Diversity of Charity and Non-profit Boards: Share your perspective

Senator Omidvar calls on you to participate in a survey measuring diversity of charities and non profit boards.

Dear friends,

I have known many of you for a long time. I believe you know of my commitment to diversity and inclusion, and therefore I am calling on you to help Statistics Canada gain a fulsome picture of diversity in governance of the Canadian charitable and non-profit sector.

Many of you serve on the board of a charity or non-profit organization, or know of a colleague or friend who does.  If you do, I kindly ask that you complete a voluntary survey about board diversity and I also encourage you to ask others to complete it.  Details on how to participate in the survey are below. 🡫

I’ve been working closely with Statistics Canada and sector leaders on this important initiative and I am really excited that this will be the first-ever national snapshot of board diversity in the charitable sector. It’s crucial to collect and track this data in order for charities and non-profits to take  an intentional approach towards increasing diversity on their boards so that they reflect the diversity of Canada.

It is also our collective responsibility to be leaders and champions in the fight against racism. Although this is only the first step it will bring evidence-based reflections and changes.

Thank you!

The Honourable Ratna Omidvar

A Message from Statistics Canada

The objective of this crowdsourcing initiative is to understand who serves on the boards of charity and non-profit organizations. In addition to collecting information about the diversity of board members, we explore topics such as what organizations do, who they serve, and where they are located. This information will help charities and non-profits better understand how their board compares to those of similar organizations.

Your participation is important: Your voice matters
We want to hear from you, whether you sit on a board of directors or are involved in the governance of charities or non-profits. Please take a few minutes to complete the questionnaire and feel free to forward this email to your peers—the more people participate, the better the data.

Participating is easy and secure
Click this link to participate: https://www.statcan.gc.ca/diversity-questionnaire.

This data collection is conducted under the authority of the Statistics Act, which ensures that the information you provide will be kept confidential, and used only for statistical and research purposes.

For general enquiries and technical assistance
Contact us Monday to Friday (except holidays), from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. (Eastern Time):

*If you use an operator-assisted relay service, you can call us during regular business hours. You do not need to authorize the operator to contact us.

For more information about the data collection

Learn why this survey is important in the Philanthropist article

Read now >>