Wilderness Committee
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.
B+
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.
60%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 60 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Wilderness Committee:
Western Canada Wilderness Committee is a 4-star charity. The charity has a B+ Results Reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead spending is 40%, outside Ci’s reasonable range, and its reserve funds can cover just under 8 months of annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
Founded in 1980, Western Canada Wilderness Committee (WCWC) works to protect Canada’s natural environment through research and public education. WCWC has offices in Manitoba, Ontario, and British Columbia. The charity reports that it reaches 12 million people each year through its awareness activities. WCWC has three main campaign areas: Protecting Nature, Defending Wildlife, and Fighting Climate Change. The charity does not provide a breakdown of spending on these programs.
Through its Protecting Nature program, WCWC advocates for the protection of provincial parks, forests, grasslands, and freshwater sources. In F2023, the charity published the Manitoba Duck Mountain Region Audit to analyse the impacts of logging in provincial parks, visiting 37 sections of logging roads and completing over 40km of inspections on foot. In a cross-Canada tour, the charity visited 11 locations to raise awareness on old-growth logging and at-risk species in F2023.
The Defending Wildlife program campaigns for the protection of wildlife, especially species at risk, and their habitats. The species that the charity works to protect include the spotted owl, southern mountain caribou, boreal woodland caribou, and bees. The Wilderness Committee reported that it gathered 10,910 signatures for a petition to ban neonics, collaborating with 14 other environmental organizations to achieve nearly half a million signatures in total.
The Fighting Climate Change program opposes gas, coal, and oil expansion with the goal of reducing emissions from these non-renewable energy sources. In F2024, the charity reported that its petition opposing liquified natural gas and fracking in B.C. gathered 113,987 signatures, with 76,336 signatures coming from B.C. residents.
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Results and Impact
After pressure from Western Canada Wilderness Committee and its partners Line in the Sand and Manitoba Eco-Network, the charity reported that the Manitoba silica sand mine was stopped in January 2024. The charity also reports that the Manitoba government rejected an experimental drilling proposal for the aquifers in Eastern Manitoba in February 2024.
The charity reported that 97 per cent of the harmful herbicide spraying planned throughout Ma’amtagila and neighboring Kwakwaka’wakw Nations territory did not proceed in F2023.
In September 2023, WCWC’s boots-on-the-ground teams discovered new mining claims in Nopiming Provincial Park, where industrial activity, including mining, is prohibited under the Manitoba Provincial Parks Act. After making this discovery, WCWC reported that it demanded a response from the Manitoba government affirming they will uphold the law and ban mining in parks.
This may not be a complete representation of Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s results and impact.
The charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r), this does not affect its star rating.
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Finances
Western Canada Wilderness Committee’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means that its expenses are clearly defined between program, administration, and fundraising categories.
The charity received $3.4m in Canadian donations and $272k in international donations in F2024. It reported $11k in investment income in F2024.
The charity spent $508k on administration, which is 14% of revenues in F2024. It spent $878k on fundraising, which is 26% of donations. This means that the total overhead costs are 40%. For every dollar donated, 60 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Charity Intelligence’s reasonable range of 65 to 95 cents.
The charity reported a surplus of $239k and recorded $1.2m in its net reserve fund. This fund can cover 63%, or just under 8 months, of annual program costs. This is with Charity Intelligence’s reasonable limit of 300%.
Profile updated by Leah Holmes on June 13, 2025. This charity report is an update that has been sent to the charity for review. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending April
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 13.7% | 14.6% | 13.8% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 26.1% | 27.7% | 25.1% |
Total overhead spending | 39.7% | 42.4% | 38.9% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 62.5% | 63.4% | 67.4% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 3,369,464 | 3,100,746 | 2,903,564 |
International donations | 271,629 | 87,944 | 1,869 |
Goods in kind | 159,060 | 85,671 | 0 |
Business activities (net) | (85,389) | (100,358) | (52,778) |
Investment income | 10,680 | (261) | 0 |
Other income | 7,927 | 7,843 | 13,175 |
Total revenues | 3,733,371 | 3,181,585 | 2,865,830 |
Program costs | 1,949,120 | 1,710,485 | 1,529,435 |
Donated goods exp | 159,060 | 85,671 | 0 |
Administrative costs | 508,342 | 465,947 | 396,373 |
Fundraising costs | 877,970 | 859,493 | 728,172 |
Total spending | 3,494,492 | 3,121,596 | 2,653,980 |
Cash flow from operations | 238,879 | 59,989 | 211,850 |
Capital spending | 10,899 | 12,537 | 12,770 |
Funding reserves | 1,218,372 | 1,084,910 | 1,030,910 |
Note: Ci reported the sale of educational materials net of direct expenses in business activities, affecting total revenue and expenses by ($129k) in F2024, ($144k) in F2023, and ($109k) in F2022. Ci reconciled for government funding from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. Ci reconciled for international donations from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. Ci adjusted for grants receivable, affecting revenue by ($137k) in F2024.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
3 |
$40k - $80k |
7 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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