In-depth view: Canada’s largest charities are trying to shape the Community Services Recovery Fund. Here’s what they want.

Author Brennan Doherty
The $400 million Fund was described in the 2021 federal budget as a way to help charities and non-profits “adapt and modernize”, but six national federations want to keep its scope narrow.

Why It Matters

The Community Services Recovery Fund could be of tremendous value to smaller charities and non-profits who need to modernize their operations, but it isn’t clear whether they have been thoroughly consulted on the Fund’s design.

Months after the Community Services Recovery Fund made its debut in the pages of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s leviathan of a 2021 budget, public servants and social impact sector leaders alike are still haggling over the design of the new $400 million Fund — and who should be eligible. 

It isn’t unusual for the federal government to begin drafting the blueprints for initiatives like the Community Services Recovery Fund until after they’ve been announced in a budget. The responsibility falls to the public service to ensure the direction offered by elected officials in the budget is carried out. Staff at Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC) are tasked with designing and launching the Fund, and while the department is still working on it, six national federations — Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada (BGC Canada), YWCA Canada, YMCA Canada, the National Associa

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