To Keep Canadians Healthy, our Governments Must Keep our Charitable Sector Healthy

The federal and provincial governments have taken crucial first steps, announcing actions to address the acute health, safety and economic needs of Canadians. These measures are critically important, and we applaud them. But there is another dimension to the challenge that must be addressed immediately to ensure those who need help receive it as quickly and effectively as possible.

As the CEOs of Jewish Federations in Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver, we are part of a continuum of social services provided to individuals and families of all ages, supporting them to live healthy and productive lives. As such, we have a rare perspective from which to observe many charitable and social services, all of which nurture and protect Canada’s most vulnerable: the elderly, people with disabilities, victims of violence, the socially isolated, those facing food insecurity, those struggling with mental illness and those who are homeless. Meeting the needs of these populations during the best of times is an enormous challenge.

And these are certainly not the best of times. All Canadians have become vulnerable, and the demands on our system are increasing daily.

The charitable sector is well-positioned to help vulnerable segments of our society and thus serve as an integral part of the solution. Not-for-profits can often function where government agencies cannot. They can help people governments do not, or cannot, reach. And – equipped largely with courage, dedication and generosity – they can do it well with modest means.

To help navigate this once-in-a-generation challenge, however, the not-for-profit sector needs urgent help.