Ecojustice
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
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.
n/r
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.
66%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 66 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Ecojustice:
Founded in 1991, Ecojustice uses legal action to defend nature and fight climate change. Through its legal cases, Ecojustice aims to establish laws and rulings that protect environmental rights. The charity’s main office is in Vancouver, with four regional offices in Calgary, Halifax, Ottawa, and Toronto. Ecojustice has fought a total of 86 cases, of which 46 were victorious, 25 are in progress, 14 are closed, and one is under appeal.
Ecojustice groups its advocacy into three main program areas: Climate, Healthy Communities, and Nature. It did not provide a spending breakdown for its programs in F2020.
Ecojustice’s Climate program pursues legal action relating to global warming, carbon emissions, and weak climate regulation. The charity advocates for serious climate action to stop the long-term effects of climate change. In F2020, Ecojustice helped to pass a new Impact Assessment Act in Canada. The act requires governments to consider climate change and Indigenous rights in certain policy assessments. Currently, Ecojustice is undertaking five legal cases involving climate change.
The Healthy Communities program involves legal cases that deal with pollution, chemical waste, and local sustainability. Ecojustice states that Canada has fallen behind more than 110 other countries that legally enshrine the right to live in a healthy environment. In F2020, the Ontario Divisional Court ruled in Ecojustice’s favour in a major case to uphold environmental policy. Judges ruled that provincial officials acted illegally by removing cap and trade programs without public consultation. The charity also has 11 in-progress cases that relate to communities.
The charity’s Nature program urges governments to protect oceans, watersheds, forests, and other vital habitats. Ecojustice also protects national parks from projects that would threaten native wildlife. Ecojustice reports that following its advocacy, Canada established a new Fisheries Act in June 2019. The federal legislation now includes stronger protections for marine habitats. The charity has eight other ongoing nature cases.
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Results and Impact
In F2020, the governments of Ontario and Saskatchewan launched legal challenges against federally-imposed climate policies. Ecojustice successfully intervened to establish legal precedents that affirm the right of federal bodies to enact climate bills. In BC, Ecojustice also secured legal victories to protect Qat’muk, Jumbo Valley from a planned ski resort and Teztan Biny, Fish Lake from a new copper mine. These cases protected culturally-significant land for the Ktunaxa and Tsilhqot’in Indigenous peoples, respectively, as well as habitats for threatened grizzly bears.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Ecojustice’s results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).
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Finances
Ecojustice received $7.3m in Canadian donations in F2020. It also received $635k in international donations and $382k in wage subsidies from the federal government. Administrative costs are 13% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 21% of Canadian donations. This results in total overhead spending of 34%. For every dollar donated, 66 cents go to the cause. This is just within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Ecojustice was previously outside of this reasonable range. However, its fundraising ratio fell in F2020 mainly due to increases in donations by 27%.
Ecojustice has $5.8m in total funding reserves. The charity can cover 115% or 14 months of annual program costs with its existing reserves.
According to its annual filing with the CRA, Ecojustice used external fundraisers in F2020. It paid a total of $244k to external fundraisers during the year. Ecojustice does not report how much these agencies raised. The charity states that these fundraisers do not collect any revenue, but instruct donors to send funds directly to Ecojustice instead.
Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Ecojustice for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 8, 2021 by Eric Zhao.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending October
|
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 13.2% | 15.6% | 14.3% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 20.7% | 25.9% | 21.1% |
| Total overhead spending | 33.9% | 41.5% | 35.4% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 114.9% | 95.0% | 103.3% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 7,301 | 5,732 | 6,302 |
| International donations | 635 | 1,171 | 1,047 |
| Government funding | 382 | 0 | 0 |
| Investment income | 262 | 307 | 7 |
| Other income | 242 | 112 | 86 |
| Total revenues | 8,821 | 7,323 | 7,442 |
| Program costs | 4,555 | 4,485 | 4,271 |
| Grants | 451 | 359 | 326 |
| Administrative costs | 1,128 | 1,093 | 1,066 |
| Fundraising costs | 1,514 | 1,484 | 1,329 |
| Total spending | 7,648 | 7,421 | 6,992 |
| Cash flow from operations | 1,173 | (99) | 450 |
| Capital spending | 18 | 158 | 68 |
| Funding reserves | 5,751 | 4,602 | 4,747 |
Note: Ecojustice’s audited financial statements include government funding in other revenue. Ci removed this amount from other revenue to report it separately. Ci reported international donations, program costs, grants to qualified donees, administrative costs, and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 filings, which reconciled with its financial statements. Ci excluded amortization from expenses, which was classified as other costs in the charity’s T3010 filings. In its F2020 financial statements, Ecojustice restated revenues and expenses for F2019, lowering each by ($467k). Since this restatement applied specifically to grants from foundations and program and travel expenses, Ci has adjusted both donations and program costs by this amount in F2019.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
9 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
The following comment was added to a previous profile update. New comments may be forthcoming.
Ecojustice is committed to operating at the highest standard. Toward this, Ecojustice is certified to the Imagine Canada Standard (https://imaginecanada.ca/en/standards-program) demonstrating excellence and leadership in five key areas of operation:
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 604-685-5618