Office of the Voluntary Sector
	Background
	What We Do
	Capacity-Building
	Knowledge Development
	Leadership and Policy Development
	Inter-Sectoral Collaboration

The Office of the Voluntary Sector

Background

Following partnerships and collaboration with voluntary sector organizations over many years, Health Canada (HC) was closely involved in the creation of the Voluntary Sector Initiative (VSI) in 2000. This was a joint undertaking aimed at fostering a strong and vibrant relationship between the Voluntary Sector and the Government of Canada, and strengthening the ability of both the federal government and the Voluntary Sector to better serve Canadians.

The Office of the Voluntary Sector was formally established under Health Canada's Centre for Healthy Human Development (CHHD) in April 2002, signaling the department's commitment to the Voluntary Health Sector and to the VSI and its related activities. Two years later, in September 2004, the Centre, including the Office of the Voluntary Sector, became part of the newly-created Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) . From its new setting, the Office serves as a centre of expertise, leadership and coordination across PHAC and HC for voluntary sector/health policy and program issues.

What We Do

The Office of the Voluntary Sector plays a coordination role across PHAC and HC for two major outputs of the VSI: the 2001 Accord between the Federal Government and the Voluntary Sector and the subsequent Codes of Good Practice on Policy Dialogue and Funding. OVS has been working toward the greater integration of these relationship guidelines into existing programs, policies and reporting mechanisms - and working to ensure their consideration in the development of future Health Canada and PHAC activities.

Beyond the VSI and in a broad policy context, OV S activities relate to several key areas: capacity-building, knowledge development, leadership and policy development, and inter-sectoral collaboration. Examples of this work are presented below.

Capacity-Building

The Office of the Voluntary Sector has responsibility for implementing the Financial Assistance to National Voluntary Health Organizations program - a year by year grant program focused on the voluntary health sector and organizational development projects. The program aims to build and strengthen the capacity of national voluntary organizations working in health to respond to challenges and opportunities, and collaborate with PHAC and HC in enhancing the health of Canadians. There are two areas of support: enhancing the national leadership and effectiveness of organizations; and enhancing networks and collaboration around shared policy issues. This long-standing program has provided approximately $2 million in funding to voluntary organizations working in health in each of the past two years.

Knowledge Development

The Office of the Voluntary Sector developed the content for a training workshop, titled Forging Strong Links, which deals with applying the Accord and Codes of Good Practice across government and voluntary sector activities in a health context. A workshop pilot was delivered in March 2004 to a balanced group of government and voluntary sector participants. Revisions were then undertaken, responding to feedback from participants to keep the workshop focus on applying the code in ongoing work, and building on substantial experience to date.

Following a November 2004 "Train the Trainer" workshop, regionally adapted versions are being delivered by regional government and voluntary sector training teams to joint audiences across PHAC, HC and the voluntary sector. A legacy of this activity will be an accessible web-based learning resource covering content, delivery process, and successes, as well as opportunities for enhanced functioning.

Leadership and Policy Development

Through its role with the VSI, the Office of the Voluntary Sector coordinated six Sectoral Involvement in Departmental Policy Development (SIDPD) projects, which focused on such areas as chronic disease prevention, health care for specific population groups, and capacity building within and across voluntary organizations. Health Canada and participating voluntary sector organizations used these projects to experiment with different approaches to health policy development. The evaluation, analysis and follow up of SIDPD projects revealed "lessons learned" throughout the department and across government, which will have an impact on the development of health and health-related policy for many years to come

Inter-Sectoral Collaboration

The VSI projects coordinated by OVS have resulted in the formation of strong partnerships - not only within the voluntary sector, but between the voluntary and government sector. Another key outcome of these projects has been the many lessons learned about policy dialogue.

The VOICE in health policy project, funded through SIDPD, included regional roundtables across the country; a national training strategy; and demonstration projects that focused on health policy issues. These projects provide an excellent example of collaborative policy development and of "living" the Accord and Codes of Good Practice. A National Summit for the VOICE project took place in November 2004 to plan for next steps. VOICE has produced a wealth of "learnings" and recommendations in relation to development of collaborative policy relationships, policy research, policy direction, and policy tools and processes.

An important outcome of the VOICE in health policy project is a health policy development "toolkit" - which provides a collection of resources and tools compiled by the VOICE project ( www.projectvoice.ca ). Input was provided by hundreds of voluntary organizations working in health across Canada .