The Community Services Recovery Fund is meant to modernize the charitable and non-profit sector — here’s what that means

Author Brennan Doherty
Advocates have called for the loosening of accountability requirements for overseas charity work, better pay and benefits for non-profit workers, and the adoption of social finance.

Why It Matters

Canada’s social impact sector needs more autonomy, control, and funding if it hopes to address major challenges coming out of COVID — from climate change to childcare.

What would a modernized social impact sector look like?

If all the dreams of the charitable and no-profit sector were fulfilled, it would mean workers in the non-profit and charitable sector would be well-paid. A combination of social finance, donations, earned revenue and government grants would pay for its programming and administrative costs. No organization would be unable to purchase the digital tools they need to thrive in a modern economy. 

The Community Services Recovery Fund is perhaps the most ambitious attempt to modernize the sector in recent history. Over the course of just one fiscal year, it promises to invest $400 million at a time when the average charity, according to Imagine Canada data from late 2020, saw a revenue decline of 16 percent. 

“These organizations have not been able to easily adapt and transition to remote work and online progr

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