Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society

506-250 City Center Avenue
Ottawa, ON K1R 6K7
Executive Director: Éric Hébert-Daly
President: Mike Robinson

Website: www.cpaws.org
Charitable Reg. #: 10686 5272 RR0001
Sector: Environment
Operating Charity

Charity Rating

[Charity Rating: 4/4]

Results Reporting

Grade: B+

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

Financial Transparency

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity's website [Audited financial statement for most recent year]

Need for Funding

donor
endowed
Funding Reserves Program Costs

Spending Breakdown

Cents to the Cause

♦ ♦ ♦
95¢
75¢
avg
65¢
50¢
2015 2016 2017
For a dollar donated, cents funding the cause after fundraising and admin costs, excluding surplus.

Full-time staff #25

Avg. Compensation $58,454

Top 10 Staff Salary Range

$350k + 0
$300k - $350k 0
$250k - $300k 0
$200k - $250k 0
$160k - $200k 0
$120k - $160k 0
$80k - $120k 5
$40k - $80k 5
< $40k 0
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2017

About Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society:

Founded in 1963, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society (CPAWS) is a national charity that fights for the protection and conservation of public land and water. Its vision is to have legal protection for at least 50% of Canada’s public water and land in the future. In its 2017 Year in Review report, the charity states that at the end of 2017, only 10.6% of land and freshwater in Canada was protected. This lags behind the global average of 15%. Since its formation, CPAWS has been involved in protecting two-thirds of Canada’s currently protected parkland. This represents over half a million square kilometers of land and water.

Most of CPAWS’s program spending (87% in F2017) is on conservation programs that increase protection of wildlife, parks, forests, oceans and grasslands in Canada. The charity works with different levels of government policy makers to protect these major areas of Canadian wilderness. Major accomplishments of the charity in F2017 include the Government of Canada committing $1.3 billion in 2018 in new funding for the protection of species at risk and protected areas. Additionally, after five years of work, the Rouge National Urban Park near Toronto is finally properly protected. By 2020, CPAWS aims to protect 17% of Canada’s wild spaces and 10% of Canada’s oceans.

The rest of CPAWS’s program spending (13% in F2017) is on raising awareness explaining the importance of having legal protection for Canada’s land and water. The charity has 13 chapters across Canada that focus on specific local wilderness conservation campaigns.

Results and Impact: After CPAWS’s advocacy to policy makers, the federal government completed the designation for St. Anns Bank as a marine protected area in June 2017. This represents protection of 4,364 square km of water that includes habitat for the endangered leatherback sea turtle, Atlantic cod and Atlantic wolfish. The charity also impacted the announcement of BC’s Hecate Strait as a marine protected area in February 2017.

Financial Review:

Charity Intelligence has consolidated CPAWS and the Foundation for Canadian Parks and Wilderness. Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society is a Large charity with total donations of $5.0m in F2017. Administrative costs are 14% of revenues and fundraising costs are 9% of donations. Per dollar donated, $0.77 goes to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. CPAWS holds funding reserves of $3.6m, of which $1.3m are donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity’s reserves can cover 7 months of program costs, indicating a need for donations.

Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society uses external fundraisers as part of its fundraising activities. In F2017, CPAWS reported paying $59k to external fundraisers. The charity has not reported the revenue raised by the external fundraisers on behalf of the charity for any of the past 3 years in its T3010 CRA filings.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 11, 2018 by Derek Houlberg.

Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March 		201720162015
Administrative costs as % of revenues 14.2%12.6%13.6%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 9.3%9.3%9.8%
Program cost coverage (%) 95.0%93.1%68.6%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s 		201720162015
Donations 5,0014,8524,605
Government funding 299226105
Investment income 112
Total revenues 5,3005,0794,712
Program costs 3,7873,7003,706
Administrative costs 753637641
Fundraising costs 464449449
Cash flow from operations 296293(83)
Funding reserves 3,5993,4432,542
Note: Ci reported donations to the Foundation for CPAWS as donations, increasing total revenue by $91 in F2017 and $125 in F2015. Ci reported investment income for the Foundation as investment income, increasing total revenue by $946 in F2017, $1,224 in F2016 and $1,997 in F2015. Ci adjusted for deferred donations, increasing total donations by $444k in F2017, ($33k) in F2016 and ($37k) in F2015. To report on a cash basis, Ci backed out amortization of deferred lease incentives from operations costs, reducing administrative costs by $1k in F2016 and $6k in F2015. Ci reported bank charges for the Foundation, increasing administrative costs by $35 in F2017, $41 in F2016 and $36 in F2015. Ci reported professional fees for the Foundation, increasing administrative costs by $3k in F2017, $3k in F2016 and $3k in F2015.

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