Amnesty International Canada is a financially transparent 3-star charity. Its results reporting grade is a C, which is below average. Its overhead costs are 45%, which is outside Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover eight months of annual program costs. 

Founded in 1974, Amnesty International Canada (AIC) is the Canadian arm of Amnesty International (AI). AI is a global movement of over ten million people in over 170 countries. It looks to prevent and end human rights abuses. AIC calls attention to human rights abuses by writing messages, influencing legislation and policy, and running national campaigns. Within Canada, AIC states that there are ongoing issues of Indigenous rights, gender-based violence, systemic racism, and climate change, among others. 

Charity Intelligence calculates AIC spent $8.2m on its programs in 2024. AIC breaks down its program spending by Canadian and international program costs in the notes to its audited financial statements. Ci did not find a program spending breakdown on the charity’s website.

Canadian programs received 64% ($5.2m) of program spending in 2024. AIC funds research, investigations, and reports on Canadian human rights abuses. It also runs campaigns where people sign petitions and message government officials. AIC reports that the Wet’suwet’en Nation has long opposed the construction of a fossil fuel pipeline through its ancestral territory, yet it is being built anyways. The charity reports that 153 people sent a message to the BC premier about this issue. It also reports that 6,301 people sent an email message about ending immigrant detention to the Canadian government.

International programs received 36% ($3.0m) of program spending in 2024. AIC speaks out about international human rights abuses and campaigns to help end them. The charity reports that 4,266 people signed its petition asking that those responsible for crimes against Ukraine under international law be brought to justice. It also reports that 5,747 people sent an email message to the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo asking him to end evictions in Kolwezi.

In 2019, a review of Amnesty International's workplace culture was conducted following the death by suicide of two of its employees. This review characterized AI's workplace culture as “toxic,” with prevalent bullying, public humiliation, sexism, and other abuses of power. Following this report, Amnesty International's Secretary-General, Kumi Naidoo, resigned. In 2021, another review of AI found it had a culture of white privilege, with incidents of overt racism. 

In July 2021, Amnesty International Canada commissioned an equity and diversity review of its workplace environment and practices after many incidents reported by employees. The reviewers found that there is a “prevalence of systemic racism and other forms of oppression” within AIC. In November 2021, AIC added an Equity, People and Culture Director to its staff. 

In 2022, AI released a press release entitled “Ukraine: Ukrainian fighting tactics endanger civilians.” It was criticized for blaming the Ukraine military for the civilian death toll. In response, Amnesty International conducted an internal review. The review panel determined that the analysis was “not sufficiently detailed and reasoned.” AI subsequently apologized.

Amnesty International Canada’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. Its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.

In 2024 AIC received $14.2m in donations. Administrative costs are 16% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 29% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 45%. For every dollar donated, 55 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

In 2024 AIC spent $8.2m on its programs, which is 56% of its revenue. In 2024 it had a surplus of $34k.

AIC has $5.6m in reserve funds (cash and investments). The reserves can cover 69%, or eight months of program costs.

AIC’s most recent T3010 filing at the time of this update was from 2023. In 2023, AIC paid external fundraisers $2.7m who collected $3.2m in donations. This means it cost AIC 83 cents to raise $1 using external fundraisers. It is likely more cost efficient to directly donate to the charity.

In 2024, Amnesty International Canada allocated $4.5m to Amnesty International Limited, a separate entity based in London, England. These funds were designated for action strategies, grassroots activism, and marketing. Ci has subtracted this amount from domestic program costs and re-allocated it to international program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Amnesty International Canada. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on July 25, 2025, by Grady Simpson.