ONN State of the Nonprofit Sector in Ontario: Survey reveals that the sector needs new solutions

Nearly 1,500 nonprofits, charities, and grassroots groups across the province responded to the most recent survey we conducted with l’Assemblée de la Francophonie de l’Ontario (l’AFO).

The data reveals that our sector is continuing to serve communities, while addressing fallout from the pandemic alongside unprecedented demand for services, and a domino effect of record-breaking inflation, deepening financial precarity, and a relentless HR and volunteer crisis.

It’s clear that current solutions are not working and the sector’s health is worsening. There is an urgent need for a coordinated sector response and long-term public policy solutions to not only mitigate the challenges nonprofits are facing now, but also to prepare us for future emergencies.

What’s at risk? Ontarians could lose critical social infrastructure, with scaled-back services, longer wait lists, and program and organizational closures. The nonprofit sector is the “community glue” that helps Ontarians thrive. Now is the time to leverage the sector’s expertise, local infrastructure and community-focused missions.

• Demand for nonprofit services is higher than ever before as communities turn to nonprofits for support as they face more complex and ongoing social issues.
• Inflation is rapidly increasing costs while revenues decrease. While for-profits can increase prices and fees, nonprofits who charge for their services do not have the same flexibility in pricing and cost-cutting as it would mean less accessibility and lower quality of vital community services.
• Nonprofits are experiencing a relentless HR crisis. Organizations have been ringing the alarm on the HR crisis for almost a year during a time when it is more important than ever to recruit and retain the best people to carry out our sector’s community-oriented missions and address the most complex social problems of our time.
• Volunteers are not returning, a considerable concern in a sector where almost half of organizations are volunteer-run.
• Government pandemic supports failed to reach and benefit many nonprofits.
• Francophone nonprofits are also struggling to recruit and retain their workforce and the lack of qualified candidates and competition for staff make growth and stability of organizations difficult.

Access the policy report for recommendations to government and calls to action for our sector.

1. Survey report with policy recommendations: English and French
2. Technical report with data highlights: English and French
3. Regional and subsector highlights only
4. Social media graphics