Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) takes the first step to helping small and medium businesses to compete for government contracts
21-Dec-05
For your information, Public Works and Government Services (PWGSC) is taking the first step to helping small and medium businesses compete for government contracts. PWGSC selects contractors based on value for the federal government and your non-profit, voluntary sector organization may offer goods or services required by the government. We encourage you to read the details at http://news.gc.ca/cfmx/view/en/index.jsp?articleid=185989 and to visit the PWGSC Small and Medium Enterprises website. You may also choose to register your organizational information in the newly created PWGSC database for small and medium sized organizations in order to be considered for potential government contracting opportunities.

The Code of Good Practice on Funding, Section 4.2 identifies 'contracts' as a direct funding mechanism to the non-profit and voluntary sector, but until now this route has been effectively closed. No Government of Canada contract can be awarded to an organization which is not on the appropriate Standing Offer List which PWGSC establishes to identify pre-qualified service providers.

The second edition of the Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering: Economic Contribution is now available for 1997 to 2001.
13-Dec-05
Economic activity in the non-profit sector, as measured by gross domestic product (GDP), recorded solid growth during the late 1990s and early 2000s, according to data on the economic contribution of non-profit institutions and volunteering.

Between 1997 and 2001, GDP for the core non-profit sector increased at an annual average rate of 7.1%, slightly faster than the average of 6.1% for the economy as a whole. At the same time, economic activity generated by hospitals, universities and colleges grew at a slower pace of 5.4%.

Two reports on Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD) are now available
27-Oct-05
Two reports on Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD) as a whole are now available. Trends in Collaboration: Lessons Learned from Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD) and Beyond provides an analysis of what was learned from the SIDPD projects particularly about partnerships, and collaboration. It is hoped that this report will further the development of collaborative working relationships within and between the federal government and the voluntary sector. Trends in Collaboration provided the basis for discussion during a workshop in March 2005, convened by the Non-Profit and Voluntary Sector Affairs Division (Social Development Canada) and the Voluntary Sector Forum. The workshop report, Moving Policy Forward through Collaborative Practice records the discussions about lessons learned from SIDPD.

The Voluntary Sector Awareness Project's Discussion Paper, Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts is now available
19-Oct-05
The Voluntary Sector Awareness Project's Discussion Paper, Greater Than the Sum of Our Parts, is now available for download in PDF format in both official languages. The Project's Partners encourage you to read the document and to provide feedback to the project staff via telephone, fax or mail, or by using the online feedback form. Please share the document with your members, colleagues, board members, as well as the general public.

Federal Government creates a Task Force on Community Investments
27-Jun-05
The federal government has announced the creation of a Task Force on Community Investments to examine federal policies and practices relating to the use of transfer payments and the funding of horizontal initiatives in support of community investments. The Task Force on Community Investments will be housed within Social Development Canada, the federal interlocutor for the voluntary sector. The Task Force will carry out its work over the next two years, concluding in March 2007.