Fred Victor is a 5-star rated charity with a high results reporting grade. The charity has low overhead costs and best practices in financial transparency.

Founded in 1894, Fred Victor helps homeless and low-income people access housing, health, and employment services. The charity is based in Toronto and operates over 20 sites across the city. The charity reports that over 10,000 people in Toronto are homeless on any given night. In F2020, Fred Victor amalgamated with the Toronto Christian Resource Centre (CRC), which shared a similar mission of offering housing and support services for people living in Regent Park and downtown Toronto. Fred Victor acquired the 40 Oaks Housing Community in F2020 through its amalgamation; 40 Oaks provides affordable housing for 100 tenants.

The charity operates four main programs: Ending Homelessness, Housing, Health Services, and Income Services. The charity does not disclose how much it spent on each program in F2022.

Through the charity's Ending Homelessness program, Fred Victor operates emergency homeless shelters open 24/7, providing emergency respite care. In F2022, the charity reported supporting 15,947 people at the Emergency Respite Centre, and made 3,766 referrals. Additionally, the charity reports that it supported 398 people experiencing homelessness at the Bethlehem United Shelter.

Fred Victor also operates a Housing program where it helps people secure affordable permanent and transitional housing. The charity reports that in F2022, it made 42,252 contacts with housing access & support services clients. Additionally, the charity reports that 42 residents entered transitional housing at its 145 Queen St. location in F2022.

The charity also operates a Health Services program. Fred Victor operates programs to address substance use, mental health challenges, physical injuries, food insecurity, social isolation, and other health-related issues. In F2022, the charity served 231,722 community meals at Moss Park and Regent Park. Additionally, the charity reports that 1,270 people received mental health and addiction case management support. 

Fred Victor's final program, Income Services, includes Employment & Training, Friends Catering, Keep Cool, and a Women's Bakery program. In F2022, 306 new clients registered with employment & training services. Additionally, the charity enrolled 24 women in the Women's Bakery program.

Fred Victor received $5.2m in donations in F2022. The charity also received $36.0m in government funding, representing 80% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues (excluding investment income), and fundraising costs are 1% of donations. This means overhead costs are 7%. For every dollar donated, 93 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Overhead ratios are likely understated due to a lack of transparency in cost breakdowns for common expenses like salaries, rent, and benefits. Additionally, Ci could not use the figures reported in Fred Victor’s T3010 filing with the CRA since expenses do not reconcile with the charity’s audited financial statements and F2022 CRA data for Fred Victor was not available at the time of this update.

­­Fred Victor has gross funding reserves of $18.6m which can cover just under two months of annual program costs. Its interest-bearing debts are $13.2m (held in mortgages). Excluding the long-term portions of mortgages, Fred Victor could operate using reserve funds for roughly four months.

Ci has sent this charity update to Fred Victor for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 11, 2022, by Ann Lei.