April 8, 2022 – Yesterday, Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland unveiled the Liberal Government’s 2022 federal budget: A Plan to Grow Our Economy and Make Life More Affordable. BGC Canada is pleased to see investments in support for mental health, affordable dental care, and the creation of an Early Learning and Child Care infrastructure fund to support the building of new child care facilities—but we know more needs to be done to support the nonprofit sector and our contribution to Canada’s social safety net.

In our pre-budget submission, BGC Canada called for investments to support the recovery of our Clubs and other community service organizations as they continue to be impacted by COVID-19. These priorities included a recognition of the importance of after-school programming, support for BGC Clubs through expanding the Community Services Recovery Fund, and increased investments for youth mental health. Employee burnout, staffing shortages, and a decline in revenues continue to impact almost half of charities in Canada.

“The 2022 federal budget has made steps in the right direction, but more needs to be done to support care workers,” says Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada. “Young people and their families continue to face impacts from COVID-19 and there is a long road ahead. While we have seen support for early learning and child care, additional financial investments for workers and community service charities is needed as we continue to provide essential supports to communities across the country.”

BGC Canada applauds many of the investments found in Budget 2022 including:

• Mental Health Supports: $1.2 billion to provinces and territories to increase health care capacity and support people experiencing mental health challenges.
• Early Learning and Child Care: $625 million over four years, beginning in 2023-24, for an Early Learning and Child Care Infrastructure Fund to assist in the building of new facilities focused on nonprofit and public early learning and child care providers.
• Affordable Dental Care: $5.3 billion to provide dental care for low-income families, with those under 12 guaranteed care by the end of 2022.
• Addressing Racism: $85 million over four years to finalize a new Anti-Racism Strategy and National Action Plan on Combatting Hate.
• Support for 2S & LGBTQIA+ Priorities: $100 million over five years to support the implementation of a National LGBTQ2 Action Plan.
• Tackling Substance Use: $100 million over three years, to support harm reduction, treatment, and prevention at the community level.

About BGC Canada
For 120+ years, BGC Canada has been creating opportunities for millions of Canadian kids and teens. As Canada’s largest child and youth serving charitable organization, our Clubs open their doors to young people and their families at 775 locations nationwide. During out-of-school hours in small and large cities, and rural and Indigenous communities, our trained staff and volunteers provide programs and services that help young people realize positive outcomes in self-expression, academics, healthy living, physical activity, job readiness, mental health, leadership, and more. Opportunity changes everything.

The latest message from Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada (June 26). Full transcript below.

This may not be as exciting a topic as some of the other weeks, but I think it’s an important one. I want to talk balance sheets and business.

Carolyn Tuckwell, CEO of Boys & Girls Clubs of South Coast BC, noted this week that charities and nonprofits are being treated the same as for profits in many of the government conversations and support programs that have been central in the last few months, and this is a refreshing change. I’ve joked that charities often feel like they are at the ‘kids table’ at the dinner party, so it’s nice to be at the adult table. Usually, we may be in the room, but we don’t always get to play with the adults—that’s reserved for the big corporations.

Well, if we are to be treated the same as business, then we need to act like it. That means we need to pay attention to one vital tool of organizational health—the balance sheet. The balance sheet is your bank account. What cash do you have available? What do you owe? What do you own? And most importantly—in a crisis, how much do you have available quickly to pay bills and keep you afloat? It’s where the emergency savings are stashed. A good balance sheet is a sign of fiscal health. We need to pay attention to the fiscal health of all charities—we will be tested again beyond this initial pandemic lockdown. And we need to be prepared.

Unfortunately, too many donors frown on a strong balance sheet. Why isn’t that cash being put to immediate use? Why not spend every last dollar on the immediate needs of today? Unrestricted giving is low on the priority list, if even a consideration. Yet unrestricted dollars support the most essential work—making sure the organization is strong enough to do the work that’s demanded of it. And part of that is a healthy balance sheet to ensure that the organization can survive fiscal downturns like the recession we’re in today—our Clubs need to be able to survive to provide services.

Yet there is one way we are not like businesses—supply and demand come from different places. Supply of cash and resources, and demand for our services, that is. More people, more families will be demanding our services—and already are. Clubs have already said there are waiting lists that they can’t fulfil. But unlike in a business, the supply—the cash to do the work—comes from other sources: donors, funders, governments. This can lead to a fundamental mis-match—high demand, but weakening supply.

We need funders to step up, to see the demand, and to understand that charities—like our Clubs—are part of the vital social safety net that is needed to catch those who are struggling, and prop up those who need a push. Otherwise, they will not benefit from an economic recovery.

From Ontario Nonprofit Network blog (June 2020)

Nonprofits are collaborating and innovating to provide stability, a sense of community while people are living apart, and access to supports while families face some of the greatest economic, health, and social challenges in a century.

As Canada’s largest agency serving children and youth, Boys and Girls Clubs of Canada works to provide safe and supportive places where children and youth can experience new opportunities, overcome barriers, and develop skills for life.

During a global pandemic, their Clubs are needed more than ever. For many children and youth, the Club is the safest place they have access to. Savannah Lapensee, a youth who was positively impacted by her local Club in Cornwall, ON, remembers “the children who benefitted the most from the after school program … their excitement as well as [her own] when they walked through the doors ready for programming.” She is reminded of the teens who found a place to belong at a Club with others, and who found a new family to be with at their home away from home. It’s easy to forget how much of an essential service Clubs offer. Many children and teens can’t wait to go to the Club to see familiar faces and thrive in ways they may not be able to during this time. And, even though she is not a member anymore, “she can’t wait either.”

Across Canada, youth like Savannah are sharing their stories to highlight the importance of Boys & Girls Clubs in all times, but especially during a pandemic.

Shealah Hart, a youth participant from Botwood, Newfoundland & Labrador, finds that one of the greatest benefits of the Boys and Girls Club in her neighbourhood is that it provides the opportunity to open doors for children and youth. “At the Club, every child is a child of privilege. Each member is treated equally and has the same access to wonderful opportunities to learn, grow, and develop.”

”But COVID-19 has left both parents and post-secondary students without employment, children and youth without school, teachers, and classmates and of course, without their Club staff, programming, and Club friends. In particular, high school seniors are missing a special milestone—graduation. Children and youth are missing their routines. They are missing their “normal.” They are missing opportunities to flourish. Some may even be missing having full bellies or a safe place to be themselves.”

Staff at her local Club are working diligently and creatively to ensure that these people do not go without. As Shealah says, “For the Club, when there is a will, there is a way.” Club staff continue to adapt, engage members, and provide services both through mail and online. In addition to programming and services for members, staff are also dedicated to distributing food hampers and hot meals to shut-ins and seniors. It is clear for Shealah and her community that the Boys and Girls Club provides much-needed security, community, and opportunity to develop skills for the future.

Like the Club in Botwood, Boys & Girls Clubs across Canada continue to find new ways to support youth and Ontarians during the pandemic, including everything from providing sanitary care packages to virtual cooking programs to phone video counselling. To continue supporting youth and communities when they need it most, Boys and Girls Clubs across Canada need a stabilization fund.

Laurette Jack-Ogbonna, the Children’s Program Coordinator for the Eastview (Toronto) Boys and Girls Club, shares how a stabilization fund for the sector would enable the Club to continue providing impactful programs. “It would enable us to re-hire staff members that have been laid off. This rehiring would mean developing more quality virtual programming, with friendly and familiar staff mentors. The local children miss and require this interaction,” says Laurette. “Most importantly, it would allow [the Club] to plan ahead with greater certainty. Given the current climate, a number of our regular and new funding sources will no longer be able to grant [the Club] full funding. These sources, foundations and corporations, are experiencing dramatic decreases in their own income.” This, in addition to the nonprofit sector’s challenge to run traditional fundraising events and the cost of implementing new protocols to ensure safety, have substantial financial implications.  

A stabilization fund is necessary to overcome challenges, recover from COVID-19, and maintain vital programming for youth and communities across Ontario. 

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