180 Dundas Street West, Suite 1410
Toronto, ON M5G 1Z8
CEO: Vaughan Dowie
Board Chair: Edyta Pacuk

Charitable Reg. #:87462 7516 RR0001

STAR RATING

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

[Charity Rating: 2/5]

✔+

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.

Low

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.

39%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 39 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Pine River Institute:

Pine River Institute is a two-star charity. It has a great results reporting score of A reflecting the high quality evaluation data posted in its annual report, is financially transparent but has low demonstrated impact. For every dollar donated to the charity, 39 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci's reasonable range. Read Ci's report before giving to this charity.

Founded in 2004 and opened in 2006, Pine River Institute (PRI) is a treatment centre that works with youth who have addiction issues and mental health challenges.

PRI admits students to its treatment centre through four phases of treatment, beginning with 6-8 weeks of living with a small group of students and staff in Algonquin Park. The next phase is living at the Pine River Campus in Shelbourne, Ontario where therapy continues, and youth can earn high school credits. PRI supports clients their families as youth transition back to living at home. The therapeutic approach is suited to meeting the needs of teens rather than strictly applying traditional adult treatment techniques.

Pine River Institute admitted 43 youth in F2021 and 53 youth in F2022. 63% of its students are male and the average age is 17 years. The average length of stay in F2022 was 592 days, but there is no dedicated length of stay. By Dec 31, 2022, 57 youth are still in the program.

PRI offers 36 client spots which are consistently filled, with a waitlist of about 200 families. Low-income clients have costs subsidized by the Ministry of Health. Upon admission, clients pay $17,750, which includes 30 days of treatment fees and an admission deposit refundable after one month in the program. Private beds not funded by the government are available at a rate of $475 per day. In F2022, the waitlist for a Ministry of Health bed was 211 days, which decreased from 304 in F2021.

 

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Results and Impact

The charity received survey responses from parents and youth who were involved with PRI programs as early as 2010. The report reflects substance use, academics, mental health and learning issues, crisis situations, quality of life, and family life of previous clients, comparing outcomes of both those who completed the program and those who left prior to completion. Ci has chosen to highlight some of the report areas that found a statistically significant difference between completers and non-completers.

PRI surveyed 70 youth involved in its phase two treatment process. The charity reports that a youth’s emotional intelligence score increases from 4.1 to 5.5. PRI also measures substance use. Before PRI, 62% of youth report daily use of substances, at an average age of 14. Six months after PRI, daily substance use decreased to 9%, but after three years increased to 31%.

Before the program, 6% of youth stated they had not used drugs in the last three months. Three years after, only 8% of those who completed the program reported no substance use in the past three months, while 21% of those who did not complete the program reported no substance use in the past three months. (Report here).

In 2017, three researchers from McMaster University evaluated the social return on investment of Pine River Institute. The report finds an average return of $7 per dollar spent based on factors including improvements in employment, reduced involvement with the justice system, and reduced hospitalizations for mental illness or substance use. The study unfortunately appears not to account for the overhead costs associated with operating the Pine Rive Foundation. 

Assuming an average of 57 youth are in the program, the average cost per youth in treatment is $158,775 each year.

Impact Rating: Low

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Finances

Charity Intelligence consolidated Pine River Institute’s (PRI) and Pine River Foundation’s (PRF) financial statements. This provides donors with a fuller picture of Pine River's operations in our opinion.

Pine River received $968k in donations in F2023. The charity also received $8.6m in government funding, representing 80% of total revenue. Pine River received $1.0m in fees for service, which represents private beds paid for. Using this number, the charity provided 2,105 private bed nights in F2023.

Administrative costs are 21% of revenue (excluding investment income), and fundraising costs are 39% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 61%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 39 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci’s reasonable range.

Pine River has $4.0m in reserve funds, which can cover 55%, or seven months of its annual program costs.

Analyst notes: Pine River's costs are not allocated by activities like program costs, fundraising costs, and management and administrative costs. Charity Intelligence reports this information from the charity's T3010 annual filings. In F2023 and F2022, the PRI sent more money to the foundation than it received. 

This charity profile is an update that has been sent to Pine River Institute for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on October 24, 2023, by Liam Chapleau. Updated December 6, 2023 to reflect Pine River's full financial transparency and the information now posted for 2023 in its T3010 filings.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March
202320222021
Administrative costs as % of revenues 21.2%17.7%18.7%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 39.4%16.3%22.6%
Total overhead spending 60.6%34.0%41.3%
Program cost coverage (%) 55.4%65.7%64.8%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202320222021
Donations 9681,5181,633
Government funding 8,6156,4394,512
Fees for service 1,0121,7121,241
Investment income 5998
Other income 35034
Total revenues 10,65710,1817,398
Program costs 7,1645,6674,540
Administrative costs 2,2461,8011,379
Fundraising costs 382247370
Other costs 00(60)
Total spending 9,7927,7156,229
Cash flow from operations 8642,4661,170
Capital spending 000
Funding reserves 3,9693,7262,941

Note: Ci consolidated the operating charity Pine River Institute's and the its related party, the foundation's financial statements. As such, Ci excluded donations to and from the foundation. To report on a cash basis, Ci included deferred funding, impacting revenue by ($265k) in F2023, $265k in F2022, and ($nil) in F2021. Due to the charity not using activity-based costing, Charity Intelligence used PRI’s T3010 filing with the CRA to report its administrative, fundraising, and program costs. Amortization was removed from administrative, fundraising, and program costs on a pro-rata basis.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 66

Avg. compensation: $58,981

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
2
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
2
$80k - $120k
3
$40k - $80k
3
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

Charity Contact

Website: www.pineriverinstitute.com
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-955-1453

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