tool” to post-pandemic conditions, prepare for a second wave, and ramp up quickly in response to renewed demand for services.
  2. The Ontario government should accelerate the deployment of pandemic pay, and other supports, which took too long to reach front-line organizations.
  3. The Government of Canada should ensure the federal emergency wage subsidy program is more flexible and responsive to nonprofit business models.
  4. Both levels of government must invest in rural broadband to help both nonprofits and small businesses thrive in small communities across Ontario.
  5. Both levels of government must create a nonprofit sector advisory table to inform planning for the economic recovery, with representation from all nonprofit sectors

With these crucial supports, nonprofits will be able to channel their on-the-ground expertise to support communities as they rebuild now, and create thriving places to live and work again in Ontario. The time is now. We are counting on our governments to act.

Take action

  1. Share the report with your networks.
  2. Share your experiences with government. Share your organization’s story with your MPP of how COVID-19 has impacted on your organization and your communities. Which supports could help? This is a strategic time to reach out, as MPP are in their home ridings this summer ready to meet constituents.
  3. Advocate for a sector-wide stabilization fund. As the data has shown, current government funding and supports are not reaching all organizations, and recent funding announcements funds are not for new money and will not fill these gaps.
  4. Spread the word. Email your local community newspaper, call your local talk radio show and push out your points on social media (being sure to tag your local MPP).
  5. Dig into the data. We’ve shared the data sets on our report webpage for you to use for your own data crunching and advocacy work.
Read the report
Explore our survey data sets