Special Olympics Ontario is a 3-star charity. It is financially transparent. It has a C Results Reporting grade, which is below average. Its overhead spending is 28%, within Ci’s reasonable range, and its reserve funds can cover just over 1 year and 3 months of program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.    

Founded in 1968, Special Olympics Ontario (SOO) provides training, sports programs, and athletic competitions for children and adults with intellectual disabilities. The charity gives athletes the opportunity to play more than 18 sports and improve their physical skills. Winter sports include alpine skiing, curling, figure skating, snowshoeing, speed skating, and floor hockey. Spring sports include five-pin bowling, basketball, powerlifting, rhythmic gymnastics, and swimming. Summer sports include bocce, golf, soccer, floorball, and softball. The charity runs both virtual and in-person programs. In F2024, SOO served 22,989 athletes in over 100 communities across Ontario.  In F2024, SOO spent $5.4m on its programs. The charity does not provide a breakdown of its spending by program.   

The Health program mitigates medical problems by running health screenings for athletes. Special Olympics Ontario reports that, on a typical team of ten athletes, nine have problems with mobility, three would fail a hearing test, seven are overweight or obese, four need eyeglasses, four have untreated tooth decay, and one needs urgent referral to the dentist. The program provides eight different health screenings to improve athletes’ ability to train and compete in Special Olympics. In F2024, SOO reports that 245 athletes completed the Health program and the charity trained 202 healthcare workers.   

The Unified Champion Schools program combines athletes with and without intellectual disabilities to create inclusive and respectful sporting environments. In F2024, SOO reported that it held 120 events, with 803 unified partners and 10,000 student-athletes.   

The Athlete Leadership program provides workshop-based opportunities for Special Olympics athletes, exploring opportunities outside of sports and assigning leadership roles such as being team captain or becoming a committee member. The charity reported that it has more than 873 athlete leaders.   

The Major Games program facilitates SOO sports games, including school, Provincial, National, and World games. The Charity reported that 228 athletes participated in the 2024 Calgary National Games with 4,000 visitors. SOO reported that 750 athletes participated in the 2024 Provincial Spring Games, with 205 coaches and 350 volunteers involved.   

Special Olympics Ontario’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means that it separates program, administrative, and fundraising costs.   

In F2024, SOO recorded donations and special events fundraising of $4.3m. It received $1.1m in government funding, representing 18% of total revenue less investment income. SOO recorded $764k in investment income.   

In F2024, SOO spent $5.4m on its programs. SOO spent $520k on administration, which is 9% of revenue. The charity spent $841k on fundraising, which is 19% of revenue. This means that total overhead costs are 28% of donations. For every dollar donated, 72 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Charity Intelligence’s reasonable range for overhead, which is between 65 and 95 cents.   

SOO recorded a deficit of $107k and has net funding reserves of $7.0m in F2024. The reserves can cover 129% or just over 1 year and 3 months. This is within Charity Intelligence’s reasonable limit of 300%.   

Profile updated by Leah Holmes on June 5, 2025. This charity report is an update that has been sent to the charity for review. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.