Registered charities in Atlantic Canada and across the country are going to need more support from the government, the private sector and individuals if they’re going to get through the coronavirus pandemic, says a group representing 170,000 Canadian charities.
Imagine Canada is projecting that three months of mandated social distancing and the economic downturn associated with COVID-19 will cause charities to lose $9.5 billion and layoff more than 117,000 employees.
“We’re really afraid the whole sector is going to go dark,” says Nadine Duguay-Lemay, board member of Imagine Canada and president and CEO of Dialogue New Brunswick. “It’s a loss in revenue, it’s service disruptions to essential community services and it’s also massive lay-offs.”
If enforced isolation continues for six months, Imagine Canada projects the charitable sector will lose $15.6-billion in revenue and about 194,000 employees.
But those numbers are just for registered charities. If you include other organizations in the “social good sector” such as non-profits, the numbers are even higher.
“If you take specifically Atlantic Canada, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, for instance, we have more non-profits than we do registered charities,” says Duguay-Lemay. “The numbers are that much greater because we’re not even talking about the impact on the non-profit organizations here. We’re talking about the charities.”
Though charities and non-profits have social missions and provide valuable services in their communities, Duguay-Lemay says it’s important to remember that the sector is a strong economic driver and piece of Canada’s workforce. Canada’s charities and nonprofits account for 8.1 percent of GDP and employ 2.4 million Canadians, of which 70 percent are women.
“The whole sector is a huge contribution. It’s not just about providing those essential services, whether it’s shelter, whether it’s food banks, addressing our vulnerable communities,” says Duguay-Lemay. “It hires and employs people and we have an active contribution to the GDP.”
Charities and non-profits across Atlantic Canad are already starting to layoff staff, even at Duguay-Lemay’s organization, Dialogue New Brunswick. Unlike private sector businesses, most charities don’t have steady cash flow and rely on a mix of donations from individuals and the private sector, and fundraising. Unfortunately, a lot of charity fundraising events take place this time of year.
“Spring is the peak time for all of us for doing fundraising events or canvassing and [it] has literally come to a stop,” says Duguay-Lemay. “I had a major fundraising event planned with Jeremy Dutcher and we had to postpone this, and I don’t even have a date that I can announce yet because we’re all in this situation now where safety is the major concern.”
At this point, Duguay-Lemay says most organizations are crunching their numbers and trying to keep things going as long as they can.
“How long can we last? Everybody is doing the same thing as I am, crunching numbers, looking at cash flow projections and that’s certainly not expanding, it’s doing the opposite,” she says. “It’s going to have a massive impact here in New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada.”
There have been several major examples in Atlantic Canada of the private sector supporting charities in recent weeks. Atlantic Business Interiors teamed up the United Ways across the region to create the Atlantic Compassion Fund. Last week, the Arthur L. Irving Family Foundation also donated $1-million to the Saint John Regional Hospital Foundation for COVID-19 relief.
“I think they are all just great examples of Atlantic Canada rallying together,” says Duguay-Lemay. “We just need more of that.”
Imagine Canada is currently lobbying the federal government for an emergency stabilization fund for the country’s charities that would include cash grants and interest-free loans. Besides from making monetary donations, Duguay-Lemay says there are other ways individuals and businesses show their support. This includes offering in-kind support and still supporting postponed fundraising efforts.
“If individuals or businesses have made a commitment to either sponsor a fundraiser that was postponed or bought a ticket to an event that was happening … not asking for a refund or not withdrawing their support is also an easy and quick way to help,” she says.
Everyone can play a part in supporting their local charities during this time.
“It’s everybody’s business,” says Duguay-Lemay. “Individuals, the private sector, it’s not just the federal government that needs to band together and rally to save the sector.”
A version of this story was published in Huddle, an Acadia Broadcasting content partner.
