Toronto, Tuesday, April 17, 2012

I am very pleased to join you here today to launch Bond with Toronto, an exciting new initiative by the Toronto Community Foundation. I think that it is very poignant that we also gather during National Volunteer Week, as volunteers are essential to smart and caring communities.

Toronto is a unique city within Canada. It is a centre of excellence on par with the greatest cities on Earth. And that international standing owes much to the commitment of people like you.

David Naylor, President of the University of Toronto, gave a speech recently to the Toronto Board of Trade in which he said: “What makes the Toronto metropolitan region so great is that we offer a multi-course, multi-cultural banquet with world-class cuisine.”

And the results? In a word: remarkable.

Toronto is the third largest financial centre in North America. It has the fourth largest health sciences community and the third largest biotechnology cluster. It is home to no fewer than 10 distinct universities and colleges. And it contributes 45% of Ontario’s GDP and 20% of Canada’s.

Remarkable.

When taken in this context, we might ask ourselves, what now? What is the next step to take and how do we get there?

The next step is to remind ourselves that we cannot become complacent with our successes. Many areas of our society, in this community and in others, have experienced hardships. What can we do to eliminate the obstacles to success, such as poverty or inequality?

The answers lie in the creation of those smart and caring communities that I mentioned.  And it is the non-profit sector, represented here today by the Toronto Community Foundation, that is poised for real growth.

If we are to create the sustainable communities of tomorrow, we first need to create a sustainable third sector.

And to do that, we must recognize and better understand the changing times in which we live, economically, socially and technologically. Let me speak on each of these in turn.

We have all heard the mantra of doing more with less—that is, trying to exceed organizational expectations with fewer resources. But oftentimes the result, out of necessity, is to do less with less.

Although 84% of all Canadians gave to a registered charity in 2010, that still only represents 13% of revenue for non-profits. In addition, the total number of donations remained relatively stagnant between 2007 and 2010. The competition, however, has not. There are currently 85 000 registered charities in Canada, 15% more than in 2007.

With more non-profits vying for donor resources, some organizations are looking for additional sources of funding. This shift is already taking place.

For today’s non-profits, earned income represents a greater percentage of total revenues, more than government funding and donations combined. In fact, in dollar terms, this has risen more than 135% in the last 15 years.

Last year, during a trip to Newfoundland and Labrador, I had the opportunity to visit Stella Burry Community Services and the Hungry Heart Café. Stella Burry not only offers programs to help people in need, but also runs businesses, including the Hungry Heart Café, that provide these individuals with the chance to work in a supportive environment.

In this way, a social need is being met while a profit is being made with the business, which goes back into the programs—a wonderfully cyclical set-up. This social entrepreneurship is at the heart of what is becoming the new norm for non-profits, which is less reliance on government and donations—although these are still vital components—and more reliance on innovative ideas and individual effort, particularly through volunteers.

And what this truly requires is a new way to think of giving. This is an especially fitting conversation to have during National Volunteer Week, as creating a new definition for volunteerism and philanthropy is vital for the third sector’s future.

I often compare giving to a light switch. We turn the light on and give, and shut it off when we are done. But what if the light switch could stay on? In other words, how can we make giving a part of our daily lives?

I am reminded of the story of Ilona Dougherty, co-founder of Apathy is Boring. Her parents started two soup kitchens, in which Ilona, as a child, would help. On the experience, she said, “I . . . don’t remember thinking of our time there as work. It was just something that needed to be done for our community, so we did it.”

And earlier today, for the first time during my mandate, I honoured 28 Canadians with the Caring Canadian Award, including young Kalliana King. When she was just eight years old, Kalliana became involved in fundraising for muscular dystrophy, inspired by one of her friends who lived with the disorder. Since becoming involved, she has participated in door-to-door campaigns, fundraising walks, and even dyed her hair pink and then shaved it off to raise awareness. Her efforts so far have raised over $14,000 for this cause, but more importantly, she has inspired others. She is a caring Canadian.

Both Ilona and Kalliana, like so many others who are with us today, have already made giving second nature. In other words, for them the light is always on. And when we shine that light on others, we can inspire them to act, especially now that giving is more convenient today than it has ever been.

In 2010, more than a third of all donations were made online. Consider this for a moment, the impact of new technologies and what it means for volunteerism and philanthropy. Increasingly, we are going to our computers, tablets or smartphones to give. We are using the fast rise of social media to spread messages and to mobilize people into action.

But it is the responsibility of non-profits to utilize the tools to attract those people—especially young people—and to be innovative with new technologies to enact change. In this way, communities can be made smarter and more caring.

I have thrown out many statistics and examples today, but the underlying story is of building the smart and caring communities of tomorrow.

Ilona and Kalliana, Hélène and Stella Burry Community Services, and all of you here representing and supporting the Toronto Community Foundation have all committed yourselves to creating a better country and a better world.

In fact, that is precisely what community foundations have been doing throughout their histories. Since the beginning of my mandate, I have been visiting with community foundations because their members embody the ideals of smart and caring communities. You know what needs to be done, you know how to be innovative, and you have achieved the desired results through altruism, original ideas and pure effort.

Bond with Toronto is just one more way for people to get involved in the community, to give back to people in need and to support Toronto’s continued success.

As you may well know, 2017—five years from now—we will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Canada. What will be our gifts to the world in that time? How will we create the smart and caring communities of tomorrow?

The answers lie with people like you, innovative thinkers and problem solvers. I look forward to hearing of your progress and what your next step will be to create the country of which we can all be proud.

Thank you.