Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind

About Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind:

Founded in 1984, the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind (CGDB) strives to assist visually-impaired Canadians with their mobility by providing and training them in the use of professionally trained Guide Dogs. The program is carried out at a 9-acre training centre outside of Manotick, Ontario. The centre has a kennel that houses up to 30 dogs.

There are two core services offered by CGDB: Guide Dogs for those who are visually impaired to provide them with mobility and independence; and Assistance Dogs for those affected with a mobility-related disability. The services of the dogs are provided free of charge to accepted applicants. Clients are responsible for all expenses for the dog after graduation, including food and veterinary expenses.

Other ongoing programs that CGDB operates include Puppy Walking and Training Apprenticeships. The Puppy Walking program places puppies at approximately 7 weeks of age with foster families called "puppy walkers" who raise the pups for 12 to 18 months. After the time with the foster families, the puppies are brought back to begin their formal training. Training Apprenticeships are given to select dog trainees who go through an extensive three-year program to become a Guide Dog Mobility Instructor.

Financial Review:

Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind is a medium-sized charity with $1.7m in donations in F2017. The decrease in donations compared to F2016 and F2015 is largely due to a reduction in testamentary bequests the charity received. Administrative costs are 7% of revenues and fundraising costs are 9% of donations. For every dollar donated to the charity, $0.84 goes towards its programs, which falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

CGDB has a related foundation, the Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind Foundation, but no audited financial statements for the foundation were provided. According to the foundation’s T3010 filing with the CRA, it had $17k in total assets in F2016. Ci believes the foundation to be immaterial and thus has not consolidated the charities. CGDB has total funding reserves of $13.1m, which include $253k in donor-endowed funds. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity can cover 9.3 years of annual program costs. This does not indicate a need for donations.

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 July 26, 2018 by Derek Houlberg.