When Canadians struggle with the uneven impact of economic and social disruption, they turn to the community services sector for support. From child care, mental health, housing, and youth programs, to employment and training, culturally relevant support, and newcomer settlement services, the organizations that we collectively represent across Canada respond to urgent community needs every day.

Today, as Canadians face rising inflation, impacts from an escalating US-Canada trade war, and growing economic uncertainty, our sector is prepared to mobilize once again. We are looking to the newly appointed federal government to partner with us — to recognize the critical role of Canada’s community services sector and invest in its stability and growth.

As the volunteer Board Chairs of federated non-profits, we see first-hand the foundational and impactful work of the community services sector. We are the Board Chairs of some of the largest service delivery organizations in Canada – BGC Canada, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada, Canadian Mental Health Association, National Association of Friendship Centres, United Way Centraide-Canada, YMCA Canada and YWCA Canada. We are all grass-roots organizations, embedded in rural, remote, urban, northern and Indigenous communities, providing services collectively through 315 member organizations that serve 8 million people annually — the equivalent of 1 in 5 people in Canada.

The charitable and non-profit sector is one of Canada’s unsung economic engines. The sector employs 2.4 million people and contributes 8.9% ($192 billion) to Canada’s GDP. The community services subsector employs over 600,000 people, 80% of whom are women. In addition, 47% of staff are newcomers, and 35% are Indigenous or racialized individuals.

Our organizations are driven by impact, guided by strong accountability mechanisms, and equipped with decades of experience assessing and responding to community needs.

Nothing highlighted the critical role of the community services sector more clearly than the significant, abrupt disruption to our social and economic systems caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Our sector pivoted quickly to deliver housing services, food programs, emergency child care, employment programs, and more in response to community needs. Government also quickly realized the capacity and capability within the sector to inform policy and mobilize resources.

Importantly, the need for services has not dropped, and now the pressure is rising again as demand for services across the sector continues to surpass pre-pandemic levels. Recent data shows that 19% of families with children at home and 11% of households without children expect to need charitable services in the next six months. It is anticipated that this figure will only increase considering the US-Canada trade war.

Good governance is a critical success factor. Community service sector organizations are guided by volunteer Boards of Directors – community members who live and work in the places we serve. These volunteers provide strategic expertise, professional experience, and a deep commitment to accountability, transparency, and impact. Across Canada governance boards, mission driven teams, and community partners come together to build trusting partnerships and collaborate with the private sector and all levels of government. We have proven that, with the right partnerships and investments we can move quickly, scale impact, and help communities recover and thrive.

To continue this good work, and be ready for the next crisis, we are calling on the Government of Canada to invest in the community services sector. This is not just the right thing to do — it’s a strategic investment in Canada’s economic and social infrastructure. It can stimulate the economy and ensure vital support is available to those hardest hit. This hand up helps them unlock brighter futures.

A government response that is solely event-driven introduces uncertainty in the operations of community service organizations, often requiring them to prioritize and sunset impactful programs — creating a gap in community response. Short-term unreliable funding dilutes the impact of our organizations and makes it challenging for them to innovate, respond, and build long-term resiliency to ensure everyone realizes their potential. Inflation, trade wars, climate disasters, and other emerging crises will continue to test Canada’s social safety net. Community services are not “nice to haves” – they are vital infrastructure embedded in the fabric of our communities. What we need is a thriving sector that is stable and ready to respond to the next challenge.

As Board leaders in Canada, we see this need first-hand in the charities we support. While community members donating their time or money can make a difference, these are systemic challenges that require policy-level solutions. To address these challenges, we encourage the federal government to remember what is possible when you partner meaningfully with the community service sector. By committing to sustainable, predictable levels of funding, the government can solidify the ability of our organizations to continue to meet rising needs and build a stronger, more resilient Canada for everyone.

• Michelle Banik, National Board Chair, BGC Canada
• Breanne Oliver, National Board Chair, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
• Ross Manning, National Board Chair, Canadian Mental Health Association
• Kelly Benning, President, National Association of Friendship Centres
• Jason Hatcher, National Board Chair, United Way Centraide Canada
• Laurie Skinner, National Board Chair, YMCA Canada
• Denise Christopherson, National Board Chair, YWCA Canada

By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

June 25, 2024

We face a future where BGC’s work is needed more than ever. We have spent the last six years building resiliency and strength—now we must put that strength to work.

We owe it to the children and youth of Canada to do better

BGC Clubs are the answer to many of these problems. We have been the solution for 125 years, and we will be for many more. As a collective, we are committed to advocating a broad agenda for children and youth in this country, building on calls for a national child and youth strategy (championed by Senator Moodie).

Last month, we hosted our biannual National Conference: Making Waves. These conferences are a chance for senior leaders and staff at BGC Clubs to come together to learn and network with others from across the country. It’s also a chance for everyone to be reminded of the greater impact of the BGC movement and discuss how we can further improve.

A new chapter for BGC Clubs

This conference year was big—it was the kick-off to a new chapter for BGC Clubs. We closed the books on the strategic plan that has guided us so well, including through a pandemic, saying farewell to Stronger Together and launching our national strategic plan: Growing Together, Creating Opportunities.

We face a future where what we do is needed more than ever. We have spent the last six years building resiliency and strength – even testing our capacity during a pandemic. Now we must put that strength to work, delivering for more kids and families across Canada.

As of April—less than a year after reaching the 40 million milestone—Canada’s population surpassed 41 million. Last year, we served more than 150,000 young people—but Clubs can’t keep up with the growth in needs. Canada’s population is growing. It is time to be ambitious and to grow.

Children and youth are moving – from large urban areas to smaller cities and towns, and Clubs must be ready to accommodate the influx. We need to be in communities we’re not already serving. But even within our existing communities, we must have ambitions to grow.

We are lobbying governments for funds that can support growth, like the $100 million sport and recreation capital fund in Ontario. Or the federal program for daycare expansion.

We are looking at programs that will helps us innovate and create new ways to build capital, like accessing the $900 million social finance fund.

We are asking the BGC Canada Foundation to launch an ambitious campaign. We are asking corporate partners to help us grow.

BGC Clubs matter to kids. They change the lives of every youth that comes through the door.

Read more:

• Because of a Club 
• The Youth Mental Health Crisis 
• BGC Clubs provide kids with basic needs so they can have brighter futures 

By Owen Charters, President & CEO, BGC Canada

January 16, 2024

In BGC Clubs, we strive to listen to youth voices. We have strategic directions to amplify youth voices, assist them in finding their voice, and to help them to become youth advocates to get their messages out to policymakers and decision-makers.

For many people, the start of a new year is an opportunity to reflect, start fresh, and focus on new habits, goals, or projects. For BGC Canada, the new year is a good time to remind ourselves of the importance of our work—positively impacting young people’s lives and creating safe spaces for them to develop the skills they need to succeed.

In BGC Clubs, we strive to listen to youth voices. We have strategic directions to amplify youth voice, assist them find their voice, and get their messages out to policymakers and decision-makers. Under our vision for Strong Voice, we will “reflect and amplify youth voices and share youth perspectives” and “be a timely voice with both governments and media on emerging issues that affect children and youth.”

BGC Canada’s National Youth Council

BGC Canada’s National Youth Council (NYC) allows a voice of youth in our governance—a way to bridge the gap between Club youth and BGC Canada. We need to hear what’s important, their concerns, and their vision for us to guide our organization and our movement to meet the needs and dreams of our members.

Throughout their term as an NYC member, these young leaders will set professional development goals, offer insight to the BGC Canada national team through committees, connect with the Board of Directors to discuss issues facing youth, and plan and deliver our biennial National Youth Forum—where youth in Clubs come together for workshops, activities, and excursions.

Ultimately, our NYC members serve as role models for future members and youth in Clubs in their provinces and across Canada. Accomplishments from past NYC years include multiple statements (State of the Youth Report, anti-racism, anti-trans legislation, and mental health), visits to Parliament Hill, conferences and workshops nationwide, and more.

Our National Youth Council is one of many and is not the only youth voice on the stage. There is a history of powerful and vital youth voices; in fact, thousands of voices call powerfully for change around the globe, and so many here in Canada.

BGC Canada’s 2024 National Youth Council

In December 2023, 12 youth from across the country were elected to sit on our 2024-2025 National Youth Council. They met at our national office in Toronto to discuss their roles and responsibilities as council members. They set goals, and started planning advocacy projects for young people in Clubs.

How can we really listen to youth voices?

Youth voices are powerful and often are singularly focused. The response from older decision-makers is often one of nodding admission of the issue but then pivoting to get back to business—business, meaning finding compromises that erode and undermine the core principles of what these youth voices bring to the table. Because, as we all know, the older you get, the more you know you have to be pragmatic and balance the demands of ‘real life’ with the ideals of urgent action.

Is this okay? Is this the way it should be? Governing—whether at the UN, or the federal level, or at the national board table, or in the board meetings of member Clubs—is about compromise. But shouldn’t it also be driven by the unwavering focus of these youthful ideals?

If we really, truly want change, don’t we have to be as equally uncompromising?

We borrow this land from our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren; we need to look at least seven generations ahead. If that pearl of Indigenous wisdom is true, then decisions need to be made that include the long view, the perspectives of the young people who see the world and the society they will inherit, and are frankly concerned that short-term interests are prioritized much too often.

We need to overcome the bias for decision-makers to make decisions for those who look, act, and are like themselves, including those of the same generation. We need to lift the voices of the youth we serve, bring them to the table, and have their calls ring out for accountability. There are many, many more. They exist in our Clubs. And where they are outside our Clubs, we need to engage with them.

We need to listen to them. And we need to give them the biggest megaphones we can find. We must broker the forums where their voices can be heard by those in power. We need to create a future for seven generations and beyond.