Canada’s non-profit sector is a vital component of Canadian civil society, providing many important social,
cultural, and environmental amenities independently of both the government, and the for-profit business
sector. Including approximately 161,000 charities, church groups, community associations, and mutual
aid societies, this sector is also an important component of the Canadian economy.1 Not including the
value of volunteer labour, Canada’s core non-profit sector (with the exception of hospitals, universities,
and colleges) contributed $31 billion to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2005, or 2.4 percent of the
nation’s economy. Between 1997 and 2005, economic activity in the core non-profit sector increased faster
than for the economy as a whole. The social services sector contributes 24 percent of core non-profit economic
activity, the highest share of any group in the sector.

The organizations in this sector contribute a wide array of services and amenities that provide support
and aid to the needy, and enhance the quality of life in our communities. In 2003, the most recent year
for which data are available, there were 19,099 Canadian on-profit organizations devoted to delivering
community-based social services; another 2,255 organizations providing social and economic
development and housing supports and services; nd another 8,284 providing education and research.
3 Canada’s 30,679 non-profits with religious andates also contribute significantly to the delivery
of social services in Canada.

The non-profit sector not only provides valued goods and services to those in need, it also binds ourcommunities
together by providing citizens with the opportunity o actively participate in finding solutions to some
of Canada’s most pressing social problems. In 2003, anadian non-profit organizations benefited from 2
billion volunteer hours—the equivalent of 1 million full-time jobs—and $8 billion in individual donations.5
Statistics Canada’s most recent estimate shows that the value of volunteer labour added about $14.1 billion
to the sector’s total contribution to the Canadian economy in 2000; the value of volunteer work in the
area of social services is estimated to be about $2.9 billion. Volunteer time comprises almost half the value of
total labour in the core non-profit sector.6 The voluntary nature of this sector is one of its most defining
characteristics.