Islamic Relief Canada is a 5-star charity and one of Canada’s largest charities, with an Average demonstrated impact rating. The charity is financially transparent and has an above-average results reporting grade. For every dollar donated to Islamic Relief Canada, 86 cents are available to go to the cause.

Founded in 2006, Islamic Relief Canada (IRC) is a Muslim charity aiming to create a more compassionate and just world where no one has to go hungry. It runs disaster response and development programs both domestically and internationally. It also runs programs to help Muslims fulfill their religious obligation to charity. Islamic Relief Worldwide comprises a network of national offices and field partners across 50 countries.

IRC runs five main groups of programs: Emergency Response, Development, Orphan Sponsorship, Seasonal Projects, and Domestic Projects. IRC historically provided a breakdown of program spending in its annual report, but while it has released its 2023 financial information, it hasn’t yet updated its program spending breakdown. IRC states that in 2023 it reached 3.4 million people with its programs.

IRC’s Emergency Response programs reached 23 countries in 2023. IRC states that it ran 45 emergency response projects in total. The charity highlights its work in Gaza, its response to the Morocco earthquake, the civil war in Sudan, and the earthquakes in Syria and Türkiye. IRC states that its emergency response programs reached 751,798 people in 2023.

IRC’s Development Projects focus on improving infrastructure and standards of living in developing countries. The projects reached 28 countries in 2023. IRC divides its development projects into four categories: food security, health, protection, and WASH (water, sanitation, and hygiene).  In 2023, IRC ran 37 food security projects, 15 health projects, 26 protection projects, and eight WASH projects. In total, it ran 94 development projects in 2023, meaning that seven development projects are unaccounted for. In 2023, IRC reached 1,903,313 people with its development programs.

IRC’s Orphan Sponsorship programs provide support to children orphaned by wars, disasters, droughts, or disease outbreaks. In 2023, IRC sponsored children in 25 countries. It reached 11,187 female orphans and 12,958 male orphans.

IRC’s Domestic Development programs focus on providing support to those in need in Canada. It focuses on youth development, support for women and violence survivors, indigenous communities, refugee support, poverty reduction, and humanitarian response. In 2023, it ran eight emergency relief & poverty reduction projects, 20 marginalized community projects, and three women empowerment projects. Overall, it reached 74,281 people with its domestic development programs.

IRC’s Seasonal Projects focus on providing funding for families in need on Muslim holidays. In 2023, it distributed 1,168,597 kg of food as part of its Ramadan food program, averaging 56 kg of food per family of 5-7 people. It provided 549,547 Qurbani/Udhiya meat packs (averaging 4 kg of meat per family). It distributed 748 Aqiqah meat packs. It distributed Eid Al-Fitr gifts to 3,329 children, and Eid al-Adha gifts to 4,572 children. The charity reports that 712,859 people benefitted from its seasonal projects in 2023.

Islamic Relief Canada is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations. In 2023, it received $102.3m in Canadian donations. It received a further $2.5m in international donations and $1.0m in goods in kind. In 2023, IRC received $2.3m in government funding. Administrative costs are 3% of revenue and fundraising costs are 11% of donations, for a total overhead spending of 14%. For every dollar donated, 86 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Islamic Relief Canada has $23.2m in reserve funds, of which $946k is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, IRC can cover 3 months of its annual program costs.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Islamic Relief Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 16, 2024 by Ben Dobozy.