The Halton Learning Foundation is a 2-star charity with Low demonstrated impact. The charity has a B- Results Reporting grade, which is below average. Its overhead spending is 19%, within Ci’s reasonable range, and its reserve funds can cover 1 year and 6 months of program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.  

Established in 2004, the Halton Learning Foundation (HLF) helps remove financial barriers to education for Halton District School Board students in need. This includes public schools in Burlington, Halton Hills, Milton, and Oakville. The charity reports that about one in ten students in the Halton District School Board (HDSB) come from low-income households. HLF provides emergency funds, school grants, and scholarships. The charity has supported 24,000 students over the past 20 years. The charity ran three programs in F2024, which are outlined below. The charity provides a breakdown of program spending in its annual report.  

Eliminating Financial Barriers received $758k (67% of program costs) in F2024. This program provides emergency funds for students with immediate basic needs. This is based on requests from HDSB principals, students, and social workers. These resources include groceries, clothing, school supplies, field trips, and college education. This service allows students to be fully included in school activities. The charity reported that this program provided more than 2,900 HDSB students with emergency funds in F2024. According to HLF, 93% of funds went to basic needs, 6% went to teams, field trips, and co-ops, and the remaining went to school transportation and post-secondary applications. HLF received 3,003 requests to support students, with 1,060 from Burlington, 829 from Milton, 894 from Oakville, and 220 from Halton Hills.   

Scholarships and Awards received $222k (20% of program costs) in F2024. HLF provides scholarships to graduating students to continue their post-secondary education. According to the charity, it gave out 100 scholarships in F2024.  

School Engagement Grants received $148k (13% of program costs) in F2024. HLF helps HDSB public schools purchase necessary resources and funds educational programs. The program ensures that all students have equitable opportunities to develop critical skills, focusing on four key areas: learning and achievement, equity and inclusion, Indigenous awareness, and wellbeing. The charity reported that it supports about 100 programs annually. In F2024, HLF reported that it funded 101 projects at 59 schools. 

Halton Learning Foundation’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing; however, the statements do not disclose any fundraising costs. Charity Intelligence used the T3010 to separate the fundraising cost from the program fees. In F2024, HLF received $1.1m in donations and had investment income of $94k.  

HLF spent $238k on its programs and provided $889k in grants. The charity spent $179k on administration, which is 16% of revenue. HLF spent $42k on fundraising, which is 4% of donations. For every dollar donated, 81 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Charity Intelligence’s reasonable range for overhead, which is between 65 and 95 cents.  

HLF recorded a deficit of 111k in F2024. It has net funding reserves of $1.7m in F2024. The reserves can cover 152% or 1 year and 6 months of its annual program costs. This is within Charity Intelligence’s reasonable range. 

Profile updated by Leah Holmes on June 2, 2025. This charity report is an update that has been sent to the charity for review. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.