Imagine Canadas Sector Monitor: Charities & the COVID-19 Pandemic

The current Sector Monitor marks a return to the origins of the program over a decade ago when we created a survey platform to regularly take the pulse of charity leaders responding to the 2008/09 economic downturn. Today, unlike during that downturn, charities are coping with both epidemiological and economic challenges. As a result, they are under significantly greater pressure than in 2008/09. This edition of Sector Monitor focuses on the experiences of charities since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, detailing the impact of physical distancing, mandatory closure of non-essential businesses, and myriad other changes to the operating environment. We also draw on historical Sector Monitor findings from the aftermath of the 2008/09 downturn to provide additional context.This report summarizes the responses of 1,458 leaders of charities who answered our online survey between April 15th and April 28th. All responses are weighted by organization size, activity area, region, principal source of revenue, and the presence of paid staff to produce estimates more representative of charities overall. Historical comparisons are based on our first Sector Monitor, conducted in late 2009 / early 2010, just as the 2008/09 recession was ending and the long economic recovery beginning