Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada is a 3-star charity. It has a B+ results reporting grade, which is above average. Its funding reserves are outside Ci’s reasonable range and can cover four and a half years of annual program costs. For every dollar donated to Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, 63 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci’s reasonable range.

Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada (Heart & Stroke) aims to raise awareness and fund research to fight heart disease and stroke. Since its founding in 1952, the charity has led efforts to reduce the impact of these diseases, which remain among the leading causes of death in Canada. Heart & Stroke reports that approximately six million Canadians are living with heart disease or stroke, and that these conditions take a life every five minutes. It also states that up to eight in ten cases of premature stroke and heart disease can be prevented through lifestyle and behaviours, and thus reducing risk factors is crucial to promoting lifelong health.

Heart & Stroke’s programs include Health Promotion and Advocacy, and Research. In F2025, the charity spent $62.2m on its programs and research grants.

Health Promotion and Advocacy represented 63% ($39.0m) of program costs in F2025. Heart & Stroke works to reduce risk factors, increase awareness, and advocate for healthier public policy. In F2025, the charity launched the Heart & Stroke Risk Screen tool to help Canadians assess and manage their risk factors, with an awareness campaign resulting in 62,000 assessments. More than 967,000 students participated in Jump Rope for Heart, an 18% increase from F2024. Heart & Stroke's resuscitation training program issued 485,000 certifications, a 3% increase from the previous year. The charity also worked to expand its FAST stroke awareness campaign and generated over 300 million impressions in F2025.

Research represented 37% ($23.2m) of program costs in F2025. Heart & Stroke funds research to advance the prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care of heart disease and stroke. In F2025, its grants supported 1,059 researchers and trainees across Canada. The charity funded 14 doctoral and post-doctoral awards in women's heart and brain health, four awards for Indigenous scholars, and 14 awards for Black scholars to support the next generation of cardiovascular and stroke researchers. The five largest grant recipients according to its T3010 filing with the CRA were University of Alberta ($1.8m), McMaster University ($1.7m), UHN Foundation ($1.6m), University of Toronto ($1.5m), and University of Calgary ($1.4m).

Of note: Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada reportedly funded the dog testing research at St. Joseph's Hospital. This research induced three-hour heart attacks in dogs and puppies and euthanized the dogs involved in the research. Click here to learn more. 

Heart & Stroke’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 $122.8m in F2025. It received $99.8m in donations and special events revenue, representing 76% of revenue and $4.7m in government funding. Investment income was $21.5m, equal to 18% of revenue.

Heart & Stroke ran a lottery in F2025 that raised $28.5m and cost $23.2m, earning $5.3m net of expenses. For every dollar given through the lottery, the charity retains just 19%. 

The charity spent $62.2m on its programs, which is 51% of its revenue. Heart & Stroke recorded a surplus of $23.9m in F2025, equal to 19% of revenue.

Administrative costs were $2.3m, representing 2% of revenue (excluding investment income). It spent $34.4m on fundraising, equal to 34% of donations. Total overhead spending was 37%. For every dollar donated to Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada, 63 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range.

Heart & Stroke uses external fundraisers, as reported on its T3010 filing with the CRA. In F2025, the charity paid the external fundraisers $4.5m to collect $29.9m in donations. This equates to a cost of 15 cents to raise one dollar using external fundraisers.

The charity held $284.4m in reserve funds (cash and investments) in F2025, of which $6.9m was donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity’s reserves can cover four and a half years of annual program costs. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range, as the charity has been for the past four years.

Heart & Stroke's $288.9m in cash and investments earned $21.5m, at an 8% rate of return. Over the past five years, its investments averaged a 5% rate of return.

This is a charity update that has been sent to Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada by Neela Jalilian on July 15, 2026.