Operation Smile

375 University Ave, Suite 204
Toronto, ON M5G 2J5
CEO: Mark Climie-Elliot
Board Chair: Ken Wilson

Website: www.operationsmile.ca
Charitable Reg. #: 84064 3605 RR0001
Sector: International Aid
Operating Charity

Charity Rating

Subscribe now for charity ratings

Results Reporting

Grade: A-

The grade is based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

Financial Transparency

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity's website [Audited financial statement for most recent year]

Need for Funding

Funding Reserves Program Costs

Spending Breakdown

Cents to the Cause

♦ ♦ ♦
95¢
75¢
avg
65¢
50¢
2016 2017 2018
For a dollar donated, cents funding the cause after fundraising and admin costs, excluding surplus.

Full-time staff #12

Avg. Compensation $75,012

Top 10 Staff Salary Range

$350k + 0
$300k - $350k 0
$250k - $300k 0
$200k - $250k 0
$160k - $200k 0
$120k - $160k 1
$80k - $120k 2
$40k - $80k 7
< $40k 0
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2018

About Operation Smile:

Founded in 2011, Operation Smile Canada Foundation (OSCF) is a member of Operation Smile International. Donations received by OSCF are granted to the international organization and then used to provide surgeries to children and young adults with a cleft lip or cleft palate. Operation Smile International is a volunteer-based charity that provides free cleft lip and palate surgeries for children and young adults.

Every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. Annually, that is about 175,000 children world-wide. OSCF says that without corrective surgery, as many as 9 in 10 children born with these conditions could die. Operation Smile conducts its missions in low and middle-income countries, where it can take years for children to get treatment.

In F2018, Operation Smile Canada Foundation healed 2,561 patients around the world through 3,253 cleft lip and palate surgeries. OSCF also provided 4,914 health assessments and 420 dental procedures in F2018. OSCF performed these procedures on 35 successful missions in 14 countries in Latin America and Africa. In F2018, 79% of total program funding went to Latin America and 21% went to Africa. In 2019, OSCF says that 28% of its program funding will be invested in Asia.

Results and Impact:

Operation Smile Canada Foundation believes in “teaching a person to fish, rather than just giving them one.” In F2018, 45 international educators trained 201 local medical professionals from 11 countries. These local surgeons are now able to perform cleft lip and palate surgeries because of the training received from Operation Smile.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Operation Smile Canada Foundation’s results and impact.

Financial Review:

Operation Smile Canada Foundation is a ­­­­large charity, with total donations of $11.2m in F2018. Administrative costs are 10% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 37% of donations. For every dollar donated, $0.53 go to the cause. This is not within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Funding reserves of $2.1m can cover 4 months of annual program costs.

OSCF reports using external fundraisers in F2018 in its CRA T3010 filing. OSCF paid $7k to external fundraisers to collect $160. The cost for OSCF to raise one dollar through external fundraisers if $42.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Operation Smile Canada Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on June 6, 2019 by Lauren Chin.

Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending June 		201820172016
Administrative costs as % of revenues 10.0%6.6%5.3%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 37.1%52.9%66.5%
Program cost coverage (%) 32.7%990.1%10.6%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s 		201820172016
Donations 11,1809,8539,202
Other income 2084,947
Total revenues 11,2009,86014,149
Grants 6,3714307,190
Administrative costs 1,118654749
Fundraising costs 4,1425,2106,120
Other costs 32(3)126
Cash flow from operations (464)3,570(37)
Funding reserves 2,0864,253759
Note: F2017 expenses were restated in the F2018 financial statements. Ci has reported the restated expenses. Note from the F2017 financial statements: "During the year Operation Smile Canada (OSC) was in the process of formalizing an agreement to fund programs with Operation Smile Inc. (OSI - the International entity) that was in compliance with CRA regulations. That agreement was finalized in the last quarter of the fiscal year and as a result fewer programs were funded during the fiscal year. In response, Operation Smile Canada created an internally restricted program reserve of $2,850,000 that will be used to fund OSI programs in future years. OSC has also established a stabilization fund of $500,000 to ensure the long term financial stability of the organization. OSI had provided OSC with an operating grant to cover a portion of the fundraising costs during the first few years of start-up that ended in FY17. As a result while fundraising revenue increased from the previous year, the total revenue decreased by nearly 4.3 million."

Comments added by the Charity:

Operation Smile Canada Foundation has noted a number of discrepancies with the information posted on this page.

For clarity, OSCF received $7,638,290 donations from Canadians in FY2015, with $6,164,752 (80.7%) going towards our programs. And the revenue (other income) of $3,827,141 was specifically given and used to pay down the total fundraising expenses of $4,871,688 leaving $1,044,547 of fundraising costs covered by donations and admin costs of $365,887 (13.7% and 4.8% respectively out of donations from Canadians). The surplus of $63,104 was 0.8% totaling 100% of the spending of Canadian dollars.

For accurate financial content, please visit our website www.operationsmile.ca. If you have any questions, please e-mail us at ca-supporters@operationsmile.org or call 905-479-6861.

Go to top