Founded in 1995, Humanity First Canada (HFC) is the Canadian arm of Humanity First, an international aid charity registered in 50 countries across six continents. HFC’s mission is to run focused and results-oriented development programs that promote and seek to build stronger communities where people are engaged in helping those in need. HFC outlines eight major programs on its website: Refugee Resettlement, Food Security, Water for Life, Community Care, Global Health, Gift of Sight, Knowledge for Life, and Disaster Relief. In F2019, Canadian programs made up 65% of total program costs, and international programs made up the remaining 35%.

In F2019, Humanity First Canada allocated 44% of program costs to Refugee Resettlement, making it HFC’s largest program by spending. HFC welcomed 1,046 refugees to Canada, including 341 families. It held 12 newcomer orientation sessions, with each one lasting 4-6 hours. HFC also distributed 100 new school bags filled with school supplies, providing half the bags to the children of refugee families and the other half to students of low-income families in Scarborough.

In F2019, HFC allocated 13% and 7% of program costs to domestic & international Food Security, respectively. In Canada, HFC’s Feed a Family program is run out of the HF Food Bank in Concord, Ontario. The food bank served over 8,000 people in 2019, while HFC’s Out of the Cold program in Vaughan provided approximately 40 homeless people with emergency shelter, hospitality, food, and transportation support on a nightly basis. Internationally, HFC volunteers provided over 166,000 people with food across 12 countries in 2019, including fresh meat to over 160,000 individuals in 189 villages and cities. Every year, HFC performs most of its international food distribution on Eid ul Adha, a four-day Islamic holiday.

In F2019, HFC allocated 5% and 3% of program costs to domestic & international Community Care, respectively. In Canada, the Humanity First Shelter Bus served 1,745 meals and distributed 1,771 water bottles. It also distributed 364 hygiene kits and 198 clothing items. Internationally, HFC constructed 30 fixed structure toilets in the Philippines, helping to reduce diarrhea and cholera related illnesses in remote communities. In Gabon, HFC renovated a community centre benefiting approximately 2,000 people.  

In F2019, HFC allocated 8% of program costs to Global Health, making it HFC’s largest exclusively international program by spending. HFC is currently supporting three medical centres across sub-Saharan Africa: a 10-bed medical centre in the Congo active since 2018 serving 60 patients monthly, a small medical centre in Nigeria providing free basic healthcare to 50 patients monthly, and a 30-bed hospital in Senegal active since May 2019 offering primary and specialized healthcare services to roughly 200 patients monthly. In Kano, Nigeria, HFC’s Gift of Sight program provides roughly 480 cataract surgeries yearly and examines roughly 200 people per month.

In F2019, HFC allocated 8% of program costs to Water for Life. HFC constructed 66 water solutions in five countries across Africa and Asia in 2019, including 55 water wells and 11 hand pumps.

In F2019, HFC allocated the remaining program costs to Knowledge for Life (6%), Disaster Relief (4%), Orphan Care (1%), and Seniors First (1%).

NOTE: Ci’s 2020 profile update for Humanity First has been completed using a draft of Humanity First’s 2019 annual report provided by the charity. Although this profile update incorporates information from the annual report, Humanity First’s results reporting score will not be updated until the report is made publicly available.

Humanity First Canada is a Medium-sized charity with total donations of $3.6m in F2019, up 98% from F2018. Administrative costs are 3% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 0.1% of donations. This means overhead costs are 3%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 97 cents go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Donors should be aware that extremely low overhead costs can be a risk to a charity's operational abilities. 

Humanity First Canada’s funding reserves of $4.4m can cover annual program costs for roughly 1.9 years. 

The charity reports one full-time employee and one part-time employee in its most recent F2019 T3010 CRA filing, and the only salary data it reports is $11,992 in part-time salaries. Compensation data is a mandatory filing. 

This charity report is an update that was sent to Humanity First for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 24, 2020 by Eric Jose.