The current economic crisis will be the death knell for between 10,000 and 12,000 non-profit organizations in Canada, according to experts in the voluntary sector.
Josh Greenberg, assistant professor of communication studies at Carleton University and academic director of the Centre for Voluntary Sector Research and Development (CVSRD), says many people will be left without support if local charities flop.
“You’re going to see more people on the streets and it’s going to intensify the inequality gaps that already exist,” he says. “If they’re homeless or drug addicted, the pressures will increase on the organizations that do survive, and they won’t be able to keep up with the growing demand.”
This staggering figure comes as a result of the partnership between the CVSRD and the Wellesley Institute, a Toronto-based think -tank, who sponsored a conference for charities, governments and academia at Carleton University. The recent event was created to discuss what these numbers mean for Canadians living on the margins of society.
Susan Phillips, director of Carleton University’s School of Public Policy and Administration, says many organizations will go under because they have no reserves and budgets are already tight.
Greenberg says food banks are reporting a massive increase in need, and shelters are overflowing.
“They’re seeing people they’ve never seen before,” he says. “The demand is outstripping the supply.”
Even when times were better, there was not sufficient capacity to be able to withstand an economic downturn, says Marion Wright, the executive director of the Canadian Mental Health Association, Ottawa Branch, and vice-chair of the Alliance to End Homelessness.
“When money becomes more scant, hydro bills go up, more people lose their jobs and all kinds of services increase; what you end up seeing is more people who go from being at risk of homelessness, to homeless,” says Wright.
Back in November Wright made a presentation to Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan requesting that the 2009 budget provide adequate funding for poverty reduction. The proposal gave six reasons why funding for affordable housing should be made a priority, and asked for $11.7 million to generate building projects.
Wright isn’t the only one taking a critical look at government funding. Phillips says the federal government missed out on a big opportunity.
“Looking at the budget, the economic stimulus package has no mention of the non-profit sector as a vehicle through which you could stimulate employment,” she says. “Even though it is eight per cent of the workforce, bigger than retail, bigger than construction, it wasn’t thought of.”
Phillips says the truth is this sector is invisible to policy makers.
“Working on a shoestring isn’t new to them,” says Phillips. “But the combination of the loss in government funding, the greater demand, and the foundation sector being so hard hit by their investments; it’s a big whammy.”