Nature Conservancy of Canada is a 4-star charity. It has above average disclosure with an A grade for results reporting. Its overhead spending and funding reserves are within Ci's reasonable range.

Founded in 1962, Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) works to protect natural areas, plants, and animals while finding solutions to biodiversity loss and climate change. The charity leads large-scale projects to permanently conserve land. NCC states that “since the onset of European settlement, the country has lost 70 per cent of Prairie wetlands, more than 80 per cent of Prairie grasslands, 80 per cent of Carolinian forest and over 80 per cent of wetlands in and around urban areas.”

In NCC’s strategic plan, it outlines multiple goals with the overarching target to double its impact by 2030. The charity aims to protect 500,000 hectares of prairie grasslands in Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba by 2030. NCC is working to help achieve the global “30 x 30” goal, which is to protect 30% of the planet’s land, oceans, and freshwater by 2030.

In F2025, NCC spent $121.1m on its programs. This includes $29.0m in grants.

NCC’s only program is land conservation and stewardship. In F2025, it conserved 94,315 hectares of land across 88 projects. As of F2025, 258 species at risk are protected on NCC lands. This is 36% of the 707 species at risk in Canada. NCC stored 47 million tonnes of carbon on its conserved lands in F2025.

Since its founding, Nature Conservancy Canada has conserved more than 20 million hectares of land.

Nature Conservancy Canada’s audited financial statements do not use activity-based costing, which is a best practice. Ci used the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA to report government funding, international donations, fundraising costs, administrative costs, and program costs.

In F2025, NCC had $224.6m in total revenues. Donations accounted for $68.7m or 31% of revenues. Donated land accounted for $18.9m or 8% of revenues. Government funding accounted for $75.3m or 34% of revenues. Investment income was $29.7m or 13% of revenues. In F2025, NCC spent $121.1m on its programs. This was 59% of revenues less donated land.

In F2025, administrative costs were $19.7m or 10% of revenues less investment income. Fundraising costs were $21.1m or 24% of donations. For every dollar donated to the charity 66 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

As of F2025, NCC has $411.4m in cash and investments. This includes $174.1m in donor-endowed funds. Excluding donor-endowed funds, its reserves can cover 2 years and 1 month of its annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

The charity's cash and investments include: 25% in pooled funds, 22% in cash, 19% in alternative investments, 13% in equities, 11% in short term investments, and 10% in bonds. The annual return in F2025 is 8%. The average return over the last five years is 7%.

Nature Conservancy Canada uses external fundraisers. In F2025, NCC paid fundraisers $1.6m to collect $464k. It cost $3.36 to raise a dollar through external fundraisers.

Updated on July 29, 2026 by Raihan Firosh. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.