Pollution Probe Foundation

130 Queens Quay East, Suite 902 West Tower
Toronto, ON M5A 0P6
CEO: Christopher Hilkene
Board Chair: Sean Morley

Charitable Reg. #:10809 2701 RR0001

STAR RATING

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

[Charity Rating: 4/5]

✔+

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.

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.

76%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 76 cents are available for programs.



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OVERVIEW

About Pollution Probe Foundation:

Pollution Probe is a 3-star rated charity. It has reasonable overhead spending and an average results reporting score but is not financially transparent. 

Founded in 1969, Pollution Probe works to find practical solutions to environmental issues. The charity addresses three key areas: technology & innovation, rulemaking, and behavioural change. It collaborates with governments, industry leaders, and the public to tackle environmental problems. 

Pollution Probe works through five programs: Circular Economy, Energy, Transportation, Water, and Youth Leadership. The charity does not provide a breakdown of its spending on its programs.  

For its Circular Economy program, Pollution Probe encourages people to reduce, reuse, and recycle items. It hopes to decrease waste to help the environment. In F2022, the charity conducted the first ever study about the phosphorous cycle in Ontario. It hopes to use this information to decrease human-based phosphorous pollution. It also released a Public Service Announcement about the harm of plastic pollution.  

In the Energy program, Pollution Probe works towards a net-zero energy system. This system would mean that energy production does not release any carbon. Much of the charity’s work in this program is with QUEST, another Canadian non-profit working towards net-zero, as part of a four-year partnership. From January to March of 2022, Pollution Probe helped install 200 electric vehicle (EV) chargers. 

Pollution Probe’s Transportation program hopes to reduce air pollution from vehicles. In F2022, the charity conducted two surveys. First, it wanted to understand the experiences of EV drivers. Second, it looked at the benefits working-from-home has on the environment. In F2022, Pollution Probe also created a roadmap to help Canada’s train system decrease carbon emissions.  

The Water program works to reduce pollution to waterways, especially the Great Lakes. In F2022, Pollution Probe stopped 13.46 kilograms of small plastic debris from entering lakes.  

Finally, Pollution Probe’s Youth Leadership program aims to support and learn from young environmental activists. It hosted a gala in November 2021 that included five youth panelists. 

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Results and Impact

In late F2022, Pollution Probe started a project to install EV chargers across Canada. In the first three months, it covered 1% of national networks with charging stations. Additionally, the results from Pollution Probe’s survey of EV drivers were mentioned in 100 different media outlets. 

While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Pollution Probe's results and impact. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r). 

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Finances

In F2022, Pollution Probe reported total donations and special events revenue of $1.2m. Administrative costs are 9% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 15% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 24%. For every dollar donated, 76 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

Pollution Probe has $649k in reserve funds, which include cash and investments. These funds can cover around 3 months of program spending at the F2022 level. 

­This charity report is an update that has been sent to Pollution Probe Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on June 14, 2023 by Clive Stevens.

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending March
202220212020
Administrative costs as % of revenues 8.7%14.6%15.0%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 15.2%26.5%32.6%
Total overhead spending 23.9%41.1%47.6%
Program cost coverage (%) 28.6%27.6%17.2%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $s
202220212020
Donations 1,083,494524,491713,963
Government funding 1,444,476494,068244,380
Fees for service 590154465
Special events 91,34747,767374,894
Investment income 2,6902,0263,047
Other income 663,226633,188407,648
Total revenues 3,285,8231,701,6941,744,397
Program costs 2,267,9271,301,0681,227,238
Grants 50000
Administrative costs 286,858248,101261,504
Fundraising costs 178,192151,892354,694
Total spending 2,733,4771,701,0611,843,436
Cash flow from operations 552,346633(99,039)
Capital spending 33,524116,8130
Funding reserves 649,034358,462211,359

Note: To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted donations by changes in deferred revenue from non-government sources. This affected revenues by $343k in F2022, ($138k) in F2021, and $22k in F2020. Ci has adjusted for amortization on a pro-rata basis. Ci used the charity's T3010 filing for revenue breakdown because the audited financial statements group together donations, fees for service, and government funding. Ci also used the T3010 for expense breakdown, as many expenses are not allocated to program, administrative and fundraising costs.  In the F2022 audited financial statements, many values from F2021 were restated. However, the T3010 filing from F2021 was not restated so Ci could not adjust the values individually. The lack of restatement meant that the T3010 revenues and expenses were $248k less than the updated revenues and expenses in the audited financial statements. 

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 10

Avg. compensation: $89,762

Top 10 staff salary range:

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

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

No comments have been added by the charity.

Charity Contact

Website: www.pollutionprobe.ca
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-926-1907

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Charitable Registration Number: 80340 7956 RR0001