The Province of BC Lobbyists Transparency Act (LTA) recommendations reflect non-profit sector advocacy

by Vantage Point | Apr 27, 2026 | BC Non-Profit Network, Blog, Government Relations, Policy and Advocacy

On Thursday, April 23, 2026, the Province's Special Committee to Review the Lobbyists Transparency Act (LTA) completed their review and released their report of recommendations. Since 2020, when the LTA was significantly updated, Vantage Point has been engaging on this legislation, which includes registration and reporting requirements for organizations engaging public office holders, on behalf of the non-profit sector.

Vantage Point and the BC Non-Profit Network (BCNN) are very pleased to see our sector’s critical advocacy reflected in the report’s recommendations. This includes recommendations from the Committee to simplify and clarify reportable communications, remove the requirement to report meeting requests, and to amend and simplify gift rules – all of which directly reflect Vantage Point and the BCNN’s advocacy on this issue, as well as voices from the rest of the non-profit sector.

The message from the non-profit sector has been clear: The LTA’s current reporting requirements are both onerous and confusing, discouraging non-profits from engaging with elected and non-elected officials. In a BCNN survey, 75% of non-profit respondents agreed that the LTA impacts their overall ability to engage with the BC Government. Taken together, the Committee’s recommendations would significantly ameliorate the challenges our sector faces with the LTA’s requirements - and we are pleased our sector's strong voice has been heard by the Committee.

These recommendations are not yet substantive changes to the LTA's requirements. Vantage Point and the BCNN are eager to continue working with the government and our sector partners to incorporate these recommendations into legislated, permanent changes to the LTA, and we will keep our partners appraised of ongoing work. Our written submission for this review and a transcript of our appearance before the Committee is available below. The Committee’s full report and recommendations are below as well. We look forward to continued work on this file, and permanent improvements to the LTA.

Vantage Point | BC Non-Profit Network Submission to the Special Committee for Review | September 2025: https://lnkd.in/gCPvu8ki

Transcript of Vantage Point's appearance before the Committee: https://lnkd.in/gAbpcq77

Committee's full report and recommendations: https://lnkd.in/gMkdYfTX

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If you have questions or feedback on Vantage Point and the BC Non-Profit Network's initiatives related to government relations and advocacy, please contact our team at engagement@thevantagepoint.ca

From Global Goals to Local Action: Advancing Climate Action Through the Sustainable Development Goals

by Vantage Point | Apr 2, 2026 | Blog

by Zahra Esmail, CEO at Vantage Point

We are living in a time when commitments to climate action and social inequality are being challenged and, in some cases, rolled back. The energy behind the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), adopted by every United Nations Member State in 2015, is beginning to fade in some spaces. In turn, the goals themselves can feel less urgent than they did a decade ago.

This is exactly the moment for civil society to step forward.

Non-profits are one of the primary ways these goals move from aspiration to action. Rooted in community, building trust over decades, and stepping into gaps that neither government nor the private sector can fill, non-profits play a critical role in translating global goals into local reality.

At Vantage Point, as an organization that serves and connects non-profits across BC, we are deeply committed to that work. The SDGs are not abstract to us. They reflect what our community is already doing every day.

This moment calls for greater visibility and renewed energy around these commitments. We are ready to do our part and to bring our community along with us.

At the same time, we’ll be honest. Until recently, we had not fully reckoned with what this means in practice for our own organization.

Our Learning Journey

When we embedded climate action into our current strategic plan, A Stronger, Brighter Future, we made our commitment tangible in three ways:

Strengthening our own internal climate action initiatives
Advancing more equitable and inclusive systems and practices for non-profits across BC
Delivering education programs that are accessible and grounded in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI)

That commitment, in turn, sharpened our focus on the Sustainable Development Goals.

Building on this, our Board of Directors, who championed the climate commitment in our strategic plan, established a Climate Change Committee to take this work further. In partnership with senior staff, the Committee reviewed all 17 SDGs and identified where Vantage Point is meaningfully positioned to contribute and to be accountable.

We landed on eight priority goals:

You will notice Climate Action on that list not as a standalone effort, but woven throughout our work. These goals are interconnected by design. Reduced inequalities and climate action are not parallel paths; they are deeply linked. The communities most impacted by climate change are the same communities facing systemic inequities. And the non-profits doing the hardest work are often addressing both at once.

What Comes Next

For each of these eight goals, we have identified specific actions we will track and measure. Beginning with our next annual report, you will see SDG icons integrated throughout. These markers will highlight where our work connects to the broader global framework and will hold us accountable to showing up in those areas in a meaningful way.

Climate Action is Shared Work

We are also inviting our entire community to join us in this work. If you are a non-profit in BC, you are likely already contributing to these goals in ways both big and small.

Climate action is shared work. It belongs to governments, large corporations, non-profits of every size, and each of us as individuals within our communities.

By building our understanding of the SDGs, we strengthen our role as a sector that leads by example.

Together, we can make a meaningful difference.

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If you have questions or feedback on Vantage Point’s work related to climate action and the SDGs, please contact our CEO, Zahra Esmail, at zesmail at thevantagepoint.ca.

Stay tuned for our upcoming blog post highlighting our progress on SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.

Funding What Works: Strengthening BC’s Non-Profit Sector Through Multi-Year and Core Funding

by Vantage Point | Jan 29, 2026 | Blog, Policy and Advocacy

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Vantage Point is pleased to share our new policy paper, Funding What Works: Strengthening BC’s Non-Profit Sector Through Multi-Year and Core Funding. Developed to support our continued collective advocacy, following BC Non-Profit Recognition Day in October and Stretched Thin: 2025 State of BC's Non-Profit Sector Report, this paper builds on the priorities and experiences shared by non-profit leaders across British Columbia and strengthens the case for meaningful funding policy change.

The BC Non-Profit Network has identified two key policy recommendations that can help address the challenges identified through , improve service and program stability, and drive long-term community impact:

Expand multi-year funding agreements.
Recognize and resource administrative and core operating costs.

These policy recommendations have strong support across the sector and levels of government. They are solution-oriented, aiming to help address structural issues affecting the outcomes of the sector as a whole.

The paper provides essential background on the current non-profit funding landscape, examines the evidence for expanding multi-year funding, and makes the case for recognizing and resourcing administrative capacity and core expenses. We outline practical implementation options that governments and funders can adopt to better support the sustainability and impact of non-profit organizations..

We hope this resource supports your organization’s own advocacy efforts and helps advance a more effective, stable, and well-resourced non-profit sector across British Columbia.

DOWNLOAD THE POLICY PAPER