Founded in 1991, Evergreen is an urban environmental charity that aims to create community spaces with environmental, social, and economic benefits. It envisions a world of sustainable cities that connect people with nature. Currently with 12 active projects, Evergreen works with governments, corporate partners, and local groups to improve urban areas. The charity has a national office in Toronto and a location in Ottawa.

Evergreen offers two main programs: Evergreen Brick Works and National programs.

Evergreen Brick Works made up 58% of program costs in F2019. In 2010, the charity opened Evergreen Brick Works as Canada’s first large-scale community environmental centre. Located in Toronto, the public venue offers events that teach visitors how to live and work with more sustainability in mind. Evergreen Brick Works also hosts several social enterprises, each devoted to sustainable and ethical business practices. In 2018, Evergreen states that it engaged 175,000 visitors on issues facing Canadian cities. The charity also reports around 500,000 annual visitors at its Evergreen Brick Works public markets, which feature food and artisan goods sold by local businesses.

In 2016, Evergreen began a second major construction project to redevelop one of its buildings as the TD Future Cities Centre. Renovations to the 53,000 square foot building included low-carbon features to reduce its emissions by 95% and energy use by 75%. The facility now operates as a national hub for Future Cities Canada, a new initiative that hosts summits to connect city builders from across the world. The goal of Future Cities Canada is to promote urban innovation and address challenges facing cities today. Evergreen held its inaugural Future Cities Canada Summit in 2018 with 850 city builders in attendance.

National programs made up the remaining 42% of program costs in F2019. Evergreen runs various programs across Canada to promote healthy and dynamic urban spaces. These include public art projects and park revitalization efforts. In 2018, Evergreen helped open two new parks in Kitchener and install an art display at Don Valley River Park. Evergreen’s other projects during the year included community garden spaces and food waste workshops.

Evergreen’s audited financial statements do not break out government funding and investment income from donations and fees for service. Ci reported this data from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. Evergreen’s F2019 filing was not available at the time of this report, meaning that F2019 fundraising and overhead ratios are likely understated.

Evergreen is a Large charity, with donations of $10.8m in F2019. It received $11.7m in program fees, representing 52% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 9% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 9% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 17%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 83 cents go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Evergreen’s interest-bearing liabilities of ($3.1m) exceed its liquid assets of $1.7m, resulting in a negative program cost coverage ratio. These liabilities mainly represent debts needed to finance Evergreen Brick Works and the TD Future Cities Centre. When excluding debts, Evergreen’s gross funding reserves can cover 10% or one month of annual program costs. This shows a need for funding.

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

Updated on August 12, 2020 by Eric Zhao.