Leaders from some of Canada’s largest charitable organizations are asking the federal government for a $500 to $700 million relief fund for the community service sector as it faces higher demand for services during the COVID-19 pandemic, along with a loss in overall revenue. 

Owen Charters, the president and CEO of Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada, took part in a roundtable with five other community service organization leaders and Social Development Minister Ahmed Hussen on Jan. 23. They include the YMCA, YWCA, United Way Centraide Canada, the National Association of Friendship Centres, and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada. Charters says many of these organizations have seen revenue drops of between 20 and 50 percent since the COVID-19 pandemic began. 

They’re not alone. Organizations across the country are pointing to a loss in revenue from donations, but also cancelled events and fundraisers. Meanwhile, demand for social service organizations that provide basic necessities like food and shelter are going up. Charters points to his organization’s Dawson club in Montreal that usually supports about 40 families through a food relief program. As of Friday, Charters says, they have 800 families on their list. 

“We’ve got a lot of organizations on the front lines who are seeing huge increases in demand, who are really struggling themselves to keep the doors open,” Charters told Future of Good in an interview. “That’s a situation that’s not tenable.”

Jocelyn Formsma, executive director of the National Association of Friendship Centres, says none of the centres her federation runs had to close down during the pandemic. Thanks to the Indigenous Community Support Fund, the association was able to cover some administrative costs and salaries, unlike other community service organizations like the YMCA. However, she says joining their call for a government-supported relief fund was important. 

“We’ve been able to access a fund that they haven’t been able to access, but it doesn’t diminish anything that they’re experiencing,” Formsma says. “Certainly, we know the communities that they’re serving are also suffering under the setbacks from the pandemic.” 

All six social service organizations are asking for a fund that can help organizations pay for wages, rent, and other expenses. Anita Khanna, national director of public policy and government relations at United Way Centraide Canada, says a similar program already exists — the Veterans Organizations Emergency Support Fund (VOESF). 

Launched in November 2020, the VOESF provides government grants to organizations facing COVID-19 related hardships that serve Canadian Armed Forces veterans and their families, according to a government website. The organizations applying for grants also cannot be capable of using other COVID-19 federal support grants. 

“We thought it was a very smart move,” Khanna says of the VOESF.

The YMCA, in an email statement to Future of Good, says the proposed fund would also include investments to “foster resiliency within the sector.” This could include upgrading the technological capacity of organizations themselves, Khanna says. It could also mean offering capital funding to help community service organizations transform their operating models, which might include merging or acquiring other organizations. 

“We’re asking for the government to help the sector strengthen itself and come out of this stronger,” Charters says. 

The YMCA says the fund isn’t intended on bailing organizations out. Instead, according to their statement, it should offer bridge funding for community service charities and non-profits through the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also isn’t confined to the six major community services organizations who met with Minister Hussen, either. 

“There are also numerous independent service charities, such as racially or culturally specific organizations, that do not belong to federations and are also facing serious financial hardship that threatens service provision, especially for communities in vulnerable circumstances,” says the YMCA statement. “The proposed Community Services COVID-19 Relief Fund also aims to reach these service charities and non-profits outside of federations.” 

A $500 to $700 million fund request during a global pandemic is no small request, especially at a time when hospitality, airline, and other hard-hit industries are also asking for government bailouts. Charters says the community service organizations who met with Minister Hussen calculated it through a sophisticated financial model by the YMCA that took into account their drops in revenue, as well as estimates provided by organizations such as the Red Cross and Community Foundations of Canada of what Canadian communities need right now. 

Despite its size, Charters says Minister Hussen didn’t appear to be alarmed by the size of the request. 

“He didn’t fall off of his chair,” he says. 

The Minister did not make any promises to the coalition, and it isn’t clear if or when Canada’s community service organizations may see the proposed fund. The upcoming federal budget is one possible moment for such a fund to be unveiled, but the Prime Minister has not set an official date for the budget to be released. 

Mikaela Harrison, a spokesperson for Minister Hussan, told Future of Good in an email that the minister is meeting with non-profits and charities from across Canada to figure out what they need from the government. She also pointed to past financial support for the social impact sector writ large, including $350 million in funds to help community organizations during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“The sector is going to be essential to the ‘build back better’ agenda that this government — and governments at all levels — are going to be implementing in order to create jobs, to provide childcare, to ensure people get back on their feet and come out as strong as possible.”

Because of the Indigenous Community Support Fund, approving this new relief fund isn’t as essential to the National Association of Friendship Centres as it is for other community service organizations, Formsma says. But it would offer stability during the COVID-19 pandemic’s great unpredictability. The proposed fund would deliver money over the course of 18 months and allow community service organizations to slowly recover. 

“Our job now is to make plans and execute plans so that at the end of those 18 months, we can be back on our feet and ready to go for whatever comes next,” Formsma says. 

Charters says that if the federal government doesn’t offer the sector any support, more social service agencies will close. In turn, that will mean that Canadians who depend on food banks and other services will no longer have anywhere to turn. The coalition’s case to the government, Charters says, is that the community services sector is a network that can provide very efficient support to Canadians struggling during the pandemic. 

“The sector is going to be essential to the ‘build back better’ agenda that this government — and governments at all levels — are going to be implementing in order to create jobs, to provide childcare, to ensure people get back on their feet and come out as strong as possible,” Khanna says.  

Tell us this made you smarter | Contact us | Report error