LONDON, ON - December 16, 2024 - Pillar CEO Maureen Cassidy called on the Ontario government today to implement six recommendations in its 2025 budget aimed at stabilizing nonprofits in London and across Ontario. Appearing virtually before the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs' pre-budget consultations session in Stratford, Cassidy called for a nonprofit home in government, a co-created workforce development strategy, and improved and increased funding, among other measures. Following last year's Make it Livable campaign by United Way Elgin-Middlesex, Pillar is calling for a second time for a doubling of social assistance rates. Pillar typically advocates for broad sector-wide issues, across sub-sectors, governance structures, and geographies, but recognizes that inadequate social assistance rates are among the key drivers of demand for and overwhelm of nonprofit service providers.
Those wishing to appear before the Committee may do so:
- in Leamington on Tuesday, January 14, 2025;
- in St. Catharines on Wednesday, January 15, 2025; or
- in Hamilton on Thursday, January 16, 2025
The deadline to register for these sessions is Monday, January 6, 2025, 5pm EST. Those who do not wish to make an oral presentation but wish to comment on the issue may send a written submission by 7:00 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, February 5, 2025. Register or send a written submission at ola.org/en/apply-committees.
Maureen Cassidy's full remarks to the Committee follow below.
Good morning, my name is Maureen Cassidy and I am CEO of Pillar Nonprofit Network. I’m here with my colleague Paul Seale who is Pillar’s Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy.
Thank you Chair Hardeman and to this committee for the opportunity to speak with you today.
It's especially good to see your familiar face as well as that of fellow southwestern Ontarian, MPP Kernaghan
Pillar is based in London with a membership of hundreds of nonprofits, charities, and grassroots organizations across Southwestern Ontario. These organizations are supported by thousands of workers and volunteers and play a vital role in building resilient, thriving communities for hundreds of thousands of Ontarians.
Pillar Nonprofit Network strengthens these organizations by providing comprehensive capacity-building support, such as training in governance, strategic planning, and financial management; as well as tools to enhance operational efficiency; and resources to help organizations address challenges like workforce shortages. We also engage in inclusive advocacy, and we foster cross-sector collaboration to develop community-wide solutions that address systemic issues.
While we deeply value and champion the unique missions and critical work of all our member organizations, our advocacy focuses on strengthening the entire nonprofit sector. Our aim is to ensure that nonprofits are empowered to fulfill their roles as a vital third pillar of community alongside business and government.
Over the past few years, every time I’ve had the privilege of addressing members of our provincial government, I’ve emphasized one simple, yet vital truth. Nonprofits are not simply important community builders. They are also an essential pillar of Ontario’s social and economic fabric.
Nonprofits contribute 8% of the province’s GDP and employ over 844,000 people. Yet, despite the critical role these organizations play, the sector is in crisis – grappling with skyrocketing demand, rising costs, stagnant funding, and a workforce struggling to stabilise itself.
In collaboration with our regional workforce planning board, in 2024, Pillar released our third annual analysis of nonprofit employer data, revealing persistent upheaval – an endless cycle of hiring and turnover. Many of these departing employees head over to the public and private sectors where they can earn higher pay and better benefits for similar roles.
Again, this may all sound familiar to you. That’s because we’ve been sounding the alarm for years, and it is becoming increasingly urgent that these challenges be addressed. We are already seeing organizations reduce services at an alarming rate and without immediate action, we’ll see more. Who will fill the gap when these critical services are lost?
Today, my recommendations focus on practical measures this government can take to ensure nonprofits remain able to effectively serve all Ontarians. These measures will also help nonprofits collaborate more actively with government, business, and communities across the province to tackle shared challenges and seize collective opportunities.
I will outline these recommendations briefly and I look forward to addressing your questions when the time comes.
For the 2025 Ontario Budget, we have six recommendations:
1. Create a home in government for the not-for-profit sector We recommend creating an Office representing nonprofits, charities, and social innovation, headed by an Associate Minister within the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade and supported by a Deputy or Assistant Deputy Minister.
2. Future-proof nonprofits that build Ontario’s social infrastructure. You can do this by transitioning to stable, long-term, and flexible operational funding that reflects the true cost of delivering services and keeps pace with inflation. We recommend making nonprofit business models the preferred choice for delivering effective, efficient, and accountable programs and services and I refer you to the Ontario Nonprofit Network's brief on the nonprofit advantage for more details.
3. Invest in nonprofits and grassroots groups serving equity-deserving communities. Communities that include Indigenous, Black, and other racialized groups, as well as those serving people with disabilities, women, 2SLGBTQIA+ individuals, youth, newcomers, and low-income households.
4. Support the sector to build a resilient nonprofit workforce. Through a mechanism like the Skills Development Fund, you can develop a labour force strategy and workforce development plan. The strategy must address the labour shortage, promote careers in nonprofits, and create opportunities for workers to attain in-demand skills.
5. Modernize volunteerism. Work with members of the Ontario Volunteer Centre Network to create a provincial volunteer recovery strategy to address the negative impacts on volunteerism brought on by the pandemic and also commit to removing fees for vulnerable sector police record checks.
6. Finally, we recommend you Invest immediately in reducing demand for nonprofit services by doubling social assistance rates and indexing them to inflation.
As I noted earlier, Pillar focuses on nonprofit issues that cut across causes, geographies, and communities, but there’s no question that insufficient income is a principal driver of unsustainable demand on our sector. In this way, OW and ODSP rates have become an issue for the entire sector.
Addressing these insufficiencies will stabilize low-income Ontarians' lives and enable nonprofits serving vulnerable populations to focus on complex emergencies.
Pillar and southwestern Ontario’s nonprofit sector stands ready to partner with you to build a stronger, more resilient Ontario where everyone can thrive. Thank you all for your time, and I welcome any questions the committee may have.