Young Adult Cancer Canada is a 2-star charity. It has a C- Results Reporting grade which is below average. Its overhead spending is 52% which is outside Ci’s reasonable range. The charity’s reserves can cover program costs for one year and five months, within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 2001, Young Adult Cancer Canada (YACC) supports young adults living with cancer. Over 8,300 young adults are diagnosed with cancer in Canada every year. The charity runs many programs and events including: Retreat Yourself, Survivor Conference, Localife, Support Groups, and online webinars and chatgroups. YACC spent $531k on program costs in the fiscal year ending in July (F2024). The charity did not break down spending by program.

Retreat Yourself offers five-day retreats to places in Canada for young adults with cancer. Activities include hiking, ziplining, and connecting with other cancer patients on the retreat. The retreat took place in Gros Morne, Newfoundland, in F2024. 

The Survivor Conference is the biggest reunion of young adult cancer patients in Canada. The conference provides workshops on topics like cancer related fatigue, finances, and parenting after a cancer diagnosis.

The Localife program funds local activity-based groups in eight cities across Canada: Calgary, Edmonton, Ottawa, Toronto, St. John’s, Vancouver, Victoria, and Winnipeg. The program organizes events where adults with cancer can socialize in a casual way.

YACC Support Groups consist of about ten people. They meet weekly for eight weeks to talk about their young adult cancer experience. There are three types of groups: newly diagnosed, post-treatment, and advanced and metastatic. Each week has a specific topic that varies depending on group type. Examples of topics are school and work, mental health, and social life.

YACC has online chatgroups and live webinars. They all share the same goal of connecting adults with cancer to discuss challenges and share successes.

Young Adult Cancer Canada follows activity-based costing, a best practice. It received $1.1m in donations and special events, which is 91% of revenue in F2024. YACC got $81k in government funding and $19k in investment income.

The charity spent $531k on its programs, which is 46% of revenue. It ran a surplus of $63k (5% of revenue). YACC spent $350k on fundraising (33% of donations), and spent $215k on admin, which is 19% of revenue (less investment income). For every dollar donated to the charity, 48 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

YACC has $753k in its reserves (cash and investments). This can cover program costs for one year and five months, which is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Updated on June 5, 2025 by Joshua Leduc.