2025 Top 100 Rated Charities

2025 Top 100 Rated Charities

Charity Intelligence 2025 Top 100 Rated Charities 

Charities are listed alphabetically by sector. Click on the charity's name to read Charity Intelligence's full report.

The list is also available in pdf format.

 

  ANIMAL WELFARE
  Alberta Animal Rescue Crew Society (AARCS)
  Calgary Humane Society
  Toronto Humane Society
  EDUCATION
  Cornwall Alternative School
  East York Learning Experience
  EPIC Society
  JUMP Math
  Pathways to Education
NEW TakingITGlobal
NEW Visions of Science
  ENVIRONMENT
  Bruce Trail Conservancy
 NEW Ecojustice
  Ecotrust Canada
  Escarpment Biosphere Conservancy
  Georgian Bay Forever
  International Conservation Fund of Canada
  FOOD BANKS & FOOD DISTRIBUTORS
  Backpack Buddies
  Calgary Food Bank
NEW Cambridge Food Bank
  Daily Bread Food Bank
  Edmonton's Food Bank
  Feed Nova Scotia
  Feed Ontario
NEW Food Banks Canada
  Food for Life Canada
  Greater Vancouver Food Bank
  Hamilton Food Share
NEW Harvest Manitoba
  Interfaith Food Bank Society of Lethbridge
NEW Kamloops Food Bank
  MADA Community Center
  Moisson Montreal
  Moisson Quebec
  Ottawa Food Bank
  Regina & District Food Bank
  Second Harvest
NEW Surrey Food Bank
  The Compass
 

FUNDRAISING ORGANIZATIONS

  United Way of Calgary and Area
  HEALTH
  CUPS Calgary Society
NEW George Hull Centre for Children and Families
NEW Distress Centres of Greater Toronto
  HOMELESS SHELTERS AND HOUSING SERVICES
  Fresh Start Recovery Centre
NEW Harvest House Ministries of Ottawa
  Inn from the Cold
NEW Scott Mission
  Street Health
NEW Tamarack Recovery Centre
  INDIGENOUS
  Indspire
  Water First
  INTERNATIONAL AID
NEW Alongside Hope
  Canadian Foodgrains Bank
  Canadian Lutheran World Relief
  Chalice Canada
  Citizens' Foundation Canada
  CODE
  Compassion Canada
  Doctors Without Borders
  Effect Hope
  ERDO
  Farm Radio International
NEW Hope and Healing International
  Humanitarian Coalition
  International Development and Relief Foundation
NEW Islamic Relief Canada
  Lifewater Canada
  Mennonite Central Committee Canada
NEW Operation Eyesight Universal
  Opportunity International Canada
  Ryan's Well
  SEVA Canada
NEW ShelterBox Canada
  Tearfund Canada
NEW War Child Canada
  World Renew
  World Vision Canada
  SOCIAL SERVICES - GRANT DISTRIBUTORS
  Calgary Homeless Foundation
  Mennonite Central Committee Ontario
  UNIVERSITIES
  McMaster University
  Memorial University of Newfoundland
  Simon Fraser University
  University of Alberta
  University of Calgary
  University of Manitoba
  University of New Brunswick
  University of Saskatchewan
  York University
  VETERANS
  Veterans Transition Network
  WOMEN
  Discovery House
  Fear Is Not Love Society
  RESET Society of Calgary
  YOUTH SOCIAL SERVICES AND AT-RISK YOUTH
  Aunt Leah's
  Big Brothers Big Sisters of Calgary and Area
  Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada
  Moorelands Community Services
  President's Choice Children's Charity
  StepStones for Youth
  Boundless School
  Toronto Foundation for Student Success
NEW Youth Without Shelter

     

 

The 2025 giving season begins. Giving money away is easy, but giving done well takes effort. For the many generous donors who don’t have the time for research and due diligence, Charity Intelligence’s 2025 Top 100 list highlights those charities that rate the highest relative to their peers.

Be curious! Check out the charities on the Top 100 2025 list. The Top 100 list is a handy tool for your giving. Indeed, 20% of you use Charity Intelligence’s Top Charities list and give to charities you had never given to before. The 2025 Top 100 list covers all the sectors from animal charities to United Ways, health, education and environmental charities. The internationals are always the most popular.

Charity Intelligence’s research reports on Canadian charities help you be informed and give intelligently. 89% of donors say that Charity Intelligence’s reports make them feel better informed about their giving. And with these facts and figures, you feel more confident in your giving. Our survey says that, with greater confidence, you give 21% more money.

Each year since 2014 Charity Intelligence has released the Top 100 list of charities based on our ongoing research and analysis of Canadian charities. Each year only 100 charities earn the highest 5-star rating. Charity Intelligence’s ratings strive to strengthen philanthropy by rewarding charities that have world-class disclosure about results reporting and spending.

Key highlights from 2025’s research

Small improvements across the board. Today, Canadian charities are more financially transparent and accountable than ever before. The annual progress is incremental but meaningful in such a huge sector that receives an estimated $22 billion in donations.

20 charities are new to the 2025 Top 100 list. Congratulations to these new charities and to all those that have worked hard to improve their disclosure about their results, activities and spending.

In 2025, Charity Intelligence updated 418 charity reports so you have the most recent and relevant data to make your giving decisions. Our research analysts use a charity’s audited financial statements. This gives you higher data quality and information faster than it is released in the CRA Charities Directorate’s data base.

Charity Intelligence is independent and objective. Our research is funded by donors, for donors. Charities do not pay for this analysis. If you appreciate Charity Intelligence’s work, please consider a donation to Charity Intelligence.

What makes a 5-star charity?

Each day, Charity Intelligence receives emails from charities across Canada asking about being rated and what it takes to be a 5-star Top 100 charity. Charity Intelligence uses standardized metrics.

Financial transparency

Charities are public organizations registered to provide a public benefit. Best practice is to have the audited financial statements posted on the charity’s website. Pie charts in annual reports don’t get points for financial transparency. Canadian donors expect charities to be financially transparent. Most charities (78%) meet donors’ expectations.

Results reporting

Charities should not just be judged solely on financial metrics but by their social results. Charity Intelligence uses the Keystone Six questions to evaluate a charity’s disclosure about its results for the year. Most Canadian charities lag behind international standards in results reporting, especially compared to the disclosure of British and Australian charities. The Top 100 charities report their results at world class levels and average an A grade, with disclosure 53% higher than the rest of the charities.

Need for funding

Donors are well familiar with charity overhead ratios, how much is spent on fundraising and administration. In contrast, a charity’s need for funding is rarely assessed. Some charities fundraise because they can rather than because they have a need for donations. Donors need to evaluate a charity’s financial need for donations. The Top 100 charities have a financial cushion of 1 year compared to the rest of charities that have reserve funds that cover program spending for 2.9 years. In the extreme, 125 Canadian charities have reserve funds that amply cover five years or more of program spending. The reserve funds of these 125 “rich charities” total $14.6 billion.

Cents to the cause

The Top 100 charities are more cost-efficient. The Top 100 charities have overhead spending that averaged 18%, with 82 cents going to the cause in 2025. The rest of the charities have overhead spending of 29%. For most charities, overhead spending is in a reasonable range. One disturbing trend is the growing number of charities that are “offside” with high fundraising costs. The CRA’s guidance is that charities should not spend more than 35% of fundraising revenues on fundraising costs. In 2025’s research, 82 charities spent over the 35% fundraising limit. The rampant spending on fundraising by a few charities puts pressure on other charities to keep up or lose out as “everyone else is doing it”. This can create a spiral trend of higher overhead costs, reduced productivity, and dilution for donors. Donors have an important role to play in arresting this negative cycle.

Demonstrated impact

Measuring a charity’s impact is complex, especially given scarce program data and the results charities report. Impact looks at how well a charity’s programs change lives, its effectiveness (not cost efficiency). It measures the value the charity’s programs create. For example, a charity could be “cheap” with low overhead spending, but its programs might not create change (ineffective). There are many do gooders. Impact looks for the good doers. For the Top 100, where Charity Intelligence has measured the demonstrated impact, the impact must be at least average. Average is an SROI of approximately 1.5 to 1. For charities where Charity Intelligence has not measured impact, this shows as n/r (not rated) and it does not affect the charity’s star rating.

What makes a 5-star charity in 2025?

 

Last word

To get a higher star rating from Charity Intelligence, Toronto Foundation for Student Success said it improved its program evaluation. Since then, it began to review the program data. The data helped TFSS improve the services it offers to the children and families it serves. Data is dry and dull, but we see data's great potential to help charities and donors improve.  

Charity Intelligence’s work strives to strengthen giving by providing independent and objective research donors can use to give intelligently and so their giving can make the biggest difference.

If you find Charity Intelligence’s research useful in your giving, please consider donating to support our workBeing entirely funded by donors like you maintains our independence and objectivity to help Canadians be informed in their giving. Canadians donate over $19 billion each year. This giving could achieve tremendous results. We hope Charity Intelligence's research helps Canadians give better.

 

References:

Angus Reid survey "Philanthropy, Pandemic & Political Scandal: Covid-19 curtails donor giving (estimate from survey responses), WE affair weakens trust in charities, September 17, 2020.

 

Legal disclaimer:

The information in this report was prepared by Charity Intelligence Canada and its independent analysts from publicly-available information. Charity Intelligence and its analysts have made endeavours to ensure that the data in this report is accurate and complete but accept no liability.

The views and opinions expressed are to inform donors in matters of public interest. Views and opinions are not intended to malign any religion, ethnic group, organization, individual or anyone or anything. Any dispute arising from your use of this website or viewing the material hereon shall be governed by the laws of the Province of Ontario, without regard to any conflict of law provisions.  


طباعة   البريد الإلكتروني
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Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors to be informed and give intelligently. Our website posts free reports on more than 800 Canadian charities, as well as in-depth primers on philanthropic sectors like Canada’s environment, cancer, and homelessness. Today over 500,000 Canadians use our website as a go-to source for information on Canadian charities reading over 1.6 million charity reports. Through rigorous and independent research, Charity Intelligence aims to assist Canada’s dynamic charitable sector in being more transparent, accountable and focused on results.

 

Be Informed. Give Intelligently. Have Impact

 

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