Founded in 1995, Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver (Habitat Greater Vancouver) aims to help families across British Columbia access affordable housing. The charity is one of 46 Habitat for Humanity affiliates across Canada that work toward a world where everyone has a safe and stable place to live. Habitat Greater Vancouver reports that one in every five children in BC lives in poverty.

Habitat Greater Vancouver’s main program is homeownership. Based on its financial statements, Ci calculated Habitat Greater Vancouver's total program spending as $2.1m in F2020.

Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver’s homeownership program helps low-income families buy affordable homes. The charity raises funds for land and materials to build new houses. It offers these homes to families with an annual household income between $35,000 and $78,000, financed through 21-year leases. To keep homes affordable, Habitat Greater Vancouver sets lease payments at 30% of household income. The charity also requires each family to contribute 500 hours of “sweat equity” by volunteering to build homes or working at Habitat ReStores.

In 2021, Habitat Greater Vancouver helped to move 11 families into new homes. During the year, it also completed a five-year housing project to build 12 new homes in Richmond, BC. Each home offers two units, a community garden, and a common play area. In Mission, Habitat Greater Vancouver completed eight three-bedroom homes in 2021. It aims to build another 11 homes in Mission by spring 2022.

Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver received $1.8m in donations in F2020. It also received $205k in government wage subsidies (7% of revenues) and $182k in leases, mortgage payments, and mortgage deposits (6% of revenues). The charity’s audited financial statements do not include the value of donated building materials.

Administrative costs are 12% of revenues and fundraising costs are 7% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 19%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 81 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Habitat Greater Vancouver was previously outside of this reasonable range in F2018. However, its donations have risen by 208% since F2018, lowering its fundraising ratio. Its fundraising costs also rose by 28% over the same period. 

Habitat Greater Vancouver’s funding reserves are shown as negative since its interest-bearing debts of ($4.2m) exceed its cash and equivalents of $1.5m. This is common for Habitat for Humanity chapters across Canada, which hold mortgages for first-time homeowners. Excluding interest-bearing debts, Habitat Greater Vancouver’s gross funding reserves can cover 72% or between eight and nine months of annual program costs.

Habitat Greater Vancouver's capital spending spiked in F2020, mainly due to the purchase of new properties under construction in Richmond and Mission, BC.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Habitat for Humanity Greater Vancouver for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 13, 2021 by Eric Zhao.