CCVO’s Response to Freedom to Care Act Survey

By Maggie Easton, CCVO Policy Intern

In early June, the Government of Alberta released the Freedom to Care Act survey to gather input from the nonprofit sector. The Freedom to Care Act was first introduced in the United Conservative Party (UCP) 2019 election platform. On page 72, the UCP lists the Freedom to Care Act as one of several commitments to help expand the efforts of civil society. It states that:

A United Conservative government will help expand civil society efforts by: 
Adopting a Freedom to Care Act that allows for charitable and non-profit groups to apply for a “common sense exemption” from regulations that are designed primarily for commercial application where those regulations have the unintended consequence of preventing a social good from being performed.

The platform includes two real-life examples of regulations that are negatively impacting nonprofits. The first example is that of the Harvest Healing Centre Church, which could not operate a homeless shelter as they had planned, because regulations required the building to install a $250,000 industrial sprinkler system. The second example given is the circumstance in which hundreds of sandwiches donated by a Hutterite colony after the 2013 Calgary floods were thrown out because they didn’t comply with food regulations

The nonprofit sector is diverse. While the examples above include community-run and volunteer-operated groups, there are over 26,000 nonprofits operating across Alberta, employing 286,000 people and contributing approximately $5.5 billion in GDP every year. The results of the 2020 Alberta Nonprofit Survey suggest most respondents who feel the government is a significant barrier would name issues with funding as the most pressing reason. While there are certainly some associated processes that could improve with funding applications and reporting, we conclude that it is most likely that these nonprofits are not facing major regulatory barriers at the provincial level.

According to the Workplace Strategy for Alberta’s Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector, released in 2008, increasing demand and expectations for services as the government turns over responsibilities to the sector is a longstanding issue. Although it is not known yet what the act will entail, the Freedom to Care Act may contribute to increased demand on the nonprofit sector without accompanying funding changes, which would be especially problematic during the existing strain of the pandemic. The Freedom to Care Act might result in less stringent restrictions on nonprofits delivering social services, leading to increased expectation and demand for these services. Increased demand for services without additional funding would contribute to burnout and strain that nonprofits are already feeling, especially currently due to COVID-19. These less stringent restrictions could also result in more small, independent nonprofit groups forming in Alberta, which could in turn increase competition for already scarce resources, and reduce the amount of collaboration and partnerships within the sector.

Legislation like the Freedom to Care Act would benefit from direct, meaningful engagement with the sector to identify potential impacts. Although little is known about the Freedom to Care act outside of what has been stated in the UCP platform, this legislation could have significant impacts for the sector and should be developed through close engagement with the organizations and individuals working within the sector to best serve their needs now and into the future. More consultation with nonprofits, and recognition of the sector’s strength, importance, and diversity is needed before the Freedom to Care Act can successfully support civil society.

CCVO looks forward to engaging with the sector and Government around the development of the Freedom to Care Act and encourages deeper engagement and conversation going forward.

For your reference, CCVO has provided our responses to the relevant Freedom to Care Act Survey questions below.

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CCVO Responses to Freedom to Care Act Survey

Click on each question below to expand the text and view the list of possible responses, as well as CCVO’s responses.

+ Question 1: To what extent do you feel provincial laws and policies help or hinder charities and non-profit groups in carrying out their work effectively?

Government laws and policies are:

• Not a barrier to carrying out charitable/non-profit work
• A slight barrier in carrying out charitable/non-profit work
• A moderate barrier in carrying out charitable/non-profit work
• A significant barrier to carrying out charitable/non-profit work
• Don’t know
  
  

CCVO Response:
Provincial government laws and policies are: Not a barrier to carrying out charitable/non-profit work.

+ Question 2: Can you provide an example of a time when you or your group felt that the Government of Alberta made it difficult, or easier, for a good deed to be performed by a charity or a non-profit group? For example, the difficulty or ease might have been the result of a process, penalty, policy, regulation, fee, penalty, etc.

CCVO Response:
A significant improvement in both efficiency and the ability to gather and report on data about the nonprofit sector in Alberta would be to facilitate electronic return filing.

+ Question 3: Has your organization ever requested an exemption to a provincial law or policy? (For example, Section 66(1)(v) of the Public Health Act allows Cabinet to waive or mitigate the application of any regulation within the Act, in particular situations)

CCVO Response:
No.

+ Question 4: What criteria would you suggest the Government of Alberta use to determine if an exemption should be granted? (Please select all that apply)

• That the charitable purpose under consideration is directed towards achieving a universal good that is not harmful to the public (a socially useful endeavour)
• That the charitable purpose under consideration benefits the public in a reasonably obvious and tangible way (eg relief of poverty, advancement of education/religion, etc)
• The charity or non-profit group is not affiliated with groups that promote hatred or other negative subject matter (eg human rights discrimination, anti-political, illegal activity, etc)
• If the charity or non-profit has a time sensitive need in times of crisis or emergency response, such as the covid-19 emergency being faced by the province now
• Other:
  

CCVO Response:
This question is challenging to answer without knowing what kind of exemption is being granted. However, as a general standard, any exemption should keep the health, safety, and security of citizens at the forefront. This principle is particularly true for Alberta’s most vulnerable citizens.

+ Question 5: Do you have experience working in other provinces/territories? (How does Alberta compare to other jurisdictions in supporting the work of charities/non-profits?)

CCVO Response:
Yes. There are many ways that provinces differ from each other. The CCVO encourages the Government of Alberta to undertake research into comparing specific regulations of interest across provincial jurisdictions.

+ Question 6: Do you have any ideas about how the government could remove barriers for charities and non-profit groups or any other feedback on how provincial laws or policies are impacting your efforts? (eg. Are there any specific laws or policies you would like to see relaxed or exempt for charities and non-profit groups). Please share additional feedback.

CCVO Response:
The Provincial government could better facilitate a resilient nonprofit sector by providing mechanisms to collect and share high-quality data about the nonprofit sector.