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EDITORIAL / ÉDITORIAL

Marco Alberio and Laurie Mook

Nonprofit Housing in Rural British Columbia: Needs, Opportunities, and Barriers

Erika Čížek and Damian Collins
Community housing is central to addressing Canada’s housing affordability crisis. In rural areas, nonprofit organizations play a lead role in the provision of community housing. We conducted research in Kaslo and Nelson, rural communities in British Columbia, to determine the causes of housing affordability challenges and assess the efforts of nonprofit organizations to address them. Key informant interviews revealed that housing demand is fuelled by amenity migrants and second home owners, and that there is low availability of rental units. Efforts to increase housing supply are complicated by infrastructure limitations and high costs. Nonprofit community housing providers face barriers associated with limited capacity, funding structures, and NIMBY sentiment. We conclude that regional cooperation and funding structures that are sensitive to geographical context provide paths forward.

Quand le plaisir de manger devient essentiel : repenser le soutien alimentaire par les organismes communautaires

France Desjardins and Pierre-André Tremblay
Although free access to food is a common response to food insecurity, it does not guarantee consumption. Our research examines how the concept of pleasure can be incorporated into food support programmes offered by community organizations in Québec. A mixed methodology was employed to analyze the relationship between experienced food insecurity and the pleasure of eating. The results offer theoretical and practical ways forward, emphasizing the importance of considering the notion of choice in interventions. They provide food for thought and suggest to public decision-makers that they adopt a collective approach to combating food insecurity, enabling people to rediscover the pleasure of eating.

Biting the Hand that Feeds You? Exploring Whether (and How) Government Funding Constrains Charities’ Engagement in Public Policy

John Cameron, Heather Dicks and Liam Swiss
This article examines relationships between federal government funding and reported spending by charities on what the Canada Revenue Agency defined as “political activities” over the period 2003–2017. Anecdotal evidence suggests that many charities in Canada see dependence on government funding by other charities as a factor that limits policy engagement. Comparative research generally suggests that government funding is positively associated with policy engagement by charities, but also that it channels charities away from outsider or contentious forms of advocacy toward less confrontational, insider strategies. The CRA data on political activities analyzed here adds important insights because it tracks outsider advocacy involving public calls to action, which government funding is expected to constrain. This analysis finds that charities with federal funding were more likely to report political activities than those with no federal funding, but only to a point and with important differences based on the size of charities.

Community Bonds and Canada’s Foundations: Rethinking Risk and Financial Outcomes

Rheann Quenneville and Tessa Hebb
Community wealth building (CWB) offers a place-based approach to impact investing, fostering local economic development and wealth retention (Dowin Kennedy, 2021; Guinan & O’Neill, 2019; O’Neill & Howard, 2018; Ratner, 2019). Community bonds (CBs), a CWB tool, challenge traditional wealth models but remain underutilized due to limited awareness (Surman & Hughes, 2012; Hughes, 2013). This study examines risk perceptions versus financial performance in the Canadian CB market, arguing that addressing information asymmetry is key to unlocking capital and scaling impact. Using historical repayment data, it introduces a dataset of CB offerings and proposes a bond rating system to reduce risk. The study also develops an investor typology and explores partnerships among investors, issuers, and intermediaries through a CWB lens.

Through the Looking-Glass: Investment Transparency of Canadian Foundations

Melissa Wilson and Susan D. Phillips
Foundations are under increased scrutiny as to the source, investment, and use of their assets. Although disclosure of total assets and disbursements is mandatory in many countries, information on investment portfolios is not required and, historically, foundations have rarely volunteered suchninformation. However, the rise of trust-based philanthropy and interest in impact and responsible investing encourage greater voluntary investment transparency. This article examines the current state of investment transparency among Canadian foundations, which collectively hold over $135 billion in long-term investment portfolios. Through interviews with foundation leaders, it explores the perceived benefits and barriers to investment transparency, and the factors that support or inhibit greater openness. While the findings indicate that Canadian foundations value transparency in general, voluntary disclosure on investments is limited due to a variety of risk factors and the lack of demand from stakeholders or the public. The study also points to emerging trends that are raising expectations for greater investment transparency by foundations.

Services for Women Leaving Prison in Canada: Results of a Brief Environmental Scan

Clare Heggie, Mirinda Bray and Martha Paynter
Women are a growing population in prisons in Canada. When women leave prison, community-based organizations (CBOs) can provide immediate material resources, and facilitate connection to healthcare and other services. We conducted an environmental scan of CBOs that support women leaving prison in order to identify potential gaps in service delivery, and identified 86 CBOs distributed across ten provinces, with a lack of services in rural areas and a general lack of housing. The rapid growth in the incarceration of women has not been met with an investment in CBOs. We call for an investment in, and increased attention towards, community-based housing as both a reentry service and an alternative to incarceration.