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If you ask most people working in Canada’s non-profit sector why they chose their careers, the answer is often similar: the work matters.
 
 

According to the 2025 Changemaker Wellbeing Index, a national survey of more than 1,100 non-profit workers conducted by Future of Good and Environics Research, 93 per cent of respondents say their work has a meaningful impact on their community and nearly eight in 10 report being ‘satisfied’ with their job.
 
 

But beneath that sense of purpose, the report reveals a workforce under strain.
 
 

The sector’s employee net promoter score, a measure of whether employees would recommend their workplace to others, sits at minus 11, meaning more people are discouraging others from entering the sector than encouraging them.
 
 

‘Satisfied’ doesn’t tell the full story

 
 
 

While job satisfaction is high, 36 per cent report poor overall wellbeing and 30 per cent are food insecure, meaning they have inadequate or uncertain access to or inability to acquire nutritious food because of financial constraints. On average, workers in community non-profits earn 32 per cent less than the national average.
 
 

Among the 21 per cent who say they are ‘very unsatisfied’ with their job, 62 per cent say they are likely to leave their role within the next six months.

 
 

As the report notes, when non-profit employees leave, they often leave the sector altogether, taking their skills and institutional knowledge with them.
 
 

The surprisingly simple fix: basic HR practices
 
 

One of the most interesting findings in the report is that relatively simple workplace structures can make a significant difference.
 
 

Organizations that have implemented five foundational HR practices – salary bands, formal pay review processes, performance reviews, onboarding systems and equity and inclusion policies – report far stronger employee advocacy and have a net promoter score of plus 14. Organizations with two or fewer of those practices in place score minus 34.
 
 

That represents a 48-point swing, driven not by new wellness programs or workplace perks, but by basic administrative infrastructure.
 
 

The presence of structured HR practices also has a direct impact on pay. Workers at organizations with formal HR processes are 20 percentage points more likely to have received a raise in the past year.
 
 

And raises matter more than almost anything else.

 
 

Across the entire survey, receiving a pay increase in the past year was the single strongest predictor of job satisfaction and retention, outperforming every other income-related factor.
 
 

Funding structures remain a major barrier
 
 

For many organizations, the challenge is rooted in financial structure.
 
 

Community non-profits often rely heavily on short-term, project-based funding, making it difficult to commit to long-term compensation increases or expanded HR systems. In other words, the problem is partly structural. For decades, many funders have treated overhead costs, including HR, as expenses to minimize rather than investments that help organizations function effectively.
 
 

The Changemaker Wellbeing Index does not frame its recommendations as sweeping reforms. Instead, it points to foundational changes: salary bands, structured performance reviews, clear onboarding processes and more predictable, inflation-adjusted funding models.
 
 

With non-profits employing nearly 2.5 million Canadians and delivering services that millions of Canadians rely on every year, strengthening the basic foundations of work could be one of the most important steps the sector takes next.
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

61 per cent

 
 

That’s how many Canadian HR leaders say reviewing AI-generated applications has slowed the hiring process, according to a new survey from staffing firm Robert Half.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

Getting fired or laid off is one of the most uncomfortable topics in the job search. Many people aren’t sure whether to address it directly, gloss over it or hope it never comes up in an interview.
 
 

According to the chief executive officer of job site ZipRecruiter, Ian Siegel, there is only one strategy: be upfront. He advises workers to tell the truth, keep the explanation short and show what they learned. The goal is to showcase professionalism and accountability, not prove you’re right, regardless of the context around the dismissal.

 
 
 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 

“A lot of older generations have the pull-yourself-by-your-bootstraps mentality, but medication and therapy, for this generation, are our bootstraps,” says Maury Hansen, a hospitality worker in Fredericton who spends about $500 a month on mental-health related drugs and therapy.

 
 

This article looks at why Gen Z is prioritizing mental health care more than other generations, despite the associated high cos