Canada’s charities and nonprofits are the backbone of our communities, delivering essential programs and services across the country. Despite employing over 13% of Canada’s full-time workforce and contributing more than $250 billion to the national GDP, timely data on the charitable sector is scarce.

Historically, the sector’s most reliable data sources — like Statistics Canada or CRA filings — were only updated every few years. That meant organizations and policymakers were often relying on outdated information to make time-sensitive decisions.

The Charity Insights Canada Project (CICP) was launched to address this gap. Led by Carleton University, the CICP is a national initiative designed to ensure that policymakers, practitioners, researchers, and the general public have accurate, timely, and comprehensive information about Canadian charities. Since 2022, it has gathered weekly insights from a representative panel of over 1,000 registered charities, offering timely and relevant snapshots of everything from funder relationships to crisis preparedness.

Recent findings have included:

• Staff turnover: Employee turnover has worsened across all organizational sizes and geographies, with high turnover rates (21–100%) rising from 26% to 38% between 2023 and 2024. Charities also reported they were struggling to recruit staff, particularly in roles requiring specialized skills.
• Board recruitment: Charities identified several challenges in recruiting board members, with 56% citing difficulty finding individuals with the necessary skills and expertise. Balancing candidates’ availability (51%) and ensuring diversity and inclusion (42%) were also significant concerns.
• Policy engagement: Charities are most likely to engage in policy discussions related to their organizational health, such as funding. Proactive advocacy — like policy submissions or encouraging stakeholder action — is far less common. While 50% of charities engage in advocacy, only 11% are involved in formal lobbying.
• Adoption of AI: In 2024, 35% of charities felt prepared to use AI, up from 24% in 2023. Meanwhile, 41% agreed that AI will fundamentally change how the sector operates — highlighting both growing interest and the need for support around responsible adoption.

The data is made publicly available through weekly reports and dashboards, complemented by publications and an education hub that helps organizations better understand and use data in more effective ways.

The CICP will host its 3rd Annual CICP Data Summit on October 7, 2025 — held in person in Ottawa and online — to dive into the latest research, trends, and insights shaping the charitable sector in Canada.

Alongside the Muttart Foundation, Lawson Foundation, and Vancouver Foundation, we are proud to be one of the founding funders of the CICP. Our ongoing support reflects a longstanding commitment to strengthening the charitable and nonprofit sector — not only by supporting individual organizations, but by investing in the shared tools and resources that the sector relies on. As the CICP continues to grow, it helps ensure that the organizations driving change on the ground are better seen, better supported, and better understood.