The Canadian Social Sector Deserves Better Endings
Done well, endings can start to matter a whole lot more
What happens when we tend to endings?
This inquiry and the practices surrounding it brought the Ever/Was Collective together. In working alongside organizations and their leadership teams, we have found that endings are the most overlooked opportunity for social sector transformation. Done well, they have positive impacts that ripple across organizations and the broader sector. By building endings literacy and destigmatizing closure as a legitimate field of practice, organizations can approach their futures with more courage, clarity, and care.
Most decisions around endings are overshadowed by shame and stigma. This discomfort is not new, nor did it begin with the converging crises brought on by the dominant economic, political, and social system. It stems from a colonial worldview of linearity that denies cycles of ending, grief, and renewal. This creates compounding pressures on organizations who struggle in isolation, treating symptoms of systemic strain as personal failures. The conversations leaders need to have with staff, boards, and funders feel too risky to surface. What could be strategic transitions become crisis responses.
Our work is to normalize endings as part of the regenerative cycle. Endings—done with care—aren’t dead ends. They’re portals. Closures are fertile compost piles of intelligence, knowledge, relationships, and values from which the next generations of Canadian civil society can grow.
Not all of our work will result in endings. In fact, likely most of it won’t. But as these endings conversations begin, we are here to create more options for how leaders care for themselves, their colleagues, and those they serve.
The Data Tells a Critical Story
RESEARCH INDICATES there's important work to be done in Canada — and that the timing matters. There are significant opportunities in looking beyond an individual charity lens and towards systemic factors that create unsustainable structural conditions.
Canada has 85,360 charities: 73,691 charitable organizations, 6,956 private foundations, 4,713 public foundations (Government of Canada, 2023)
47% of nonprofits are charitable organizations (Imagine Canada, 2026)
Nearly three quarters of charities report that demand is exceeding their capacity. Over half report paid staff working unpaid overtime primarily due to insufficient staffing (54%), budget constraints (50%), unrealistic workloads (29%), and pressure to reduce admin costs (29%)(Carleton University CICP)
An estimated one in four Canadians rely on charities for essential services (IPSOS, 2023)
76% of nonprofits have fewer than five paid staff members (Imagine Canada, 2026)
52% of charities have moderate to high concerns about their long-term sustainability, driven by rising operational costs (61%), short-term or unstable funding (46%) and inconsistent donor giving (41%) (Carleton University CICP)
Of 68,891 charitable organizations, 81.3% operate with less than $1M in annual revenue, 58% have less than $250,00 in annual revenue, 3.8% (2,594 charities) reported negative revenue, zero revenue, or did not complete (capitalW)
More than 4,000 charities had their status revoked by the CRA in 2023-2024, nearly half due to closure. Churches, educational institutions, and poverty reduction organizations were the most impacted (Future of Good)
OUr defining questions
What might happen to the sector if we were to destigmatize endings?
What happens when we treat social sector endings as a high-value opportunity?
Who is in most need of support, and what is most valuable to help them navigate good organizational endings?
How can funders more fully embrace their roles and responsibilities in good endings?
How can the Hotline support thinking systemically about social sector wellbeing?
What unique qualities does this work hold in Canada based on our history, narratives, cultures, and practices?
How can endings be an active part of the reconciliation and reparations process?
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Illustration by Anna Denardin