The mandate of the national Voluntary Sector Forum is to provide pan-Canadian leadership and coordination in the voluntary sector, on horizontal, sector-wide issues.

The goals of the Voluntary Sector Forum are:

• To work within the sector, through pan-Canadian, provincial and territorial networks and sub-sectors, to strengthen the sector's capacity to work effectively as a sector with all orders of government and other sectors.
• To identify new and emerging issues relevant to the voluntary sector as a whole, and to take action as appropriate.
• To communicate within the voluntary sector, with other sectors, and with the public at large.
• To build on the foundation of the Voluntary Sector Initiative and its achievements.
• To champion the values, principles and application of the Accord and Codes of Good Practice.

CCVO is a member of the VSF and fills one of three “Sector Engagement” roles.

The Voluntary Sector Forum meets in person twice a year. In addition to coordinating work by lead organizations, the Forum focuses on two major collective activities: integration and application of the Accord and Codes of Good Practice, and regional policy development and capacity building events as described below.

Activities or events will be organized with the purpose of:

• developing sector capacity in key areas, eg. human resources, policy dialogue;
• involving grassroots organizations in considering policy issues relevant to the voluntary sector, and identifying new ones; and
• encouraging collective action nationally on sector-wide issues.