Charities Need Government Support as Demands Rise for their Services
The provinces should move quickly to enact and implement a “matching fund” model for Canada’s charities this year.
Canadian governments are moving swiftly to provide financial support to businesses and households affected by the coronavirus-induced downturn. These steps are critical and should be lauded. But policy-makers must not neglect Canada’s charities.
Charities have been rightly described as “our society’s shock absorbers when crisis hits.” And this may be even more the case in the current circumstances given the unhealthy mix of economic disruption and social isolation. Canadians will have significant demands for charitable services in the coming weeks and months. Yet, if the 2008-09 experience is emblematic, charities may face a financial crunch at the precise moment when we need them most. Sustaining and strengthening charities’ capacity must therefore be an immediate priority for governments at all levels in Canada.
We recently published a briefing memo for policy-makers, philanthropic foundations and ordinary Canadians on how we can collectively support Canada’s roughly 86,000 registered charities. The memo’s recommendations represent a tripartite call to action in the name of social solidarity.
We have seen some early steps from provincial governments in Ontario and Alberta as well as ordinary Canadians. These are positive signs. But more ambitious actions will be necessary to stabilize Canada’s charitable sector and ensure that it has the capacity to respond to the inevitable spike in demand for their services.
In this vein, we propose that Canadian governments establish “matching funds” to match private donations to Canadian-based charities in the immediate term to protect their operations and support their community-level activities considering the COVID-19 crisis.
Read the full article on the IRPP website