CJNSER / ReCROES
Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social Economy Research
Revue canadienne de recherche sur les OSBL et l’économie sociale CJNSER / ReCROES
Vol. 16, No. 3, 2025 EDITORIAL / ÉDITORIAL
Marco Alberio, Alma Mater Studiorum, Università di Bologna
Laurie Mook, Arizona State University Welcome to volume 16, issue 3, of the
Canadian Journal of Nonprofit and Social
Economy Research (CJNSER). In this issue, we
feature five research articles and one contribution to the “Perspectives for the Field” section. Before we focus on describing the
contents, we would like to thank, as always,
all those who contributed to the success of
this issue—first and foremost the authors and
reviewers, the editorial board, and the technical support staff. The work of all these people
is invaluable.
This issue brings together a set of contributions that reflect the breadth of contemporary
challenges facing Canada’s nonprofit and social economy sector, beginning with community needs and progressing towards
organizational adaptation, policy engagement,
and financial governance. The first article,
“Nonprofit Housing in Rural British Columbia:
Needs, Opportunities, and Barriers” by Erika
Čížek and Damian Collins, examines the
growing housing affordability crisis in the
rural communities of Kaslo and Nelson, British
Columbia. Drawing on key informant interviews, the authors show how amenity migration, second-home ownership, and limited rental availability strain local housing markets,
while nonprofit community housing providers,
central actors in these regions, struggle with
capacity limitations, infrastructure constraints,
funding structures, and NIMBY attitudes.
Čížek and Collins argue that regionally coordinated approaches and funding mechanisms
sensitive to rural realities are essential to address these pressures. The theme of basic needs continues with the
contribution “Quand le plaisir de manger devient essentiel : repenser le soutien alimentaire par les organismes communautaires”
[“When the Pleasure of Eating Becomes
Essential: Rethinking Food Support by
Community Organizations”] by France
Desjardins and Pierre-André Tremblay, who
explore how the pleasure of eating can be embedded in food assistance programs offered
by Québec’s community organizations.
Combining qualitative and quantitative
methods, they demonstrate that free access
to food does not necessarily ensure its consumption and that concepts such as pleasure,
choice, and dignity should play a fundamental
role in designing more effective, personcentred food security interventions. The
authors’ findings encourage policymakers to
adopt collective approaches that can allow individuals to reconnect with the joys of eating.
The question of organizational capacity is explored in “Biting the Hand that Feeds You?
Exploring Whether (and How) Government
Funding Constrains Charities’ Engagement in
Public Policy” by John Cameron, Heather Dicks, and Liam Swiss, who revisit the longstanding debate on whether government
funding constrains charities’ policy engagement. Using Canada Revenue Agency data
from 2003 to 2017, the authors examine reported “political activities” and challenge the
widespread perception that public funding
suppresses advocacy. Their results indicate
that federally funded charities are, up to a
point and with differences linked to organizational size, more likely to report political activities than those without federal support.
Cameron, Dicks, and Swiss conclude that public funding influences how charities engage in
policy advocacy in addition to determining
whether they participate at all.
Two other articles focus on financial innovation
and transparency within the social economy. In
their contribution, “Community Bonds and
Canada’s Foundations: Rethinking Risk and
Financial Outcomes,” Rheann Quenneville and
Tessa Hebb analyze community bonds as a
tool for community wealth building in Canada.
Despite strong alignment with local development objectives, community bonds remain
underutilized due to information asymmetries
and perceived risk. By compiling historical repayment data and developing a typology of investors, the authors propose that a bond rating
system could reduce uncertainty, unlock capital, and support the scaling of communitybased financing initiatives. Finally, Melissa Wilson and Susan D.
Phillips, in “Through the Looking-Glass:
Investment Transparency of Canadian
Foundations,” examine the state of investment
transparency among Canadian foundations.
Although the federal government signalled in
Budget 2022 its intention to strengthen reporting requirements, no action has yet been
taken, leaving disclosure practices highly uneven. Through document analysis and interviews with sector leaders, Wilson and Phillips
highlight significant barriers and inconsistencies in how foundations communicate their
investment holdings, despite collectively
stewarding approximately $112 billion in
long-term assets. They argue that stronger
transparency practices are essential for promoting accountability and equity within the
charitable sector.
This issue concludes with an article in the section titled “Perspectives for the Field.” In
“Services for Women Leaving Prison in
Canada: Results of a Brief Environmental
Scan,” Clare Heggie, Mirinda Bray, and
Martha Paynter present a national overview
of community-based organizations that support women upon release from prison. The
authors’ environmental scan identifies 86
community-based organizations across the
ten provinces but reveals significant gaps in
service provision—particularly in rural areas—
and an acute shortage of housing options. The
authors note that the rapid increase in the
number of incarcerated women has not been
matched by adequate investment in community organizations. They call for greater attention to, and investment in, community-based
housing as both a crucial re-entry service and
a meaningful alternative to incarceration. As this diverse set of contributions demonstrates, Canada’s nonprofit and social economy
sector continues to evolve in response to shifting community needs, new policy landscapes,
and emerging financial and organizational challenges. Together, all the contributions featured
in this issue offer both critical insights and
practical reflections that speak to the sector’s
ongoing resilience, creativity, and commitment to social change. We hope that readers
will find in these pages not only rigorous
scholarship but also inspiration for
strengthening community action, advancing
equitable policies, and fostering innovative approaches to social and economic wellbeing.
We thank you once again for your continued
engagement with the Canadian Journal of
Nonprofit and Social Economy Research, and
we look forward to sharing future work that
deepens our collective understanding of this
vital field.