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The voluntary sector has long been seen as the foundation of a healthy civil society (DeTocqueville, 1961; Leonard & Onyx, 2003). Yet, substantial growth in the last two decades in demand for voluntary sector services in Canada has been accompanied by a significant reduction in government resources supporting the sector's activities (Browne, 1996). This confluence of demand growth and decreased governmental support has resulted in increased competition among voluntary organizations for both capital and human resources (Meinhard & Foster, 2000). Furthermore, the ethnic transformation of Canadian society has raised knowledge, policy and practical issues across all sectors, including the voluntary sector. These conditions have pushed many in the voluntary sector to reach beyond their traditional bases of support to consider hitherto untapped segments of society, and have pushed governments to rely more and more on the voluntary sector for the development of social integration. However, research on the Canadian voluntary sector, particularly with a cross-cultural lens, is a relatively new research domain, with many gaps in the knowledge base. As a starting point, Berger (2004) and Berger & Azaria (2004) have proposed, tested and supported a framework that traces the relationship between sub-group identity and volunteering, as mediated by attitudes, norms and social barriers. In this paper we extend this framework and consider the role of civic engagement in processes of social cohesion and social integration. We use the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS) to investigate how engagement in the voluntary sector contributes to the development of both bonding and bridging social cohesion, and thereby, social integration. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Berger, I., Foster, M. & Meinhard, A. (2005). Civic engagement, social cohesion and social integration in Toronto, Canada (Working Paper Series Volume 2005 (4)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

This paper brings together findings from three separate investigations to provide a deeper understanding of the changing roles of the government, for-profit and nonprofit sectors in ensuring civil society. The first study, based on a survey of 645 nonprofit organizations from across Canada, revealed a nonprofit sector changing to meet the challenges of the times, despite a general pessimism among leaders of nonprofit organizations as to their future (Meinhard & Foster, 2003a & b). The second, based on interviews with 20 Government of Ontario officials with links to the nonprofit sector, demonstrated how civil servants struggled to help nonprofit organizations adjust to the new policies and also encouraged them to form partnerships with the for-profit sector (Meinhard & Foster, 2003c). The research reported in this paper, based on interviews with 17 senior officers of Ontario-based corporations active in philanthropy, focuses on the corporations and probes more deeply in to the myriad of ways they are getting involved in their communities as socially responsible corporate citizens.The findings from the corporate interviews are compared and melded with those from previous interviews with government officials and nonprofit organizations to provide a three-dimensional perspective of the direction in which Canadian civil society may be moving. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Meinhard, A., Foster, M. & Berger, I. (2005). Closing the loop: corporate links to the voluntary sector (Working Paper Series Volume 2005 (3)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

[First paragraph of Introduction] : Nonprofit scholars have investigated several theoretical avenues in their search for an understanding of the role of nonprofit organizations in society. Some discussions have concentrated on the economic role of nonprofit organizations focusing on contribution to GDP (Stewart, 1996, Weisbrod, 1998), job growth (Hall & Banting, 2000), and the labour force value of volunteer work (Day & Devlin, 1996; Duchesne, 1989). Other discussions have considered the role from the perspective of contribution to society in terms of social service provision, and recreational and cultural enrichments beyond what can be provided by the for profit or government sectors (Hall & Banting, 2000, Kramer, 2000, Salamon & Anheier, 1998). Yet, a third scholarly focus has been to investigate the role of voluntary organizations in developing and maintaining social capital. With the publication of Putnam's (2000) book, Bowling Alone, this concept has become the topic of increasing academic discourse, because of the connection that he makes between voluntary associations, social capital and economic development. Indeed, Putnam (1993, 1995) and Fukuyama (1995) conclude that social capital is a precondition for economic prosperity. The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of voluntary organizations as bridgers and bonders in society and the implications of this role in social and economic development. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Foster, M. K., Meinhard, A.G. & Berger, I. The Role of Social Capital: Bridging, Bonding or Both? (Working Paper Series Volume 2003(1)). Toronto : Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Volunteer Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

In this paper, we investigate the evolving relationship that is occurring in the wake of a prolonged period of funding cuts, between government and voluntary organizations in Ontario. Interviews with government officials delineate a process of formal and informal coercive isomorphism to bring about desired behaviours in voluntary organizations. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Meinhard, A.G., Foster, M.K. & Berger, I. (2004). The process of institutional isomorphism in Ontario's voluntary sector. (Working Paper Series Volume 2004(3)). Toronto : Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Volunteer Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

The rapidly growing literature investigating corporate social responsibility and corporate philanthropy attests to the world-wide interest in this trend, both from an academic perspective and as a legitimate component of commercial success (Burson-Marsteller, 2000; Waddock & Graves, 1997). As Marx (1999) points out, the evolution of corporate philanthropy from donation programs to strategic philanthropy has been well documented in the nonprofit literature, particularly as it relates to US corporations, and indeed research interest in this topic dates back to the 1930s and 1940s (Carroll, 1999). Smith (1994) suggests that most US corporations established philanthropic foundations in the 1960s to demonstrate their obligation to support the American version of the social contract. Part of that contract involved the separation of profit, nonprofit and government roles. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Foster, M., Meinhard, A., Berger, I., & Wright, P. (2005). From philanthropic strategy to strategic philanthropy: selected Canadian case studies (Working Paper Series Volume 2005 (2)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

The voluntary sector has long been seen as the foundation of a healthy civil society (DeTocqueville, 1961; Leonard & Onyx, 2003). Yet, substantial growth in the last two decades in demand for voluntary sector services in Canada has been accompanied by a significant reduction in government resources supporting the sector's activities (Browne, 1996). This confluence of sector growth and decreased governmental support has resulted in increased competition among voluntary organizations for both capital and human resources (Meinhard & Foster, 2000). Furthermore, the ethnic transformation of Canadian society raises knowledge, policy and practical issues across all sectors, including the voluntary sector. These conditions have pushed many in the voluntary sector to reach beyond their traditional bases of support to consider hitherto untapped segments of society. However, research on the Canadian voluntary sector, particularly with a cross-cultural lens, is a relatively new research domain, with many gaps in the knowledge base. Berger (2004) and Berger & Azaria (2004) have proposed, tested and supported a framework that traces the relationship between sub-group identity and volunteering, as mediated by attitudes, norms and social barriers. In this paper we extend this framework in order to consider the role of volunteering in social integration. (See Figure 1 below.) We use the 2002 Ethnic Diversity Survey (EDS) not only to investigate this relationship in general, but also to examine how it might be moderated by generation and ethnic identification. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Berger, I., Dinca-Panaitescu, M., Foster, A., & Meinhard, A.(2005). Ethnicity, voluntary behaviour and social integration(Working Paper Series Volume 2005 (1)). Toronto: Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Ryerson University.

[First paragraph of Introduction]: In this paper, we investigate the evolving relationship between government and voluntary organizations in Ontario that is occurring in the wake of a prolonged period of funding cuts. The cuts are a manifestation of a major philosophical shift in government-third sector relations. We have already examined the impact of this shift on voluntary organizations in several papers (Foster and Meinhard, 2002; Meinhard and Foster, 2003a & b). We now turn our attention to the government sector and its vision for the future. Keywords: CVSS, Centre for Voluntary Sector Studies, Working Paper Series,TRSM, Ted Rogers School of Management Citation: ; Meinhard, A. G., Foster, M., Berger, I., and Moher, L. (2003). The Evolving Relationship Between Government and the Voluntary Sector in Ontario. (Working Paper Series Volume 2003(2)). Toronto : Ted Rogers School of Management, Centre for Volunteer Sector Studies, Ryerson University.