Every day, people across Canada turn to community organizations for support, connection and a path forward. Behind that support are nonprofit workers and volunteers whose contributions deserve to be seen, understood and celebrated. A petition calling for a Canada Day of Appreciation for the Nonprofit Sector offers an opportunity to recognize the people who help keep our communities strong.
The petition proposes marking this day annually on the third Thursday of February. Championed by Raksha Bhayana and the Bhayana Family Foundation, it gathered 1,377 signatures from every province and territory and has been tabled in the House of Commons. United Way Centraide Canada is among the national organizations advocating for this recognition.
At United Way Centraide Canada, we believe strong communities depend on access to support. The CharityVillage campaign update highlights the sector’s scale: 170,000 nonprofits employing 2.9 million people, engaging 10 million volunteers and contributing an estimated 8.4% of Canada’s GDP. Behind those figures are people helping communities thrive.
The sector’s reach touches nearly every part of community life. Its organizations work in health, education, social services, arts and culture, recreation and sports, faith, the environment and social justice, among many other areas. Together, they help people find support, build connections and participate more fully in their communities.
Front-line service brings that value into focus. It is where an organization’s mission becomes a conversation, a practical response or a relationship built on trust. Recognizing this work means recognizing the skill, care and commitment involved in supporting people through difficult circumstances. It also means making visible work that can too easily be taken for granted. “We so often do this work in the background without much fanfare,” shared one award recipient in Calgary. Recipients of the Bhayana Family Foundation Awards, which celebrate frontline nonprofit staff, describe what changes when that work is seen: higher morale, renewed motivation and a stronger sense of shared purpose.
A National Day of Appreciation would create a shared moment to acknowledge these contributions. It would invite communities to learn more about the organizations around them, thank the people delivering essential services and reflect on the role the sector plays in our collective wellbeing. It would also reinforce a simple truth: front-line service is not peripheral to community life. It is essential to it. For one childcare leader in Nova Scotia, recognition came at the end of a difficult year: “Thank you for helping me sit back and see that I am not just making it through the day, I am making a difference in the lives of 280 families and children in our communities each year.”
Recognition is already taking root across Canada. British Columbia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia have proclaimed days recognizing the nonprofit sector, while Ontario has legislated a Week of Appreciation. Beyond Canada, National Nonprofit Day in the United States and UK Charity Week in the United Kingdom also offer dedicated opportunities to celebrate the sector’s contributions. These efforts reflect a shared commitment to making the people and organizations behind stronger communities more visible.
Meaningful recognition should extend beyond a single day. Appreciation matters most when it deepens understanding of the work itself and encourages an ongoing commitment to the organizations and people doing it. Celebrating the sector is an opportunity to listen, build connections and affirm that those who support others deserve support and recognition themselves.
Organizations feel the difference too. In British Columbia, an agency noted that recognition “sent a strong message to all our staff that their work is not only recognized within our agency, but by others as well.” In the Greater Toronto Area, one leader described the awards as “a recognition and retention strategy” in a sector where “there aren’t many levers we can pull to financially recognize exceptional accomplishments.” In Calgary, the visibility that came with an award helped one organization build a partnership with a foundation and expand programs for underserved communities.
Tabling the petition is an important step, not the finish line. The Bhayana Family Foundation is calling on nonprofit leaders to share the news and speak with their elected representatives. Imagine Canada has also launched a national campaign to strengthen recognition and support for the sector. Together, these efforts can help make essential community contributions more visible.
Read the campaign update, share the news and find your Member of Parliament to explain why recognition matters in your community. Explore the campaign resources on the Foundation’s website and the Campaign Toolkit: Canada Day of Appreciation for the Nonprofit Sector, and thank a nonprofit worker or volunteer. Together, we can make their contributions visible.
