Founded in 1969, Special Olympics Canada is the Canadian body for Special Olympics International, an organization that provides opportunities in sports and athletic competitions to kids and adults with intellectual disabilities. It oversees the 12 Canadian chapters, found in every province and territory except Nunavut, by managing programming as well as disbursing funds to the chapters. Programs Special Olympics Canada and its chapters offer are free health exams, sports programs, long-term athlete development, and leadership development.

As of August 2015, Special Olympics Canada recorded 40,301 registered athletes, accounting for a 6% growth over the previous year. Over half of the athletes are ages 22 and above, and 55% of registered athletes are male. The fastest growing age group is the ages 2-6 group, seeing a 21% growth over the previous year. The organization counts 19,645 volunteers to help run its programs, including 5,229 operational volunteers and 14,416 coaches. This represents a 10% growth from the previous year.

Special Olympics Canada’s health program, Healthy Athletes, provides free health exams for all athletes. The exams identify health areas which might need further attention, such as vision, podiatry and dentistry. Through these exams, Special Olympics reported that it has become the largest global health organization dedicated to serving people with an intellectual disability. As of August 2015, it screened 3,849 athletes across 8 disciplines.

Its athlete leadership program aims to develop athletes outside of sporting competitions by equipping them with the tools to undertake positions of leadership within their communities. The leadership programs help athletes learn to speak persuasively, in an interview setting, with mentorship opportunities and a platform to discuss their opinions on policy and governance. As of August 2015, this program has trained 330 new athletes and recorded 665 active leaders.

For the financial analysis, figures for Special Olympics Canada was consolidated with those of Special Olympics Canada Foundation. Special Olympics Canada is considered a large-cap charity with donations and special events revenue of $5.5m in F2015. Its administrative costs were 6% of revenues and fundraising costs were 29% of donations. For every dollar donated, 65 cents goes towards the charity’s programs, falling within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity and the foundation have funding reserves of $9.2m. Including grants to Special Olympic chapters across Canada, these reserves can cover programs for a little over one year.

This report is an update that is being reviewed by Special Olympics Canada. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated August 9, 2017 by Josh Lam.