Should Non-Profits and Charities Get a Seat at the Table?
In Week 5 of the course, our class discussed and learned from alumni the important role that the civil society, especially non-profits, play in shaping urban policy and the lives of people living in urban centers. Yes, municipal governments fund and delivery the services we expect on a daily basis, and both the provincial and federal governments have a role in shaping urban policy through funding and regulations, but we often discount the vital role non-profits play in delivering social services for people in our community who are in the greatest need.
Munk alumni who came to our class during week 5 had a variety of experiences in the non-profit sector, including Woodgreen Community Services, United Way Greater Toronto, and the Ontario Federation of Indigenous Friendship Centres. After class, I was interested to take a deeper dive into the services these organizations provide and how they get their funding. I was kind of questioning our social assistance system as my I thought that many of our vital services were delivered through the non-profit sector, without funding from the government. Thankfully (I think), I was wrong in that assumption after looking at Woodgreen Community Services.
Woodgreen provides a range of services to people in Toronto, including child care, services for individuals with disabilities, employment, financial empowerment, health and wellness, homeward bound (i.e., supports homeless or under-housed single mothers to earn credentials to enter the workforce), housing and homelessness, newcomers, seniors, and youth services.
Looking at Woodgreen’s financial statement revealed that I was wrong in my assumption that the federal and provincial governments do not fund non-profits to provide social services. As demonstrated by their 2020–2021 fiscal year financials, in 2021, Woodgreen received nearly $9 million from the Federal Government, and $26 million from the Province.
However, while many individuals across the province and country depend on non-profits for services and non-profits receive large amounts of funding from governments (as made evident by Woodgreen), there is no place for non-profits or other charities in the federal government.
A report from Imagine Canada exemplifies this as they note that “charities and nonprofits have no federal entity responsible for the sector’s wellbeing or addressing systemic issues that impact it” despite having a large role in the economy and GDP contributions. It is interesting to see that even though this sector receives a lot of funding from the government and contributes to the economy, that they don’t have a clear seat at the table.
Given their contributions to Canadian society, should non-profits have a federal entity that represents the sector, to ensure the sector has capacity to continue to provide social services many depend on?
