Provincial Advocacy

We advocate at the provincial level to implement effective policy for Ontario’s nonprofit sector.

Ontario Budget 2024

Government must invest now to unleash the sector’s full potential to serve Ontarians

The province is seeking ideas from workers, families, businesses, and communities on what they want to see in the 2024 budget. 

Budget consultations are a critical time for nonprofits – big, small, rural, urban, and from across subsectors – to speak up about community, organizational, and sector priorities. It’s a time to highlight that we are key players in building the province’s well-being. 

Nonprofit advocacy matters because we:

  • Foster an inclusive democracy. As the bridge between our communities and government, nonprofits of all kinds engage and amplify community voices, provide unique public policy insight, and hold governments and decision-makers accountable.
  • Mobilize for systemic change. Many of the issues we work to tackle are systemic in nature – from housing affordability to stable funding for nonprofits – and thus require systemic solutions at the legislative/policy, regulation, operational, or budget levels.

ONN’s pre-budget submission

In our 2024 pre-budget submission we outline the value of nonprofits in communities, the essential role we play in the well-being of Ontarians, our economic contributions, as well as the nonprofit difference. With new sector data to ground our key messages, ONN is confident that the implementation of our recommendations can help bring the sector back from the tipping point.

Recommendations to government:

  • Establish a home in government to efficiently work with the over 58,000 nonprofits, charities, and grassroots groups in Ontario.
  • Future-proof Ontarians’ social infrastructure with investments that reflect true cost of service and program delivery to take the pressure off of institutional settings, like hospitals and long-term care. 
  • Address the nonprofit human resource crisis to ensure Ontarians have access to community support. 
  • Make government activities deliver twice as much for communities by implementing strategies for community benefit agreements and social procurement.
  • Enable communities to develop the infrastructure they need with access to capital and lands.

NOW AVAILABLE: amplification package with social media graphics, captions, an email template for MPP’s, and more for nonprofits to easily share ONN’s submission, and their own.


Ways nonprofits can take action

We need more nonprofits advocating for our sector and the communities we serve.

  • Participate in the budget process: Remember, you CAN participate in nonpartisan advocacy. While some advocacy requires tracking and reporting, participating in public processes like budget consultations does not. 
    • Fill out the generic survey.
    • Email to see if you can join local consultations held by the Minister of Finance / Parliamentary Assistant.
    • Apply to testify at a pre-budget hearing through the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs.
    • Send a written submission.
  • Amplify sector priorities and key messages in your submission/oral presentation and conversations with local MPPs.
  • Highlight your advocacy: bring attention to your pre-budget submission by sharing it with your community through social media, your newsletter, and at online or in-person events.
  • Share your submission with us! Email your submission to Ebony at ebony@theonn.ca.

Pages

Blogs

Publications

Webinars

Webinar
Pink background with white ONN logo in the center
Election Rules

September 19th 2019
Webinar
Pink background with white ONN logo in the center
ONN Town Hall: Ontario Budget 2019

May 1st 2019
Webinar
Pink background with white ONN logo in the center
How to write a pre-budget submission

January 17th 2019
Digging in with ONN is a Decent Work podcast series.
Access all episodes
Digging in with ONN Logo
A newsletter with public policy, network, and funding updates.
Get updates
Email graphic