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On October 16th, 2025, the Ontario Nonprofit Network (ONN) released its 2025 State of the Sector Policy Report, highlighting key challenges affecting non-profits across Ontario.
The latest data indicates that with increased demand for services, and difficulty recruiting and retaining paid staff, 41% of non-profits are turning to volunteers to fill labour gaps.
“The data validates a shift we are already seeing in Toronto. There has been an increase in volunteer roles on VolunteerToronto.ca that alarmingly ask volunteers to step into roles that were once staffed, while fewer people are able to
give their time. It’s a warning sign—and an ethical one. Volunteerism can’t be the safety net for underfunded systems. If we want volunteering to be equitable and sustainable, it means funding trained volunteer managers and building
the infrastructure that ensures volunteerism adds value without replacing paid work.”
—Joanne McKiernan, Executive Director, Volunteer Toronto
ONN's report analyzes data from 469 non-profit organizations in Ontario who responded to their survey between May 13 and June 27, 2025. The largest representation of non-profit survey respondents are from social services agencies, located in Central Ontario (including Toronto), and have an annual budget of less than 1M.
Notably, 98% of respondents also report having paid staff indicating that this report does not capture the challenges, needs, or engagement trends for 100% volunteer-run groups.
Of non-profit respondents, 42% indicate challenges recruiting and retaining volunteers. ONN’s deeper analysis on those who reported challenges expressed:
- 61% have difficulty recruiting new volunteers
- 45% have a lack of staff for volunteer recruitment and/or retention
- 40% indicate volunteers are retiring
- 34% indicate difficulty attracting youth volunteers
Local Insights from Volunteer Toronto
Volunteer Toronto contextualizes this data with our own insights on the non-profit sector and volunteer labour trends in Toronto.
- Despite non-profits reporting difficulty recruiting volunteers as their top challenge, Volunteer Toronto has received an increase in complaints from people trying to volunteer but never hearing back after applying to volunteer
with a non-profit.
- Non-profits in our network also report annually on volunteer engagement, and through this data, we are able to correlate that non-profits with a dedicated volunteer manager engage 16x more volunteers than those without.
The provincial data from ONN, paired with Volunteer Toronto’s local insights, underscores an urgent need to invest in volunteer management staff. These professionals design meaningful and flexible roles for today’s volunteers, respond to applicants, and strengthen the connection between volunteer engagement and essential community services
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