The Change Starts with Us
2025 State of the Sector Report
It’s been a year of determined progress for Alberta’s nonprofit sector and one reflecting increased optimism in the sector nationwide.
Our core challenges remain: tight funding, rising costs, and the ongoing struggle to retain staff and volunteers. But our collective response to historic challenges has been anything but static. Together, we have advanced key policy priorities, securing critical feedback from the sector on more appropriate funding models to building momentum for a sector-wide workforce strategy, and, seeing the most progress, improving access to better data. These building blocks allow our sector to develop strategy in the face of challenges.
About the Data
Short description of data sources used in this report.
About the Sector
Short description including most recent stats on -number of nonprofits, demographic makeup of employees, etc.
Policy Priorities
And new challenges continue to surface. The most recent: international tariff wars threaten to make life more expensive for Canadians, businesses, nonprofits, and increase demand on nonprofits. This shifting economic context is sowing unease among Canadians and among nonoprofits as part of Alberta’s frontline during tough times - but also renewed determination. When communities are hurting, Alberta’s nonprofits don’t step back—we roll up our sleeves. We are a sector in service to Alberta and to Canada, and we are proving, once again, that we can meet the moment.
This year’s State of the Sector is a celebration of that resolve. It tells the story of a sector that is not only weathering the storm, but also building the systems, relationships, and solutions that will carry our communities forward.
In the pages that follow, we share a detailed picture of nonprofit conditions, concerns, and priorities—as well as the sector-wide work that is already under way to address them. These findings are based on our own surveys responses, provincial and federal data, a growing library of policy reports, and emerging infrastructure tools built through collective effort.
The State of the Sector
Alberta nonprofits continue to face challenges first spotlighted in last year’s report: rising demand, staff retention, financial instability, and burnout. Yet survey data shows growing optimism in the sector’s 12-month outlook, possibly linked to easing inflation. The threat of tariffs brings some unease - possibly reflected in a blip in optimism in late 2024 / early 2025 - but also renewed resolve among Canadians.
Persistent Pressures: Demand, Staffing, Burnout & Financial Strain
Alberta nonprofits continue to face challenges first spotlighted in last year’s report: rising demand, staff retention, financial instability, and burnout. Yet survey data shows growing optimism in the sector’s 12-month outlook, possibly linked to easing inflation. The threat of tariffs brings some unease - possibly reflected in a blip in optimism in late 2024 / early 2025 - but also renewed resolve among Canadians.
While inflation has eased, nonprofits continue to operate within tight budgets. Rising operational costs, flatlined core funding, and increased administrative demands are forcing difficult trade-offs—especially for small and mid-sized organizations.
Workforce challenges are equally persistent. Organizations continue to struggle with attracting and retaining qualified staff. Burnout and mental health strain remain widespread across the sector, especially among frontline workers and leadership. 41% of 2025 State of the Sector survey respondents cite staff recruitment as challenging and 41% as the same as it had been previously - which was also mostly challenging! Similarly to 2023, volunteer recruitment is indicated as more challenging than staff recruitment, with 46% of respondents citing it as challenging, and 32% as the same as before.
While 2025 has brought signs of renewed optimism and opportunity, the foundational cracks identified in Facing the Storm persist. Without structural changes to funding, workforce conditions, and expectations of the sector, these challenges will continue to hinder the ability of nonprofits to meet rising need and deliver on their missions.
A Shifting Landscape
The nonprofit sector in Alberta is operating within a rapidly evolving landscape—one shaped by technological change, shifting work norms, and political uncertainty. While core concerns like financial stability and staff wellbeing remain dominant, nonprofits are increasingly aware of external forces that could shape their future operations.
Remote Work and the Nature of Work
Remote work trends continue to evolve, with some organizations embracing hybrid models while others struggle to maintain cohesion and culture across dispersed teams. While flexibility remains a valued feature of post-pandemic operations, the long-term implications for collaboration, service delivery, and volunteer engagement are still playing out unevenly across the sector.
At the same time, artificial intelligence is transforming how nonprofits function. From grant writing and communications to predictive data analysis and administrative automation, AI tools are reshaping the sector’s capacity and workflow. More organizations are experimenting with these technologies to manage workloads and extend impact. However, as adoption increases, so do the ethical, social, and environmental considerations. Nonprofits must now weigh the benefits of AI against concerns about data privacy, algorithmic bias, misinformation, and carbon emissions associated with large-scale computing. [insert several examples and stats here] The Nonprofit Chamber will be exploring the impacts of AI on the nonprofit sector further over the coming year.
Political and Global Uncertainty
The political climate—both provincially and globally—has also become a growing source of unease. In the 2025 State of the Sector Survey, the direction of the provincial government emerged as the top-rated concern among respondents. [add more context, carefully]. This lines up with Statistics Canada data showing increased demand for the services provided by nonprofits categorized under Law & Politics. Policy shifts and uncertainty in provincial funding have compounded organizational stress, especially for nonprofits delivering services that align closely with government mandates.
While tariffs and global trade tensions did not top the list of nonprofit concerns, they were far from negligible. In the 2025 survey, 66% of respondents rated their concern about tariffs at 6 out of 10 or higher. The economic ripple effects are real: Edmonton’s Food Bank projected a 50% increase in food costs—rising from $4 million to $6 million—due to trade-related price hikes.
This new wave of economic nationalism is prompting nonprofits to advocate more forcefully for inclusion in federal relief strategies. The Nonprofit Chamber’s recent campaign emphasized that if employers are to be stabilized through public policy, nonprofits must be recognized among them. Without such inclusion, the very institutions Canadians rely on for food, shelter, and care may themselves become destabilized.
Focus on the Immediate
Despite these emerging pressures, many nonprofits remain focused on more immediate operational challenges. Global concerns such as tariffs, artificial intelligence, political shifts, war and climate change are acknowledged and contribute to overall anxiety, but operationally they often take a backseat to more pressing issues—like maintaining staff wellbeing, stabilizing budgets, and fulfilling their core missions.
Funding Priorities of the Sector
-funding priorities of the sector reflect the persistent issues in the sector - retaining staff, improving staff mental health, and meeting demand
-most nonprofits would prioritize doing what they already do - without growing - better, if they had additional funds
-most nonprofits would prioritize paying staff with additional funds
-reflects that sector is still underresourced and underpaid
When asked how they would allocate additional funding, Alberta nonprofits overwhelmingly prioritized core stability over growth. Rather than expanding programs or launching new initiatives, most organizations indicated they would use new resources to strengthen what they already do—suggesting a sector still operating in a state of underresourcing.
At the top of the list: paying staff more. Compensation, benefits, and mental health supports were repeatedly cited as critical needs. Many respondents described staff burnout, high turnover, and the emotional toll of service delivery as major threats to organizational sustainability.
Financial Capacity and Outlook
CRA data indicates a modestly stabilizing financial position among registered charities. After several years of pandemic-era volatility, revenue and expense patterns suggest that the organizations that survived are beginning to regain their footing. This is mirrored in the 2025 State of the Sector report, with a majority of organizations reporting stable or slightly increasing revenues. Like in 2023, Earned Revenue showed the highest growth, while Donations saw the most loss. A majority of survey respondents still cite Expenses as rising, with the largest increases among program expenses, salaries, insurance and benefits (in that order). Overall, “ability to afford standard operations” provides some optimism, with 65% of respondents indicating it has stayed the same or increased.
This modest recovery masks a significant contraction in the sector: between 2021 and 2023, Alberta lost approximately 22% of its registered charities. The financial stabilization we now observe is occurring among a smaller, more resourceful subset of organizations—many of which weathered enormous strain to remain operational.
While recent surveys suggest growing optimism about the near-term outlook, nonprofits remain uneasy about broader economic uncertainty. Concerns about inflation, the cost of living, and decreased public donations remain high, with added anxiety about the potential ripple effects of international trade disruptions.
Spending on salaries: On average, nonprofits spend 21% of revenues on salaries. However, this changes dramatically based on size of nonprofit - as they grow, they spend more on salaries, though that may taper off on the high end. It also changes across sectors, with health, social services, education & research and business & professional associations and unions spending more on salaries.
Fundraising. 26% of nonprofits are meeting 50-99% of their fundraising goals, 60% are meeting 100% or more of their fundraising goals, and 14% are meeting less than 50% of their fundraising goals. (table) Charities do not perform as well (this is significant - dive in here a bit), with 45.6% meeting 100% or more of their fundraising goals. Registered charities are more likely to receive services free of charge (73.6%) than all nonprofits (46.6%), and more likely to fundraise.
58% of nonprofits did not fundraise, 40.8% of charities did not fundraise
Sources of Funding: Top 4 biggest sources of funding for Alberta nonprofits, which are mostly higher than the national average, include:
Donations and foundation funding, membership fees or dues (22.5%)
Other source of funding, individual donations (22.7%)
All other funding (14.1% - lower than Canadian average)
Donations and foundation funding, fees for goods and services, other than those provided to government (13.9%)
Funding from governments (all levels) - 12.4%
Financing Sources Applied for: Most common source of financing for nonprofits is from governments “government grants, subsidies, government guaranteed loans or non-repayable contributions” at 27.5%. This increases to 33.3% for charities. The majority of nonprofits (66.6%) did not apply for financing (57.4% among charities). Reasons for not applying among Alberta nonprofits was overwhelmingly that financing was not required (91.3%) followed by being unaware of sources available (7%). Being unaware rises to 17.2% for charities, and not requiring financing lowers to 81.8%.
The Nonprofit Chamber has launched a campaign calling for nonprofit inclusion in all federal relief measures, including those tied to trade disruption
Look for a detailed Funding Brief coming November 2025, on the state of and priorities of Alberta nonprofits!
A Sector in Motion
2024 has been a year of resolve and progress. In 2023, NonprofitsVote identified 5 Policy Priorities, and we are discussing progress made on 3 of them.
Workforce Strategy
In our 2023 survey, 56% of organizations reported difficulty with recruiting and retaining paid staff, and 62% cited challenges with volunteer recruitment.
These pressures are not new, but they have intensified. Low wages, burnout, and a competitive labour market are driving turnover. Volunteer numbers have also not returned to pre-pandemic levels.
That’s why workforce development has become a top policy priority for the sector. Many organizations are already working hard to address these challenges—but they are often doing so in isolation. In fact, significant efforts are underway across Alberta, including from postsecondary institutions, nonprofit organizations, and even the private sector. The issue isn’t a lack of interest or investment—it’s a lack of coordination and a shared framework to bring it all together.
Steps Toward a Workforce Strategy
In 2024, The Nonprofit Chamber released the Workforce Strategy Feasibility Study, which took stock of all the work being performed by the sector, and laid the foundation for a sector-wide strategy. It identified three areas where coordinated action is most urgently needed:
Better data on the nonprofit workforce—so we know who is working in the sector, under what conditions, and where the gaps are
A coordinated Workforce Strategy to align efforts across regions and subsectors
Stronger supports for volunteerism, including policies, tools, and incentives
This work is gaining momentum. Stakeholders across the province—including government partners—are beginning to explore how to build a shared vision and structure for long-term workforce development.
Volunteerism
Volunteerism has its own set of challenges and opportunities. While overall participation has declined since the pandemic, organizations like Volunteer Alberta are working to reverse that trend in partnership with the Government of Alberta - starting with gathering information. There’s particular focus on engaging underrepresented groups like youth, newcomers, and people facing systemic barriers to participation.
Appropriate Funding
Consistently cited as the number one priority of nonprofits is more funding, and funding that meets the needs of nonprofits [insert stats on this].
In 2024, funding advocacy gained significant traction:
The Nonprofit Chamber’s Leaders’ Summit convened a landmark panel on sector-wide funding models.
Survey data reinforced that nonprofits prioritize stable funding to do their work better—not just expand.
Upcoming Funding Brief for Funders
Better Data
Perhaps the most visible progress was made on the Better Data priority:
In December 2024, the Government of Alberta launched the Alberta Nonprofit Listing Dashboard, making province-wide nonprofit data publicly available.
A sub-sector dashboard is in development, which will allow organizations and policy makers to track activity across service areas.
We are thrilled to share a CRA Charities Revenue/Expense dashboard that allows us to compare self-reported financial health with actual filings.
The Nonprofit Chamber’s efforts to integrate Statistics Canada data for Alberta nonprofits will further support evidence-based planning.
Conclusion
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Credits
Thank you to the Workforce Committee:
Lisa Belanger, Rural Development Network
Alexa Briggs, the Nonprofit Chamber
Gemma Dunn, Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations
Shauna Feth, Alberta Chambers of Commerce
Richard Lemaire, Government of Alberta
Michelle Smook, Government of Alberta
Nilima Sonpal-Valias, Alberta Council of Disability Services
Miki Stricker-Talbot, Volunteer Alberta
Funder
Alberta Ministry of Arts, Culture and Women
Authors
Celia Lee and Alexa Briggs
Design & Illustration
Fran Motta
Reference as
The Nonprofit Chamber. (2025). Building A Stronger Nonprofit Workforce.