Shared Platforms: Towards an Enabling Policy and Regulatory Environment in Canada

The shared platform model offers an alternative organizational structure for groups undertaking charitable activities that is more accessible, timely, less costly, and often times a preferred alternative to incorporating and obtaining charitable registration independently. Shared platforms effectively use existing community expertise and capacity to build the sector’s ability to respond to community needs. The shared platform has demonstrated significant benefits to volunteers, funders, governments and communities as it has been developed and perfected over the past ten years. This paper makes three recommendations that would create an enabling policy and regulatory environment in Canada for charities to use shared platforms as they build and innovate for stronger communities. From the Ontario Nonprofit Network.