Imagine Canada and CCNDR:the policy gap is the real opportunity
What they're doing
This is the only meta-profile in v1 of the Atlas. It's about the Canadian nonprofit sector as a whole. In January 2026, Imagine Canada and the Canadian Centre for Nonprofit Digital Resilience (CCNDR), in partnership with Microsoft Elevate, released the first comprehensive study of AI adoption across Canadian charities and nonprofits.
The headline numbers: 80% of nonprofits are using AI in some form. About 67% use it for communications and fundraising, 50% for data and information tasks. Use drops sharply when the work gets more complex (strategy, HR, programming). The biggest barriers are not money. They are uncertainty and limited hands-on experience. Only 10% of nonprofits have formal AI policies. Another 21% are developing them. 64% have neither and aren't planning to. Only 16% have used a peer network for AI support. Only 9% have hired a consultant. CCNDR has since launched the Nonprofit AI Impact Hub, a bilingual platform with 600+ AI learning resources for nonprofits, informed by the study findings.
Why it matters
This is the data that says the AI consultancy market in Canadian nonprofits is wide open. 80% adoption with 10% governance is not a sustainable position. Sooner or later boards, regulators, or donors will start asking questions, and the orgs without policies, training, or external support will need help in a hurry. The Impact Hub helps, but it's a self-serve resource, not a substitute for a guided implementation.
What's working
- A national baseline. For the first time, Canadian nonprofits can see where they sit relative to the sector
- A bilingual, free Hub that lowers the entry cost of getting started
- Honest reporting on the governance gap, instead of a celebratory adoption number
- Microsoft Elevate funding behind the work, which signals durability
What's harder than it looks
- A self-serve hub closes some of the gap, but not the one that matters: the strategic, governance, and behavioural work that can't be downloaded
- The 80% figure is misleading. "Using AI" in this study includes very basic uses (drafting emails, summarizing notes). The depth gap is wider than the adoption gap
- The 9% consultancy figure tells you most orgs are trying to do this alone, which usually means they're stuck
Three takeaways for similar orgs
- 01If you don't have an AI policy yet, you are now in the bottom half of the sector. The window to be early is closing
- 02Self-serve resources are useful but they don't replace someone walking the work through with your team. Budget for both
- 03The sector-wide adoption number (80%) is going to be used by funders and boards to set expectations. Make sure your usage is real, not performative