[Report] Collaboration & Partnership Dynamics

Published July 22, 2026

How and why do Canadian charities collaborate?

This week's report considers the latest in four years of data on collaborations and partnerships across Canadian charitable sector. In 2026, collaboration with other charities was reported as the most effective relationship (60%), community-group partnerships are only slightly less effective (54%), while government (37%) and for-profit partnerships (29%) lag noticeably behind in effectiveness. 

Survey Highlights: 

Participating charities expressed a range of awareness of the pressures to collaborate. For example:

• 9% felt pressured by funders to collaborate
• 13% did not report any explicit expectations to collaborate
• 33% collaborated willingly only when it was strategically beneficial for the charity

Participating charities also acknowledged several challenges and barriers to collaboration including:

• the lack of funding/resources (60%)
• the heavy administrative burden (40%)
• the difficulty of conflicting priorities (25%)
• the unclear roles in the partnership (23%)

Advice from the Sector: 

Survey respondents advised having one staff person responsible for the collaboration - but many respondents noted that there was a significant funding gap for staff. One respondent emphasized the importance of infrastructure in collaborations, noting that "greater recognition of infrastructure providers as full funding partners would help foster healthier, more equitable, and sustainable collaborations." Trust was referenced repeatedly as essential for partnerships to flourish. Notably, survey respondents recommended creating shared templates or agreements where the division of labour, roles, and responsibilities could be decided prior to the collaboration.

​​​​​​Access the full survey on our website here.