Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to the committee for inviting us to appear today.
Imagine Canada is the national umbrella organization for Canadian charities. We often speak to you about the significant contributions made by charities here at home and around the world. This week a new report commissioned by the Muttart Foundation called "Talking About Charities" confirms that Canadians, too, recognize these contributions: 93% of Canadians consider charities important and 88% believe they improve our quality of life.
The survey also shows that while there is always room for improvement, charity leaders are nonetheless among the most trusted professionals in the country. Charities as a whole are trusted by almost four-fifths of Canadians, just slightly less than small business, which leads me to our first recommendation.
Earned income, the sale of products, goods and services, is for many charities a significant source of revenue and one which is supported by an overwhelming majority of Canadians. "Talking About Charities" found that almost 90% of Canadians agree that running a business is a good way for charities to raise money they aren't able to get through donations and grants, and four-fifths believe charities should be able to run any kind of business they want as long as the proceeds go to their cause. At the same time though, two-thirds are worried about charities losing money through these activities, hence the need to equip charities with the capacity to succeed.
This last point is crucial. Charities face many of the same challenges as small and medium-sized enterprises. They must prepare good business plans, have access to the right capital, exploit the right markets, and recruit and retain the right people to successfully sell their products and grow their revenues. SMEs have a wide range of federal services and supports to address these challenges.
Charities are challenged, however, in accessing many of these same federal services, whether through program design, lack of awareness on the part of charities, or lack of understanding of program administrators. We call on government to remove these barriers where they exist so charities can increase their impact and financial sustainability.
In our brief, we cite the example of Mitacs-Accelerate's internship program which matches highly skilled graduate and postgraduate students with businesses that can benefit from their skills. Mitacs receives its most significant funding from Industry Canada, whose current agreement limits the use of these funds to the private sector.
Mitacs has been able to use some of its other funding to do some work with charities. For example, a partnership with CancerCare Manitoba has resulted in improved techniques and equipment for breast cancer detection. Another partnership with the Vancity Community Foundation led to the design and development of an online purchasing portal for social enterprises.
Removing the restrictions in the Industry Canada agreement would enable Mitacs, which would like to support more initiatives with our sector, to do so. Other federal programs for SMEs should also be reviewed to remove similar restrictions and facilitate access. At a time of fiscal restraint, this measure can be undertaken at little or no cost and yet could have significant impact.
Charities also depend on the generosity of Canadians to carry out their mission. We want to sincerely thank the members of the committee for their in-depth study of tax incentives to promote charitable giving, and for their report emphasizing that issue.
The First-Time Donor's Super Credit announced in the 2013 budget, as well as the commitment to—and I quote—“[...] work with the charitable sector, including Imagine Canada, to encourage more donations by a greater number of Canadians [...]” are important steps in the right direction. Although the temporary super credit encourages new donors, the stretch tax credit for charitable donations, which we have often talked to you about, focuses on a long-term behaviour change. That objective was highlighted this week by the Governor General at the launch of his campaign, My Giving Moment.
The implementation of the stretch tax credit, which is supported by over 70% of the charities that have appeared before the committee, is the next logical step in the promotion of a sustainable donation culture. That measure will encourage those who gave for the first time thanks to the super credit to give again. In addition, since a much higher number of low and medium-income Canadian families would be eligible for the stretch tax credit, that measure would encourage more of them to give, while providing them with a welcome tax break.
We invite the government to set a firm date for the implementation of the stretch tax credit.
Too often those working in our sector are seen simply as nice people doing good things. We all need to think differently about the sector's contributions. We do mobilize 13 million volunteers, but we also employ two million Canadians and account for 7% of GDP.
Our sector creates jobs, generates economic growth, and as Canadians themselves have noted, is vital to our quality of life. Equipping charities to succeed is equipping Canada to succeed.
Thank you very much.