The Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) and the Assemblée de la Francophonie de l’Ontario (AFO) partnered on a bilingual survey to understand of the impact of the pandemic on Ontario’s 58,000 nonprofits and charities, and the effectiveness of the public policy and supports provided by the provincial and federal governments. It was also conducted to gather evidence of the need for future support or policy decisions on the road to recovery to emphasize, respect and recognize the role of nonprofits in their communities. Three months into the COVID-19 crisis, Ontario’s nonprofits and charities face new challenges and more uncertainty. The impacts on the sector, its workers, volunteers and the communities they serve are becoming more pronounced as the health crisis recedes (for now) and the economic crisis deepens. This strain is in addition to COVID-related mental health needs, increased intimate partner violence, and the growing realization that marginalized communities- notably low-income households and racialized communities- have suffered disproportionate effects.

Highlights include:

Concern for financial sustainability and operational health

  • 40 percent of nonprofits continue to experience an increase in demand for services 
  • Estimated financial losses of about $90 million for nonprofits ($121,229 per nonprofit)
  • Over 3 in 10 nonprofits have had to lay off staff, estimated at 3,000 job losses, for an average of 2.65 jobs per organization
  • 1 in 5 respondents say they could close within the next 6 months 

Lack of access to government supports

  • Only 35 per cent of responding organizations benefited from the federal wage subsidy, while over a quarter (28 per cent) of nonprofits were ineligible
  • Three-quarters (75 per cent) of nonprofits did not benefit from any provincial funding measures announced to support the nonprofit sector during the COVID crisis
  • Two-thirds (67 per cent) of nonprofits did not benefit from any of the tax measures announced in the Ontario government’s COVID-19 Action Plan
  • Francophone organizations were significantly more likely to receive federal funding than anglophone organizations, compared to anglophone organizations who were slightly more likely to get provincial funding than Francophone organizations

Collaborating, adapting, and demonstrating resilience

  • Over 200 respondents have collaborated locally with new mutual aid and/or grassroot groups to respond to the needs of their communities on the ground 
  • Highest instances of collaboration with mutual aid and grassroots groups are reported by Grant making, Fundraising, and Voluntarism promotion, Law, Advocacy, and Politics, and Social Services subsectors

To read the full report, as well as ONN’s recommendations, click here.