Canadian Women's Foundation

1920 Yonge St., Suite 302
Toronto, ON M4S 3E2
President & CEO: Mitzie Hunter
Board Chair: Laurie Young

Charitable Reg. #:12985 5607 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 4/5]

✔+

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.

69%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 69 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Canadian Women's Foundation:

Canadian Women's Foundation is a 4-star charity that is financially transparent. It has a B results reporting grade which is average. For every dollar donated to the charity, 69 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Founded in 1991, Canadian Women’s Foundation (CWF) promotes gender equality. The charity grants funds to feminist organizations and shares information about gender injustice. CWF states women earn 84 cents for every dollar earned by men. It also reports that more than 40% of women have experienced a form of intimate partner violence.

Canadian Women’s Foundation runs six main programs, listed below. Charity Intelligence estimates CWF spent $15.0m on its programs and grants in its fiscal year ending March 2024 (F2024).

The Out of Poverty program received 33% ($5.0m) of program spending in F2024. CWF funds programs that help women and gender-diverse people improve their financial situations. The charity provides entrepreneurship and job skills training. It also helps match women with mentors in well-paying fields. CWF reports that the Partnering for Feminist Entrepreneurship project helped over 2,000 female and gender-diverse entrepreneurs.

The Out of Violence program received 33% ($5.0m) of program spending in F2024. The charity states that every six days, a woman is killed by her intimate partner. CWF funds programs that prevent and intervene in situations of gender-based violence. CWF reports that over 75,000 people signed up for its Signal for Help gender-based violence email learning program.

The Gender Justice: Northern Strategy program received 19% ($2.8m) of program spending in F2024. CWF states that Indigenous women and girls are 12 times more likely to be murdered or go missing than other women in Canada. The charity funds programs to improve gender equality for Indigenous communities in northern Canada.

The Into Confidence: Girls’ Fund program received 8% ($1.1m) of program spending in F2024. CWF states that the percentage of girls who say they are confident drops from 36% to 14% between grades six and ten. The charity funds programs that help build confidence in girls and gender-diverse young people.

Community Needs Grants received 4% ($595k) of program spending in F2024. CWF states these grants are used to address poverty, violence, confidence, and leadership.

The Systems Change program received 4% ($525k) of program spending in F2024. CWF funds policy development programs to improve gender equality.

CWF reports it funded 776 programs in F2024. The charity reports it affected 1,172,621 people’s lives.

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Results and Impact

Based on program and grant spending ($15.0m) and reported lives affected (1,172,621), CWF spent an average of $13 per person affected.

Canadian Women’s Foundation surveyed 181 Into Confidence: Girls’ Fund participants. The results were as follows:

  • 88% of participants made friends.
  • 99% of participants felt safe in the program.
  • 98% of participants felt happy to have a space just for girls and nonbinary youth.

CWF’s Investment Readiness program helps organizations it supports learn to reinvest money back into their work. This reinvestment can boost sustainability and social impact. CWF reports that it surveyed 50 organizations in the Investment Readiness program. The results are as follows:

  • 98% of organizations positively rated the Foundation’s services and supports.
  • 85% of organizations improved their understanding of the social finance market.

CWF's Signal for Help is a one-handed gesture to show a need for help due to gender-based violence. The charity reports that 44% of people in Canada have seen or recognize the Signal for Help.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Canadian Women’s Foundations results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has not yet rated CWF on impact (n/r). This does not affect the star rating.

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Finances

Canadian Women’s Foundation’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.

In F2024 CWF received $5.3m in donations. It also received $7.1m in government funding, an 85% decrease from F2023 ($47.5m). This decrease is largely due to CWF receiving $38.3m less from the government in F2024 compared to F2023 for its Shock-proofing Community project. Government funding is 47% of total revenue.

Administrative costs are 8% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 23% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 31%. For every dollar donated, 69 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

In F2024 CWF spent $15.0m on its programs and grants, which is 98% of its revenue. This is a 78% decrease in program and grant spending from F2023 ($67.3m). In F2024 it had a deficit of $1.9m.

CWF has $22.1m in gross reserve funds and $155k in interest-bearing debts. This results in net reserve funds (cash and investments) of $21.9m. Excluding $237k in donor-endowed funds, the net funding reserves can cover 145%, or one year and five months of program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Canadian Women’s Foundation. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on June 11, 2025, by Grady Simpson.

 

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March
202420232022
Administrative costs as % of revenues 8.2%1.9%1.3%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 22.6%21.1%18.1%
Total overhead spending 30.7%23.0%19.4%
Program cost coverage (%) 145.2%35.6%127.5%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202420232022
Donations 5,2994,5434,029
Government funding 7,09347,51546,816
Special events 0077
Investment income 2,680(246)1,812
Other income 1685100
Total revenues 15,24052,32152,734
Program costs 8,6217,5746,053
Grants 6,33859,70925,738
Administrative costs 1,024974680
Fundraising costs 1,196960741
Total spending 17,17969,21733,212
Cash flow from operations (1,939)(16,895)19,522
Capital spending 10106
Funding reserves 21,93924,20940,761

Note: Deferred donations: CWF uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred donations. This affected revenue by $734k in F2024, ($83k) in F2023, and $610k in F2022. Deferred government funding: Ci adjusted for deferred government funding. This affected revenue by ($3.8m) in F2024, ($15.9m) in F2023, and $18.2m in F2022. Pledges receivable: Ci adjusted for pledges receivable. This affected revenue by $78k in F2024, $276k in F2023, and $20k in F2022.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 33

Avg. compensation: $109,970

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
1
$160k - $200k
1
$120k - $160k
3
$80k - $120k
5
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.canadianwomen.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-365-1444

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001