Queen's University
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.
A
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.
90%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 90 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Queen's University:
Queen’s University is a 5-star charity. It has above average disclosure with an A results reporting grade. It holds reserves within Ci’s reasonable range. For every dollar donated to Queen’s University, 90 cents are available to go to the cause.
Founded in 1841, Queen’s University (Queen’s) is a public university in Kingston, Ontario and one of Canada’s oldest degree-granting institutions. Queen’s states that it has a global alumni network of more than 150,000 members. Its main programs are education and research. It spent $1.0 billion on programs in F2025, though it does not provide a breakdown of spending across these programs.
In 2025-2026, Queen’s University had 28,561 enrolled students. This includes 21,193 undergraduate students, 3,863 graduate students, 1,985 second degree students (law, medicine, and teacher education), 943 MBA and graduate professional master’s students, and 577 postgraduate medicine students. The university enrolls 3,199 international students from 123 countries. Queen’s offers programs in 178 disciplines taught by seven faculties.
Queen’s conducts research across six strategic themes: Understanding the Earth and Universe; Promoting Health and Wellbeing; Envisioning Just Futures and Innovating in Cultural Expression; Delivering Materials for the Future; Advancing Next-Generation Computing and Analytics; and Building Productive, Inclusive, and Sustainable Societies. Since 2021, it has secured over 145 patents, over 75 active licenses, and generated $2.4m in distributions.
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Results and Impact
Queen’s reports an overall graduation rate of 89%. Over 95% of its graduates are employed within six months of completing their degree. Of students who started in 2017, 86.4% graduated within seven years. This is above the 78.7% average among Canada’s 15 largest research universities (U15). Of students who started in 2023, 94.3% returned for their second year. This is above the U15 average of 91.6%.
Queen’s is ranked in the top 200 universities globally and 9th in Canada by the QS World University Rankings. It also ranked sixth globally for sustainable impact by the Times Higher Education Impact Rankings. Queen's reports that in 2019 it contributed $1.9 billion to Canada's GDP and supported 17,487 full-time equivalent jobs, according to a 2021 Deloitte report.
In 2025, more than 100 students and postdoctoral fellows received competitive national funding for their research. Additionally, 19 Queen's researchers and faculty members were awarded King Charles III Coronation Medals, recognizing their commitment to their communities and broader Canadian society.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Queen's University's results and impact. Queen's is not yet rated on impact (n/r).
This charity update has been sent to Queen's University for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. Updated by Nick Reszetnik on May 27, 2026.
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Finances
Queen's University uses line-item costing, which is not a best practice. Ci matched the line items to each cost bucket as they best fit.
In F2025, Queen's earned $1.3 billion in revenue. It received $209m in donations (15% of total revenue), $387m in government funding (29%), and $429m in student fees (32%).
Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (less investment income). Fundraising costs are 6% of donations. Total overhead is 10%. For every dollar donated, 90 cents are available for programs. This is within Ci's reasonable range.
In F2025, Queen's spent $1.0 billion on programs, or 77% of total revenue. It recorded a $242.4m surplus and spent $78.7m on capital projects.
Queen's has $2.5 billion in net reserves. This includes $2.9 billion in cash and investments, less $0.4 billion in interest-bearing debt. Of this, $1.4 billion is donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, Queen's could cover 111%, or 13 months, of annual program costs.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending April
|
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 3.6% | 3.8% | 3.8% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 6.4% | 9.1% | 17.3% |
| Total overhead spending | 10.0% | 12.9% | 21.1% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 110.6% | 99.4% | 94.0% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 208,502 | 157,123 | 80,975 |
| Government funding | 386,809 | 372,830 | 431,113 |
| Fees for service | 428,505 | 426,079 | 425,083 |
| Business activities (net) | 118,286 | 115,770 | 115,955 |
| Investment income | 151,693 | 141,584 | 84,392 |
| Other income | 55,858 | 49,915 | 51,354 |
| Total revenues | 1,349,653 | 1,263,301 | 1,188,872 |
| Program costs | 1,033,974 | 1,001,448 | 985,830 |
| Grants | 150 | 190 | 190 |
| Administrative costs | 42,998 | 42,782 | 41,510 |
| Fundraising costs | 13,339 | 14,351 | 14,027 |
| Other costs | 16,822 | 16,963 | 17,121 |
| Total spending | 1,107,283 | 1,075,734 | 1,058,678 |
| Cash flow from operations | 242,370 | 187,567 | 130,194 |
| Capital spending | 78,664 | 89,948 | 63,626 |
| Funding reserves | 2,490,467 | 2,248,044 | 2,059,343 |
Note: 1. DEFERRED DONATIONS: Ci adjusted for deferred revenues. This affected total revenues by $64.9m in F2025, $19.5m in F2024, and $34.8m in F2023. 2. DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci excluded amortization of deferred capital contributions and included received capital contributions. This affected total revenues by $11.8m in F2025, ($4.0m) in F2024, and ($3.3m) in F2023. 3. ENDOWMENT: Ci included endowment contributions plus other contributions allocated directly to net assets in donations, and investment income allocated to non-operations in investment income. This increased revenues by $117.0m in F2025, $120.1m in F2024 and $31.5m in F2023. 4. ACTIVITY-BASED COSTING: Ci reported grants, administrative costs, and fundraising costs from the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA. 5. AMORTIZATION: Ci removed amortization on a pro-rata basis from program, administrative, and fundraising costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
10 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2025
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 613-533-2000