90 Eglinton Ave. East, Suite 400
Toronto, ON M4P 2Y3
President & CEO: Sevaun Palvetzian
Board Chair: James McPhedran

Charitable Reg. #:12268 0572 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 3/5]

✔+

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.

B+

RESULTS REPORTING

Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.

Fair

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.

70%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 70 cents are available for programs.

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OVERVIEW

About UNICEF Canada:

UNICEF Canada is a three-star charity and one of Canada's largest charities. It has an above average results reporting grade and is financially transparent. UNICEF Canada has low funding reserves. Although the charity has reasonable overhead spending, it has high fundraising costs and fair demonstrated impact resulting in a rating of three stars.

Founded in 1955, UNICEF Canada is a charity that raises money for the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). UNICEF is a UN agency that aims to protect children’s rights across the globe. UNICEF Canada’s mission is to empower Canadians to invest in the improvement of every child’s future. It does this by providing life-saving humanitarian aid including water, vaccines, and medical equipment to people in vulnerable communities. In F2022, UNICEF Canada spent $37.8m to fund UNICEF’s international programs and spent $3.7m on advocacy and research programs in Canada. UNICEF Canada funds three main program areas: Emergency Response; Highest Priority Needs; and Education, Water and Sanitation, and Child Protection. 

Emergency Response programs represented 39% of program costs in F2022. These programs provide humanitarian aid to people in emergency situations. During F2022, UNICEF Canada helped provide medical supplies to 1,005 facilities in Ukraine. It also built bomb shelters at 50 hospitals. In Yemen, UNICEF Canada helped fund the treatment of 375,388 children for severe acute malnutrition. 

Highest Priority Needs programs represented 27% of program costs in F2022. These programs provide basic needs to children in the most danger around the world. This program area acts as a flexible fund that allows UNICEF Canada to respond quickly wherever children are the most at risk. In F2022, UNICEF Canada provided 35,050  life-saving survival gifts to 3,658,263 children. The contents of these gifts are chosen by donors and can include items like food rations, vaccines, and learning materials.

Education, Water and Sanitation, and Child Protection programs represented 23% of program costs in F2022. The programs aim to increase access to clean water and formal education for children everywhere. They also aim to prevent violence towards and exploitation of children in less developed countries. In F2022, the charity’s UNdaunted education project reached 291,589 children in Ghana, Somalia, South Africa, Tanzania, and Uganda. Its Women Unlimited education program reached 102,591 children in Bolivia, Ghana, and Mongolia. 

The remaining 11% of program costs went to Health, Nutrition, and HIV/AIDS programs; and Canadian Advocacy and Research programs.

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Results and Impact

During F2022, UNICEF Canada funded 612 water pumps that provide water to 91,800 people. The charity states that these pumps can be used for ten years. UNICEF Canada funding also helped UNICEF vaccinate 23.8 million children against measles during F2022.

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of UNICEF Canada’s results and impact.

Charity Intelligence has given UNICEF Canada a Fair impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.

Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances

UNICEF Canada is one of Canada’s largest charities by donations. In F2022, it received $63.4m in Canadian donations and an additional $2.7m in donations from UNICEF. Fundraising costs are 26% of donations and administrative costs are 4% of total revenues. Total overhead spending is 30%. For each dollar donated, 70 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Reserve funds of $20.4m can cover program and grant costs for just under 6 months at the F2022 level.

UNICEF Canada paid external fundraisers $7.2m to raise $14.0m for a cost of 52 cents per dollar raised.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to UNICEF Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 20th, 2023 by Emily Downing.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending December
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 3.9%3.5%3.3%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 26.0%26.1%23.4%
Total overhead spending 29.9%29.6%26.6%
Program cost coverage (%) 49.0%25.0%29.7%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
202220212020
Donations 63,37962,07048,157
International donations 2,7383,3231,944
Government funding 2511,76610,483
Business activities (net) 404152268
Other income 4115570
Total revenues 66,95777,36560,922
Program costs 3,7415,4463,771
Grants 37,82753,73341,908
Administrative costs 2,6062,7051,984
Fundraising costs 16,46316,18211,258
Total spending 60,63878,06658,921
Cash flow from operations 6,319(701)2,001
Capital spending 158189165
Funding reserves 20,38914,76513,570

Note: Ci reported product sales net of expenses in business activities. This affected revenues and expenses by ($31k) in F2020. The charity did not report product expenses in F2021 or F2022. Ci reported government funding based on the Charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA and allocated remaining amounts categorized as Government of Ontario and other grants to Canadian donations. To report on a cash basis, Ci reported amounts received from UNICEF during the year rather than amounts recognized as revenue. This affected total revenues by ($130k) in F2022, ($116k) in F2021, and ($58k) in F2020. Ci adjusted for changes in deferred contributions, affecting total revenues by ($137k) in F2022, ($165k) in F2021, and ($139k) in F2020. Ci backed out amortization of deferred capital contributions from other income, affecting total revenues by ($27k) in F2022, ($27k) in F2021, and ($27k) in F2020. Ci adjusted grants to UNICEF by changes in amounts payable to UNICEF. This affected total expenses by ($6.5m) in F2022, $581k in F2021, and ($2.1m) in F2020.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 83

Avg. compensation: $88,071

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
1
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
2
$160k - $200k
5
$120k - $160k
2
$80k - $120k
0
$40k - $80k
0
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

UNICEF is the world’s leading humanitarian organization for children. Across more than 190 countries and territories, we work tirelessly to help children survive and have a chance at a better future. UNICEF defends every child’s right to a childhood, so they can grow up safe, healthy, and able to reach their potential. UNICEF is the only organization named in the 1989 United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child as the world’s source of expert assistance and advice. While UNICEF is part of the UN system, we rely entirely on voluntary contributions from individuals, foundations and corporations. UNICEF also receives grants from governments around the world who trust us to make a difference for children.

UNICEF Canada is a National Committee of UNICEF, mandated to fundraise and advocate for the well-being of children around the world, and in Canada. UNICEF Canada strives to be the leading advocate for children’s rights with governments at all levels. We also engage children and youth in decision-making, and amplify their voices in policy-making and priority-setting. For the next four years, UNICEF Canada is focused on the following priorities to defend the right to a childhood. Globally, these priorities are the global learning crisis; malnutrition; improving children’s health and survival; supporting children and families in humanitarian situations; and the climate crisis. In Canada, we continue to advocate for family-friendly policies and child-friendly governance, while working to amplify the voices of 3,000 marginalized youth through unique learning and advocacy opportunities.

UNICEF has unique influence with governments. This means that all our initiatives are scalable and many are adopted by host governments to be sustained over many years, creating a multiplier effect for Canadian donor dollars. UNICEF’s core priority areas are education, health, nutrition, protection, and Water, Sanitation & Hygiene (WASH). Every year, UNICEF helps to vaccinate nearly half the world’s children under age five. Vaccines are one of the simplest, most cost-effective and most successful ways to save children’s lives. UNICEF is also the world’s largest collector of data about every aspect of being a child, making us the global expert on what it takes to protect the right to a childhood.

In 2021, UNICEF provided assistance in 483 humanitarian crises in 153 countries. These included natural disasters, armed conflicts, and nutrition and health emergencies including the COVID-19 pandemic. During emergencies, UNICEF is the world’s lead on WASH and nutrition, and is co-lead on education with a focus on girls’ education. This leadership ensures that emergency response efforts meet stringent standards, and are coordinated to ensure the most effective deployment of resources. We are in countries before, during and after an emergency, giving us the ability to mobilize quickly and achieve impact. UNICEF’s logistics capacity is unrivalled, anchored by the world’s largest humanitarian supplies warehouse (in Copenhagen, Denmark), giving us the ability to quickly deploy life-saving materials around the world.

Charity Contact

Website: www.unicef.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 1-800-567-4483

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001