Ecotrust Canada

312 Main Street
Vancouver, BC V6A 2T2
President & CEO: Chuck Rumsey
Board Co-Chair: Jacqueline Koerner

Charitable Reg. #:89474 9969 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.

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.

77%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 77 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Ecotrust Canada:

Ecotrust Canada is a 5-star charity that is financially transparent. It has an above-average results reporting score of A and reasonable overhead spending of 23%. Ecotrust has reserve funds to cover program costs for one year.

Founded in 1995, Ecotrust Canada (Ecotrust) aims to create a sustainable economy in Canada by funding innovative solutions to environmental and social problems. The charity works with rural, remote, and Indigenous communities to develop methods of improving sustainability. In F2023, Ecotrust spent $3.7m on its five main programs and $229k on its learning agenda and RDEI (race, diversity, equity, inclusion).

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.

Community Fisheries ($1.7m) was 44% of program spending in F2023. Ecotrust Canada advocates for policy changes, strengthens monitoring and management in fishing communities, and promotes transparency in combating illegal, underreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing worldwide with Spyglass, an online database of criminal fishing activities. In F2023, Ecotrust held two fisheries monitor training courses and co-facilitated the third Fisheries for Communities Gathering. Ecotrust also exceeded its coded wire tag targets by 10% for chinook salmon and provided its fisheries monitoring services for 305 days over the fishing season.

Climate Innovation ($634k) was 16% of program spending. Ecotrust Canada aims to develop natural climate solutions – community-led, climate friendly, forest management strategies that fight climate change, create jobs, and protect environmental, social, and cultural values. In F2023, Ecotrust co-developed the First Nations Carbon Toolkit and published “Advancing Indigenous Protected and Conserved Areas (IPCA) through Carbon Financing” for First Nations communities curious about achieving carbon offset projects in Canada.

Community Energy ($578k) was 15% of program spending. Ecotrust Canada believes that new, clean technologies combined with innovative policies and local expertise can eliminate energy insecurity in Canada. In F2023, Ecotrust installed 86 heat pumps in homes across four indigenous communities, which helped approximately 200 people. The charity also facilitated Canada’s first Energy Justice Forum, where over 80 attendees came together to figure out how to end energy insecurity.

Food Systems ($376k) was 10% of program spending. Ecotrust Canada is exploring how Regenerative Ocean Farming (ROF) can be a viable economic, cultural, and sustainable social innovation for Indigenous communities and BC’s North and Central Coast. In F2023, Ecotrust harvested 10,000 lb of winged and sugar kelp on Metlakatla First Nation’s Regenerative Ocean Farm and processed 900 lb of kelp harvested the previous year and turned it into liquid fertilizer. The charity also helped harvest and distribute 1,200 scallops to over 300 Metlakatla members.

Indigenous Homelands ($375k) was 10% of program spending. Ecotrust Canada hopes to mobilize local skills, expertise, Indigenous knowledge systems, and territorial assets to create vibrant and healthy housing ecosystems. In F2023, Ecotrust presented the Indigenous Housing and Homelands Governance Toolkit to over 40 national Indigenous financial institutions and delivered a socioeconomic analysis for the Dasiqox Tribal Park, an Indigenous Protected Conservation Area.

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Results and Impact

Ecotrust installed 86 heat pumps, which will lower energy bills by $7.3m and reduce 943 tonnes of greenhouse gas emissions.

The charity presented the Indigenous Housing and Homelands Governance Toolkit to over 40 national Indigenous financial institutions. By the end of the year, five First Nations and approximately 40 community members had engaged with the toolkit to establish decolonized governance models.

The Fisheries for Communities Gathering generated four media articles that helped build more public awareness.

The Fisheries for Communities Network produced a Proceedings Summary that was shared with provincial and federal governments. This led to provincial politicians speaking out in support of reforming the fisheries licensing policy in a way that supports First Nations, fish harvesters, and coastal communities.

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

This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).

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Finances

Ecotrust Canada had Canadian donations of $1.2m and international donations of $444k in F2023. The charity had government funding of $663k, representing 14% of total revenues.

The charity received consulting revenue of $2.3m, representing 50% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 16% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 8% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 24%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Ecotrust has $3.9m in reserve funds. These reserve funds are the charity’s cash and investments. The charity has 1 year of annual program costs covered by its current reserves.

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

Updated on July 18, 2024, by Lily Ferguson.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202320222021
Administrative costs as % of revenues 15.9%11.2%14.1%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 7.6%1.2%4.0%
Total overhead spending 23.5%12.4%18.2%
Program cost coverage (%) 99.5%118.2%115.9%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $s
202320222021
Donations 1,248,5331,646,2551,408,288
International donations 443,705603,863336,056
Government funding 662,951350,323373,848
Fees for service 2,327,9091,798,1871,786,137
Investment income 138,07058,7807
Other income (133,793)180,179(32,195)
Total revenues 4,687,3754,637,5873,872,141
Program costs 3,966,4223,415,0522,620,382
Administrative costs 724,003512,629547,583
Fundraising costs 94,81219,21856,575
Total spending 4,785,2373,946,8993,224,540
Cash flow from operations (97,862)690,688647,601
Capital spending 25,49212,2299,300
Funding reserves 3,945,9614,037,4253,037,615

Note: Ci adjusted for deferred donations, affecting revenues by ($153k) in F2023, $451k in F2022, and $683k in F2021. Ci also adjusted for other deferred revenue, affecting revenues by ($147k) in F2023, $179k in F2022, and ($59k) in F2021. Ci gathered program, administrative, and fundraising costs from the spending breakdown posted on the charity’s website. Ci removed amortization on a pro-rata basis from administration and program expenses.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 28

Avg. compensation: $89,044

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
1
$120k - $160k
0
$80k - $120k
9
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

These comments were provided for a previous version of this profile.

Ecotrust Canada develops innovative economic solutions that promote environmental sustainability and social equity. For more than 25 years, we’ve been proving it’s possible to create healthy localized economies and resilient communities by embracing the connection between social and environmental well-being. Projects in fisheries, nature-based climate solutions, energy security, housing, and food systems have developed replicable economic models with catalytic potential. But much more work must be done. Like others around the world, we’ve witnessed how easily progress can be unraveled when viable alternatives to broken economic models aren’t readily available. We need to ensure that promising innovations become available to all communities.

 

Charity Contact

Website: www.ecotrust.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 604-682-4141

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001