Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind is a two-star charity. This charity has low overhead spending. However, it has a low results reporting grade and high funding reserves that can cover over eight years of program costs. The charity is also not completely financially transparent because it does not provide statements for its Foundation. 

Founded in 1984, Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind (CGDB) raises and trains guide dogs for Canadians who are visually impaired. The charity has a national training centre in Manotick, Ontario. It provides both trained guide dogs and mobility assistance dogs. In F2022, CGDB spent $1.7m on its programs.  

Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind provides professionally trained guide dogs for visually impaired clients throughout Canada. It also provides mobility assistance dogs for people with movement-inhibiting disabilities within a 200 kilometre radius of Ottawa. To qualify for a guide dog, someone must be physically capable of walking a dog regularly. Clients can lease a dog for a symbolic payment of $1 and are responsible for its food and medical expenses. CGDB has a Veterinary Cost Assistance Fund that covers routine care. 

In F2022, CGDB introduced seven new litters of puppies into its training program. The charity reported that by January of 2021, it had trained over 900 guide dogs since its founding. This means that CGDB graduated an average of around 24 dogs per year from its training program. If the charity trained an average of 24 dogs in each of the past three years, it spent an average of $79k per dog. It also raised an average of $184k in donations per dog.

Ci has consolidated CGDB with its foundation for financial analysis. As the foundation’s financial statements are not available at this time, Ci used its T3010 filing with the CRA to report its financials. In F2023, the charity sent $nil to the foundation. 

Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind received $3.7m in Canadian donations and fundraising revenue in F2022. It received no government funding in F2022. It lost $330k in investment income during the year. This is a large decrease from the $1.1m made in investment income during F2021. 

Administrative costs are 5% of total revenue excluding investment income. Fundraising costs are 4% of donations and fundraising revenue. This results in total overhead spending of 9%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 91 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

CGDB has $15.1m in net reserve funds, including $318k in donor-endowed funds. The charity’s net funding reserves, excluding donor-endowed funds, can cover annual program costs for around eight years and 10 months.  

This report is an update that has been sent to Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on June 28, 2023 by Clive Stevens.