Girl Guides of Canada
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
A-
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
n/r
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
-173%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) -173 cents are available for programs.
My anchor
OVERVIEW
About Girl Guides of Canada:
Girl Guides of Canada is a 1-star charity. It has above average disclosure with a A- results reporting grade. It holds reserves outside Ci’s reasonable range. The charity's cents available to go to the cause is outside of Ci's reasonable range.
Girl Guides of Canada (GGC) was founded in 1910 to offer girls and young women structured programming in leadership, life skills, and community service. GGC serves 61,160 girls, aged 5-17, across Canada through nine provincial councils, operating in every province and territory.
GGC research found girls are twice as likely as boys to report experiencing sexism (43% vs. 21%). In their first jobs, girls earn nearly $3 per hour less than boys, and more than one in ten girls, aged 12-18, report experiencing sexual harassment or assault at work. Women represent 59% of all university graduates but only 39% of STEM graduates.
Girl Guides of Canada offers programming for girls split by age group: Sparks (5-6), Embers (7-8), Guides (9-11), Pathfinders (12-14), and Rangers (15-17). For girls who cannot attend in person, GGC offers virtual units. It also offers a Lones membership for girls unable to participate regularly due to distance, health, or schedule.
Programming is delivered through three pillars: Adventure & Challenge (outdoor experiences, camping, travel, and events), Leadership & Life Skills (awards, scholarships, and cookie fundraising), and Community & Connection (service projects and ceremonies). In F2025, the charity spent $22.4m on its programs but it did not provide a breakdown based on these pillars.
Camping and outdoor programming is a core part of the Guiding experience. Units across Canada run camping trips, provincial camps, backcountry expeditions, and international travel. In F2025, GGC spent $8.7m (39% of total program spending) on camping, outdoor experiences, and events.
Cookie fundraising is GGC's primary revenue source and a hands-on skill-building activity. Girls sell cookies across the country, learning entrepreneurship, money management, and teamwork. In F2025, GGC sold over 5 million boxes, generating $24.7m in sales.
GGC also delivers structured national programming through its units, including STEM activities, period education, service projects, and career exploration. In F2025, GGC spent $4.2m (19% of program spending) on programming and unit support. New initiatives include Career Compass, a national career summit program for girls aged 14-19, launched in Toronto in May 2026.
The remaining $9.6m was spent on: registration and member support ($3.5m, 16% of program spending), operations ($2.7m, 12%), provincial operations ($2.2m, 10%) and girl safety ($1.2m, 5%).
My anchor
Results and Impact
Girl Guides of Canada surveyed caregivers and Rangers about the impact of the Guiding program in F2025. The results are as follows:
- 81% of caregivers agree Girl Guides provides a space where their child feels they belong
- 78% of caregivers agree Girl Guides has a positive impact on their child's development and personal growth
- 78% of caregivers say their child is more proud to be themselves because of Girl Guides
- 78% of caregivers agree Girl Guides enhances their child's social skills and helps them make new friends
- 76% of caregivers agree their child has built self-confidence in Girl Guides
- 75% of caregivers say their child was challenged to try new things at Girl Guides
Girl Guides of Canada also surveyed Rangers, its oldest youth members, about the impact of long-term participation in Guiding. The results are as follows:
- 85% of Rangers say Guiding has taught them important life lessons, including teamwork, stress management, and navigating success and failure
- 83% of Rangers report taking on greater leadership responsibility by helping lead activities in their units
- 81% of Rangers say Girl Guides helped them recognize their own strengths and skills
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Girl Guides of Canada’s results and impact. Girl Guides of Canada is not yet rated on impact (n/r). This does not affect its star rating.
My anchor
Finances
In F2025, GGC earned $42.9m in revenue. It earned $14.5m in fees for service (34% of revenue), $14.0m in cookie and merchandise sales net of expenses (33% of revenue), and $10.6m in investment income (25% of revenue).
GGC's administrative costs represent 39% of revenues (excluding investment income). The charity spent $1.0m on fundraising while reporting $429k in donations, yielding a fundraising cost ratio of 234% and a total overhead ratio of 273%. This means it has a negative cents available for the cause, which falls outside Ci's reasonable range.
This may partly reflect incomplete disclosure in GGC's audited financial statements. Its CRA T3010 filing reports $1.7m in total gifts (tax-receipted and non-tax-receipted), which would bring the total overhead ratio down to 98%, leaving 2 cents per dollar available for the cause. However, because Ci was unable to reconcile the T3010 with the audited financial statements, this figure could not be used in the analysis.
In F2025, the charity spent $22.4m on its programs (77% of revenue less net cookie and merchandise revenue).
In F2025, the charity had an operating surplus of $7.0m. This brought its reserve funds (cash and investments) to $161.1m, including $289k in donor-endowed funds. Excluding donor-endowed funds, these reserves cover 478%, or four years and nine months of its annual program spending. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range.
This charity update has been sent to Girl Guides of Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. Updated by Nick Reszetnik on June 2nd, 2026.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending August
|
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 38.7% | 38.8% | 42.4% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 234.0% | 156.8% | 177.0% |
| Total overhead spending | 272.7% | 195.6% | 219.4% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 478.2% | 697.9% | 992.4% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 429 | 211 | 182 |
| Government funding | 765 | 298 | 600 |
| Fees for service | 14,471 | 10,324 | 10,034 |
| Business activities (net) | 13,993 | 7,230 | 12,172 |
| Investment income | 10,632 | 9,008 | 10,076 |
| Other income | 2,654 | 1,780 | 2,579 |
| Total revenues | 42,945 | 28,852 | 35,642 |
| Program costs | 22,426 | 14,829 | 15,197 |
| Administrative costs | 12,501 | 7,700 | 10,844 |
| Fundraising costs | 1,005 | 331 | 322 |
| Total spending | 35,932 | 22,859 | 26,362 |
| Cash flow from operations | 7,013 | 5,992 | 9,280 |
| Capital spending | 201 | 546 | 397 |
| Funding reserves | 161,069 | 155,414 | 150,914 |
Note: 1. DEFERRED REVENUE: GGC uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for deferred revenue. This affected revenues by ($163k) in F2025, $1.9m in F2024, and $898k in F2023. 2. DEFERRED CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci adjusted for deferred contributions. This affected revenues by ($889k) in F2025, $619k in F2024, and $1.2m in F2023. 3. DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci adjusted for deferred capital contributions and amortization of deferred capital contributions. This affected revenues by ($12k) in F2025, ($62k) in F2024, and $30k in F2023. 4. UNREALIZED GAIN (LOSS): Ci reported unrealized gain (loss). This affected revenues by $2.9m in F2025, $6.2m in F2024, and $4.1m in F2023. 5. PROCEEDS FROM SALE OF REAL PROPERTY: Ci did not include proceeds from sale of real property under revenue. This affected revenues by ($441k) in F2025, ($30k) in F2024, and ($334k) in F2023. 6. NET INVESTMENT INCOME: Ci adjusted for investment income allocated to deferred contributions and amounts allocated to District Councils not included in the financial statements. This affected revenues by $919k in F2025, $698k in F2024, and $1.1m in F2023. 7. BUSINESS ACTIVITIES: Ci reported the net income from cookie and merchandise sales under business activities. This affected revenues by ($11.5m) in F2025, ($5.6m) in F2024, and ($11.5m) in F2023. 8. ADMINISTRATION: Ci removed operations from administrative costs and included in program costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
1 |
$250k - $300k |
1 |
$200k - $250k |
2 |
$160k - $200k |
2 |
$120k - $160k |
4 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2025
My anchor
Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 833-433-0996