Mowat NFP: Final Year Reports

In 2012, Mowat established a research hub to provide evidence-based research and analysis on systemic issues facing the non-profit sector in Canada. The substantive focus of Mowat NFP’s research agenda has been assessing the policy drivers and enabling conditions that can strengthen, accelerate and scale the NFP sector’s contributions to build thriving communities and improve well-being.

In 2019, Mowat NFP joined the Public Policy Forum. In its final year of operation (2019-2020), Mowat NFP focused its research on implementing the recommendations of the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector and exploring the future of finance and funding in the sector.

The research findings have been organized into four reports:

1. Navigating The Roadmap for Change: Advancing the Senate Committee’s Recommendations for a Stronger Charitable Sector: Alongside federal government departments, sector stakeholders have an important role in advancing the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector (CSSB) recommendations and providing a clear case to move forward. The key question now is, “Where do we go from here?”
2. Constrained or Enabled? The Changing Role of Canada’s Civil Society in Promoting Civic Discourse: Civic discourse and participation is one of the most important indicators of a healthy, vibrant democratic society. In an increasingly polarized political environment, civil society organizations have a critical role in fostering social cohesion, facilitating meaningful political dialogue and mediating citizens’ participation in the democratic process.
3. Weathering The Storm: Building Financial Health and Resilience in Canada’s Nonprofit and Charitable Sector: Across Canada, the nonprofit and charitable sector is facing significant funding pressures in the form of changes in the amount of funding available, where the sector must source the funding and how the funding is being administered. Together, these changes will have a long-term impact on nonprofits and charities and the people they serve.
4. Beyond Service Delivery: Commissioning for Outcomes and the Impacts on Non-Profit and Charitable Organizations in Canada: While some jurisdictions have experienced some success with commissioning models, there is a lack of clear evidence on the long-term impact of commissioning. The evidence that is available often fails to capture the perspective of non-profit and charitable service providers, which is essential to ensure that there is community input and ownership into the planning, design and implementation of programs and services.

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