2001 Bantree Street
Ottawa, ON K1B 4X3
CEO: Rachael Wilson
Board Chair: Michaela Tokarski

Charitable Reg. #:10808 2363 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 5/5]

✔+

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.

A

RESULTS REPORTING

Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

Good

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.

83%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 83 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Ottawa Food Bank:

Ottawa Food Bank is a 5-star charity. It has Good demonstrated impact, reasonable overhead spending and is financially transparent. 

Founded in 1984, Ottawa Food Bank collects, buys, grows, and distributes food to people facing food insecurity across the Ottawa region. Ottawa Food Bank is the major distributor for 112 partner agencies and emergency food programs. These include local food banks, food cupboards, meal programs, social service agencies, and after-school clubs. 

A Charity Intelligence 2023 Top 100 Rated Charity

Ottawa Food Bank’s 2022 Hunger Report researches the root causes of hunger and poverty, including low income, homelessness, and the high cost of living. It states that 1 in 7 households in Ottawa reported experiencing food insecurity in 2022, compared to 1 in 15 in 2017. The report states that 36% of Ottawa Food Bank’s clients are children and youth, 5% of clients are babies under the age of two, and that 7% of clients are seniors. 

Ottawa Food Bank’s main program is food distribution. It also runs various community projects, such as fresh produce farming and food recovery programs. In F2022, 84% of total spending went to programs. This amounts to $20.1m. Out of this, 31% went to food purchases, 47% went to food donations distributed, and the remaining 22% went to programs, grants and operations.

In F2022, Ottawa Food Bank distributed $9.4m in donated food, household supplies, and hygiene products, and spent a further $6.3m on buying food. Ottawa Food Bank CEO Rachel Wilson said that "before covid we were spending $2 million a year on food. This coming year we're going to spend $6 million."

In F2022, the Ottawa Food Bank received a total of 403,467 client visits, a 30% increase compared to F2021. In total, it distributed 10.3 million pounds of food during the year (7.1 million in F2021). In F2022, Ottawa Food Bank also gave out 205k pounds of household supplies (134k in F2021) and 248k pounds of diapers (143k in F2021). The charity states that fresh food accounts for 41% of its distributed food. The remainder of its food distributions includes 24% canned goods; 34% cereal, grains, snacks, and desserts; and 1% baby food.

In response to the covid-19 pandemic, Ottawa Food Bank created an emergency food hamper program. In F2022, this program helped provide 574k pounds of emergency food supplies.

Ottawa Food Bank also runs other community programs. The charity’s KickStart After 4 Clubs program provides healthy snacks to school-aged children. In F2022 it helped provide 57.4k snacks to children through 18 after-school programs. Ottawa Food Bank also has a Baby Basics Program that ensures parents and babies have access to baby food and other supplies, such as diapers and formula. In F2022, Ottawa Food Bank expanded its Summer Nutrition Program, that gives low-income children three nutritious meals a day during the summer. The program reaches 2,650 children weekly. The charity also runs a Community Harvest Farm, which harvested 179.7k pounds of fresh produce during the year.

In March 2023, Ottawa Food Bank transferred to a new location. The new warehouse is 51,000 square feet compared to 21,000 square feet for the previous location. CEO Rachel Wilsons states that previously OFB was turning away around "$80,000 to $100,000 every year of produce" due to lack of space. 

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Results and Impact

Ottawa Food Bank states that every dollar donated allows it to buy $5 worth of food, thanks to its industry partners and bulk purchases.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Ottawa Food Bank’s results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has scored Ottawa Food Bank as Good impact based on its demonstrated impact per dollar spent. 

Impact Rating: Good

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Finances

Ottawa Food Bank received $17.8m in cash donations and special events revenue, as well as $9.4m in donated food and hygiene products in F2022.  It also received $392k in municipal government funding during the year. Administration costs are 5% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 13% of cash donations and special events revenue. This results in total overhead spending of 17%. For every dollar donated, 83 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Ottawa Food Bank has $22.5m in reserve funds. These reserve funds are Ottawa Food Bank’s cash and investments.  Excluding the cost of donated goods, its funding reserves can cover 2.1 years of annual program costs. Increased cash flow from operations due to higher donations during covid-19 has caused an increase in funding reserves of $18.1m since F2019. 

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Ottawa Food Bank for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on June 5, 2023 by Alessandra Castino

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending September
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 4.6%4.0%3.5%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 12.7%11.7%9.8%
Total overhead spending 17.3%15.8%13.3%
Program cost coverage (%) 210.1%243.5%193.5%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202220212020
Donations 16,27414,81817,394
Goods in kind 9,4248,70510,708
Government funding 3924281,340
Special events 1,5241,894950
Investment income (692)112108
Total revenues 26,92225,95730,499
Program costs 10,3787,0505,821
Grants 3251,0771,221
Donated goods exp 9,4248,70510,708
Administrative costs 1,2711,0451,071
Fundraising costs 2,2521,9601,791
Total spending 23,65019,83720,611
Cash flow from operations 3,2726,1209,888
Capital spending 1,358259408
Funding reserves 22,48619,79113,623

Note: Ci adjusted for deferred capital contributions and deferred donations, affecting revenues by $639k in F2022, ($31k) in F2021 and $226k in F2020. Ci excluded amortization of deferred capital contributions, affecting revenues by ($126k) in F2022, ($90k) in F2021 and ($58k) in F2020. Ci subtracted unrealized loss from investment income, affecting investment income by ($802k) in F2022. Ottawa Food Bank includes amortization (a non-cash expense) in its program, administrative and fundraising costs. These costs are broken out in detail in Financial Note 8 of its audited financial statements. Ci consistently shows OFB's program, administrative and fundraising costs before amortization charges. As such, our figures are slightly lower than what OFB reports in its annual T3010 filing. Ci used the charity's T3010 to report cash grants to donees which were adjusted out of program expenses.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 39

Avg. compensation: $77,477

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
2
$80k - $120k
6
$40k - $80k
2
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.ottawafoodbank.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

News articles: Matthew Lapierre, "Inflation is driving Ottawa food bank use to record highs, no end in sight", Ottawa Citizen, September 20, 2022

Tel: 613-745-7001

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001