Operation Smile Canada is a 3-star charity with average demonstrated impact. It has a B Results Reporting grade, which is average. For every dollar donated to the charity, 53 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci's reasonable range.

Founded in 2011, Operation Smile Canada (OSC) raises money primarily to support programs conducted by Operation Smile (OS), headquartered in Virginia, US. Operation Smile began in 1982 by the American plastic surgeon, William Magee, and his wife Kathy. Its expertise is in treating cleft lip and cleft palate. Operation Smile's mission is to use its expertise in treating cleft lip and cleft palate surgery to help people where it's needed most. Over 6,000 doctors volunteer with Operation Smile to go abroad and do cleft palate surgeries and other medical procedures. In F2023, Operation Smile Canada contributed to 6% of Operation Smile's total funding that supported programs in 19 countries. OSC spent $10.5m on its programs in F2023.

Operation Smile Canada reports that every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. This is approximately 175,000 children each year. OSC states that children born with cleft lip or cleft palate are at nine times the normal risk of dying in their first year of life.

Operation Smile Canada spent $4.8m (46% of program costs) on Comprehensive Care Centres. Operation Smile provides health services such as dentistry, nutrition consultations, and speech consultations at its local care centres. OS has 13 care centres across nine countries. In F2023, Operation Smile recorded 115,755 patient consultations, a 22% increase compared to F2022. OSC reports 36,397 patients received cleft care, of which 9% were new patients and 28,982 were children.

Operation Smile Canada spent $3.8m (36% of program costs) on Surgical Programs. OSC did not report the total amount of surgeries or people who received surgery in F2023. In F2023, Operation Smile recorded 4,286 plastic surgery consultations. OS performed 68 surgeries in the Dominican Republic and 146 surgeries in Mexico.

Operation Smile Canada spent $1.9m (18% of program costs) on Training and Education and Research. Operation Smile provides workshops to local medical volunteers to provide safe cleft care to children. In F2023, OS educated and trained 130 healthcare workers in South Africa. OS provided 5,659 cleft parenting and psychosocial workshops in F2023.

Operation Smile Canada spent $960k on Other Program expenses. The charity did not provide further information on Other Program expenses.

Operation Smile Canada received $17.7m in donations in F2023. It also received $1.8m from Operation Smile, which Ci recorded as International Donations. Administrative costs are 10% of revenue (excluding investment income), and fundraising costs are 37% of donations. For every dollar donated to the charity, 53 cents are available to go to the cause, which is well outside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Operation Smile Canada spent $10.5m on its programs, which is 53% of revenue. OSC recorded a surplus of $719k, which is 4% of revenue.

OSC has $6.5m in reserve funds (cash and investments). Its reserves can cover 62%, or seven months of its annual program costs.

In F2023, Operation Smile Canada significantly increased its spending on external fundraisers (third-party companies). OSC paid external fundraisers $1.1m, a 57% increase compared to $716k in F2022. External fundraisers raised $1.3m. As such, the cost to raise one dollar through external fundraisers is $0.85. For donors looking to support Operation Smile Canada, it is likely cheaper to give directly through the charity's website.

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

Updated on June 3, 2024 by Liam Chapleau.

Toll free number: 1-844-376-4530