Samaritan's Purse Canada is a two-star charity and one of the largest charities in Canada in terms of donations. The charity has an average results reporting grade and is financially transparent. Although it has reasonable overhead spending, its programs have low demonstrated impact resulting in a rating of two stars. 

Founded in 1973, Samaritan’s Purse Canada (SPC) is a Christian evangelical charity that does essential relief and development work across the world. SPC helps meet the needs of those affected by war, poverty, natural disasters, disease, and famine. The charity is the Canadian chapter of Samaritan’s Purse. Samaritan's Purse has international headquarters in the U.S. and additional branches in Australia, Germany, and South Korea. SPC’s main charitable programs are Operation Christmas Child and International Relief. In F2021, it spent $9.2m on Canadian programs excluding donated goods, $11.6m on international programs excluding donated goods, and $20.2m on donated goods used in programs.

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Franklin Graham, President and CEO of Samaritan's Purse Canada, has stated strong beliefs on homosexuality and Islam, to which Samaritan's Purse has responded.

In F2021, Samaritan’s Purse Canada reports that it spent $22.0m on Operation Christmas Child (including donated goods used in programs), representing 53% of program spending. The mission of this program is to share the news of Jesus Christ and make disciples of children across the globe. SPC works with local churches to pack and send Christmas gift boxes filled with toys, school supplies, and hygiene items to kids. In F2021, the charity reports that it sent gifts to more than 10.5 million children in over 100 countries. Operation Christmas Child has a follow up program called The Greatest Journey, which is a 12-lesson program that teaches children how to follow Christ and share him with others. SPC reports that over four million gift recipients joined The Greatest Journey in F2021. 

The charity spent $11.6m on International Relief in F2021, representing 28% of program spending. Samaritan’s Purse Canada runs a variety of international programs related to emergency food, water, agriculture, education and health. In F2021, the charity provided 16,500 pieces of personal protective equipment to people and supported 40 health facilities in India to combat the covid-19 pandemic. During the year, SPC distributed more than 200 tons of emergency relief supplies including food, hygiene kits, and water filtration kits to nearly 300,000 people in the Philippines. In Kenya, the charity gave 2,731 families household water filters. The remaining 19% of program spending was allocated to Ministry Support Services and North American Ministries.

Samaritan’s Purse Canada is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations. In F2021, it received $33.1m in donations. The charity also received $20.2m in donated goods (38% of total revenue). Administrative costs are 7% of total revenue excluding investment income. Fundraising costs are 4% of cash donations. This results in total overhead spending of 11%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 89 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s range for reasonable spending.

Samaritan’s Purse Canada has $26.5m in net funding reserves which can cover annual program costs for around one year and three months.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Samaritan's Purse Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 28th, 2022 by Arjun Kapur.