Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
B
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
n/r
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
69%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 69 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:
Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a 4-star charity that is financially transparent. It has a B results reporting grade, which is average. For every dollar received, 69 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
Founded in 1873, Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) runs programs to improve the well-being of animals across Ontario. The charity operates 13 animal centres throughout the province. OSPCA states that it values all animals and treats them with respect and kindness. In 2025, OSPCA spent $17.4m on its programs. Ci did not find a breakdown of program spending in the charity’s annual report or on its website.
OSPCA merged with the Humane Society of Durham Region on January 1st, 2024.
OSPCA helps animals find permanent homes, provides veterinary medical care, and supports animal welfare through community programs. In 2025, the charity facilitated the adoption of 6,325 animals and reunited 679 lost animals with their families. It also administered 9,952 vaccines, performed 9,347 spay and neuter surgeries, and distributed 485,103 lb of food to community food banks.
OSPCA educates the public about animals and animal welfare issues. Through its AnimalSmart subprogram, the charity offers free presentations to students in grades one to eight, designed to encourage students to care for and protect animals in their communities. In 2025, OSPCA reported reaching 14,837 students through AnimalSmart.
OSPCA advocates on behalf of animals in Ontario. The charity reports that its advocacy efforts and pressure on the provincial government contributed to the government following through on commitments to hold consultations on banning harmful practices.
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Results and Impact
In 2025, OSPCA performed 9,347 spay/neuter surgeries, which it reports prevented the births over 500,000 unplanned offspring. It also helped 6,325 animals get adopted and reunited 679 lost pets with their owners.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has not yet rated OSPCA on impact (n/r). This does not affect the star rating.
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Finances
Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.
As mentioned above, OSPCA merged with the Humane Society of Durham Region on January 1st, 2024. This report uses the audited consolidated financial statements for 2024, along with the unaudited consolidated values for 2023.
In 2025, OSPCA received $21.8m in donations, representing 74% of total revenue. It also received $5.5m in shelter and veterinary fees (18% of total revenue), $1.2m in investment income, and $994k in government funding.
OSPCA spent $17.4m on its programs in 2025, which is 59% of its total revenue. The charity ran a surplus of $4.3m (14% of total revenue).
Fundraising costs were $3.6m, which is 16% of donations, and administrative costs were $4.1m, representing 14% of revenue (excluding investment income). Total overhead was 31%, meaning that for every dollar received, 69 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
At the end of 2025, OSPCA had reserve funds (cash and investments) of $44.5m. Excluding $1.3m of donor-endowed funds, these reserves could cover its annual program costs for two years and six months. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
The most recent T3010 filing at the time of this update is from 2024. In 2024, OSPCA paid external fundraisers $78k to collect $96k in donations. This means it cost OSPCA 81 cents to raise $1 using external fundraisers. It is likely more cost efficient to directly donate to the charity.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on July 7, 2026, by Ava Anderson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 14.3% | 14.9% | 16.9% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 16.3% | 14.8% | 12.2% |
| Total overhead spending | 30.7% | 29.7% | 29.0% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 249.7% | 257.9% | 286.2% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 21,800 | 22,458 | 19,197 |
| Goods in kind | 54 | 23 | 138 |
| Government funding | 994 | 1,128 | 1,097 |
| Fees for service | 5,457 | 4,183 | 2,922 |
| Investment income | 1,195 | 1,659 | 1,654 |
| Other income | 30 | 101 | 254 |
| Total revenues | 29,530 | 29,552 | 25,263 |
| Program costs | 17,362 | 16,064 | 13,069 |
| Administrative costs | 4,061 | 4,165 | 3,979 |
| Fundraising costs | 3,560 | 3,327 | 2,334 |
| Other costs | 296 | 290 | 208 |
| Total spending | 25,279 | 23,847 | 19,728 |
| Cash flow from operations | 4,251 | 5,705 | 5,535 |
| Capital spending | 1,969 | 1,028 | 918 |
| Funding reserves | 44,468 | 42,544 | 38,271 |
Note: Deferred fees for service: OSPCA uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred fees for service. This affected revenue by $48k in 2025, $1k in 2024, and ($16k) in 2023. Amortization of deferred capital contributions: Ci did not include amortization of deferred capital contributions. This affected revenues by ($56k) in 2025, ($56k) in 2024 and ($56k) in 2023. Goods in kind: Ci removed donated goods in kind from donations and reported it as goods in kind. Ci removed donated goods used in programs from program expenses and reported it as donated goods expense.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
1 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
9 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
This comment was added to a previous profile by the charity. Ci hopes to receive an updated comment soon, which will be posted below.
About Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity, established in 1873. The Society and its network of communities facilitate and provide for province-wide leadership on matters relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals and the promotion of animal well-being.
With 12 animal centre locations across the province, as well as two spay/neuter services locations accessible to the public, the Ontario SPCA is an integral part of each community, promoting mutually beneficial human-animal interactions
Mission-based programs include:
Helping animals during covid
To support animal centres as they continued their essential services during COVID-19, and to assist families across Ontario struggling to care for their animals, the Ontario SPCA launched the Urgent Animal Care Fund in 2020.
Food was one of the biggest needs; by the end of 2020, more than 500,000 lbs of food for animals had been distributed across the province thanks to the generosity of donors and corporate partners.
Deemed an essential service by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario SPCA was able to remain open by appointment during the pandemic. After careful consideration and research to determine the best way to keep communities safe, limited contact adoptions were introduced at Ontario SPCA animal centres. Over 3,400 animals found loving homes through the Ontario SPCA in 2020.
A limited contact approach was also implemented in the Ontario SPCA’s spay/neuter services locations in Barrie and Stouffivlle. A total of 4,539 spay/neuter procedures were performed in 2020, preventing an estimated 209,000 offspring. The SPCA’s Mobile Animal Wellness Services Units also made four community stops in 2020, performing 319 spay/neuter surgeries, which prevented an estimated 12,600 offspring.
*Note: provincially mandated lockdowns and restrictions to help slow and stop the spread of COVID-19 affected programs, services and adoption statistics in 2020.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 905-898-7122