McLeod Group guest blog by Nicolas Moyer, January 12, 2026
The international development sector is confronting a level of disruption unlike anything it has ever known. The new context is forcing Canadian humanitarian and development organizations (INGOs) to revisit the structures and business models that carried them through decades. It is a time for courage and creativity.
Major global aid reductions, from the US, the UK, several European donors, and now Canada, have sent tremors through organizations that long assumed stability. Funding streams once seen as dependable no longer are, and partners in the Global South are facing multiplying program delays and cancellations. The speed and scale of global aid cuts have made clear that this is a structural turning point, one that demands reconsideration of how INGOs organize, operate, and sustain impact. The question is not whether change is coming, but whether organizations will adapt their models with intention or let themselves be overtaken by a rapidly shifting landscape.
Shrinking budgets only add pressures to dynamics that have been building for years. Partners, activists, and thinkers across the Global South have long called for more equitable forms of collaboration and for dismantling the colonial assumptions embedded in many Northern institutions. While these calls have grown louder, many INGOs have struggled to shift from acknowledging the need to localize and decolonize aid to implementing meaningful structural change in that direction.
For most organizations, the prospect of transformation is daunting. Leaders must first fully realize the need for change, then build a vision for that change and finally figure out how to implement it effectively. And they must do this while rallying a wide range of stakeholders, from communities to employees, boards and donors. For non-profits, change can be even harder where they equate restructuring with mission failure and because boards are notoriously risk-averse. Even the language of business-model innovation can feel out of place in a values-driven sector; with terms like “merger”, “integration”, “shared services”, “divestment” seeming better suited to the private sector. These cultural and structural barriers are real. But they cannot be the reason organizations remain tethered to models that no longer serve their mission.
The current moment demands that INGO leaders summon the courage to question longstanding assumptions, confront uncomfortable truths, and imagine alternative futures. That may mean recognizing that certain operational legacies – like country offices or brands best known in Northern fundraising markets – no longer advance impact as much as they once did. It may require exploring mergers or strategic partnerships that reduce duplication and increase resilience. It may mean downsizing or setting a path to sunsetting organizations. It should involve shifting resources and authority to Global South partners in ways that go beyond rhetoric. And it will almost certainly require developing new competencies, new delivery models, and new forms of accountability that align with a rapidly evolving global development landscape.
Importantly, business-model innovation in this context is not about institutional survival for its own sake. It is about safeguarding impact in a world where the foundations are shifting. INGOs that adapt proactively can strengthen resilience by diversifying revenue sources, modernizing their operations, and aligning more closely with locally led and equity-based approaches. They can reduce operational costs that no longer match strategic priorities, for example by ending programs that are not clearly aligned with their mission, moving positions closer to programming areas, or letting go of physical office spaces. And they can position themselves as genuine partners in globally distributed networks rather than distant intermediaries.
Canadian INGOs remain vital contributors in a world grappling with conflict, climate crisis, inequality, and democratic erosion. But relevance is not guaranteed by history or good intentions. It must be actively renewed through structures and strategies suited to the realities of tomorrow. The turbulence the sector is experiencing is painful, with real costs in communities both North and South, but it is also an opportunity: a moment to reshape, streamline, collaborate, and realign with the values and demands of a new era.
The future of Canada’s role in global cooperation will be shaped by the decisions INGOs make now. This is not a time for caution or nostalgia. It is a time for principled, intentional, and courageous transformation. The organizations willing to reimagine themselves for the next decade will be the ones that continue to deliver meaningful impact long after the current disruptions have passed.
Nicolas Moyer is CEO at Cuso International. He has founded and led many large-scale, inter-agency initiatives, including the Humanitarian Coalition and Cooperation Canada. Image: Venkatnathaniel, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.