The NSNVO provides a comprehensive picture of the role that nonprofit and voluntary organizations play in Canadian life. It documents their numbers and regional distributions,5 the areas in which they work, the populations they serve, the extent to which they provide public benefits, the financial resources they rely on, their role as employers, and the volunteers they engage. It also identifies the challenges organizations report with respect to their capacity to achieve their missions. The information has implications for the development of public policy pertaining to nonprofit and voluntary organizations, and provides a benchmark for future studies of this important set of institutions.