READ THE EMPOWER THE NORTH COVID-19 IMPACT REPORT 2025
Nonprofits in Thunder Bay continue to navigate a challenging post-COVID recovery shaped by the unique realities of living and working in Northwestern Ontario. The pandemic intensified long-standing funding and capacity gaps, increasing demand for community services while limiting organizations’ ability to respond. Although short-term and project-based funding grew during the pandemic, these dollars rarely included core operational support—leaving nonprofits without the stable resources needed to maintain staffing, strengthen infrastructure, or invest in long-term sustainability. As a result, many organizations face ongoing staffing shortages, burnout, reduced administrative capacity, and difficulty adapting to rising needs in areas such as food security, mental health, and homelessness.
Empower the North (ETN), a regional initiative focused on strengthening nonprofit capacity, highlights these sector-wide pressures while providing a collaborative path forward. Through engagement, data collection, and shared learning, ETN has helped surface the systemic barriers affecting northern nonprofits: restrictive eligibility criteria, limited access to major funders, complex reporting requirements, and higher operational costs tied to geography. The initiative underscores the critical importance of stable operational funding, workforce supports, and regionally responsive investment strategies that reflect the realities of northern service delivery.
As Thunder Bay continues its recovery, nonprofits remain central to community well-being. Strengthening the sector requires long-term, flexible funding models, simplified reporting, and sustained support for staff and organizational capacity. Empower the North provides a foundation for this shift—offering evidence, collaboration, and a collective voice to advance a stronger, more resilient nonprofit sector across the northwest region.
