The Mustard Seed is a 3-star rated charity with Fair demonstrated impact. It has above average disclosure with an A- results reporting grade. Its overhead spending and funding reserves are within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1984, Mustard Seed gives shelter, food, housing and support to people who are homeless or living in poverty. It operates in seven cities across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. According to the charity, 235,000 Canadians experience homelessness each year and 9.9% of Canadians lived below the poverty line in 2022.

Mustard Seed runs three programs: Basic Services, Affordable Housing, and Support Services. In F2025, it spent $51.5m on these programs.

Basic Services made up $28.3m or 55%, of program spending in F2025. Mustard Seed provides meals, food hampers, clothing and personal hygiene items to people in need. It also runs 732 emergency shelter beds across its centers. In F2025, it served 965,277 meals and gave out 69,036 clothing items and living essentials.

Affordable Housing made up $13.9m or 27%, of program spending in F2025. Mustard Seed provides permanent and supportive housing to people who are homeless or at risk. It operates 591 housing units across its centers and provides support through resident assistants and caseworkers. In F2025, 72 new leases were signed for affordable housing units, and 1,466 guests were housed.

Support Services made up $9.3m or 18%, of program spending in F2025. Mustard Seed runs community impact centers, employment programs and health and wellness services. Community impact centers are drop-in spaces offering food, employment help and workshops. In F2025, its community impact centers recorded 143,626 visits. Its health and wellness program provided 74,219 services to clients.

In F2025, Mustard Seed had $65.8m in total revenues. Donations accounted for $27.8m or 42% of revenues. Government funding accounted for $31.2m or 47% of revenues. In F2025, the charity spent $51.5m or 78% of revenues on its programs.

In F2025, administrative costs were $540k or 1% of revenues. Fundraising costs were $6.3m or 23% of donations. For every dollar donated to the charity 76 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity also paid $506k in interest in F2025.The charity does not break out interest expense separately, so Ci reports the figures as presented by the charity.

At the end of F2025, Mustard Seed had $18.8m gross and $8.9m net reserve funds (cash and investments). Ci backed out $9.9m worth of interest-bearing debt from its gross reserves. Its reserves can cover 2 months of its annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Profile updated by Raihan Firosh on July 2, 2026. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.