CARE Canada is a 3-star charity with Fair demonstrated impact. It has a B+ results reporting grade, which is above average. Its funding reserves are within Ci’s reasonable range and can cover eleven months of annual program costs. For every dollar donated to CARE Canada, 83 cents are available to go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range.

CARE Canada (CARE) is the Canadian member of CARE International, a global humanitarian charity founded in 1945. The charity works to reduce poverty and provide humanitarian assistance around the world, with a focus on women and girls. CARE Canada reports that women and girls are often the first to be affected by poverty and crises and the last to recover. It also reports that women and girls continue to face unequal representation, limited rights, and restricted access to resources and economic opportunities, and claims it is estimated to take 134 years to achieve global gender equality.

CARE Canada has two programs: Development and Humanitarian. In F2025, CARE spent $58.5m on its programs, with 50 active projects in 35 countries. The charity reports 1.6 million project participants, 70% of whom are women. On average, it cost CARE Canada $42 per participant in F2025.

Development projects represented 69% or $40.6m of program spending in F2025. These initiatives are focused on strengthening communities, advancing women’s economic empowerment, and improving access to rights and resources. In Côte d’Ivoire in F2025, the charity established four regional legal aid centres that recorded more than 1,000 cases of human rights violations. CARE’s GROWING project in Ghana supported the creation of 92 village savings and loan associations and trained 85 community agriculture trainers to help farmers adopt sustainable practices. Its SERVE project in Rwanda provided business grants for 47 women-owned enterprises in F2025.

Humanitarian projects received 29% of F2025 program spending ($17.1m). These projects provide emergency assistance to people affected by natural disasters, conflicts, and other crises. This involves delivering food, clean water, shelter, and protection. In F2025, CARE’s focus was on responding to the conflict in Sudan by distributing 3000 hygiene kits, 860 bedding sets, and 240 sets of winter clothes.  

The remaining 2% of program spending is allocated to program management, listed under Canadian program costs.

CARE Canada’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, which is a best practice. This means its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.

The charity had total revenues of $87.4m in F2025. It received $9.4m in Canadian donations, representing 11% of revenue, and $3.7m in international donations. Government funding was $73.7m, accounting for 84% of revenue.

CARE spent $58.5m on its programs, which is 67% of revenue. The charity recorded a surplus of $19.8m in F2025, equal to 23% of revenue.

Administrative costs were $8.5m, representing 10% of revenue (excluding investment income). It spent $687k on fundraising, equal to 7% of donations. Total overhead spending was 17%. For every dollar donated to CARE Canada, 83 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

CARE uses external fundraisers, as reported on its T3010 filing with the CRA. In F2025, the charity paid the external fundraisers $323k to collect $98k in donations. This equates to a cost of $3.29 to raise one dollar using external fundraisers. It is likely more cost efficient to donate to the charity directly.

CARE Canada held $55.4m in reserve funds (cash and investments) in F2025. These reserves can cover eleven months of annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

This is a charity update that has been sent to CARE Canada by Neela Jalilian on July 7, 2026.