COVID-19 Advocacy Hub
When the COVID-19 pandemic began, the nonprofit sector quickly mobilized to advocate on behalf of our organizations, employees, missions, and communities during the dual health and economic crises we’re experiencing. Here, we’ve collected advocacy resources, information, and tools to help the sector work together for the supports we need in order to continue serving communities.
CRITICAL STABILIZATION FUNDING FOR THE NONPROFIT SECTOR
The nonprofit sector is calling on the federal government for immediate grant funding support to replace current and projected lost revenues for 2020. We are asking for a stabilization program for all eligible organizations that:
- provides grants that cover core operating costs, available to any nonprofits or charities, enabling them to respond to rising community needs and costs;
- offsets the collapse of revenue sources such as donations and earned income that are used to support operations outside of wages (such as rent, mortgages, utilities, computers, etc. that are not addressed by the wage subsidy);
- strengthens the sector for the longer term and improve resiliency in the face of COVID-19.
UPDATES AND RESOURCES
The sector has been advocating for relief measures to help charities and nonprofits weather COVID-19, and we're starting to see results. We've created a summary of Federal Government COVID-19 programs that apply to the sector, and will regularly update it as more programs are announced.
Information about the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy calculator, eligibility, application and processing, and provide charities with the resources they need to apply.
Each week, we curate parliamentary updates and advocacy news that affects the sector, including government announcements related to COVID-19 economic relief, data, analysis, reports, and stories that will keep you informed as the crisis unfolds.
ADVOCACY EFFORTS TO DATE
A quick glance at what the sector has achieved by coming together.
Advocacy efforts from diverse types of charities, nonprofit organizations, and social enterprises on behalf of the sector and their communities during COVID-19.
Imagine Canada is proud to have collaborated with others to recommend federal policy measures we feel can accelerate the recovery towards a more inclusive, green and prosperous future.
Together with many organizations across the sector, we have advocated on many issues for charities and nonprofits. In this letter (includes endorsements & quotes), we asked for four key policy recommendations, including a stabilization fund for the sector.
Resetting Normal is a series of reports on gender equality and the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada. The series explores risks to human rights exposed by the pandemic and proposes new ways to build a gender-equal Canada in pandemic recovery efforts. The first in the series focuses on how long-term underfunding has left the women’s sector without adequate resources to carry out its important work. The Report was co-authored by the Canadian Women’s Foundation, the Ontario Nonprofit Network, The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and Kathleen Lahey, with contributions from Imagine Canada.
Stories of how COVID-19 is affecting your organization help demonstrate, to the public and government, the breadth and diversity of the challenges our sector faces. Together, we can make advocacy efforts more powerful to get the help that our sector is in dire need of.
