Founded in 1894, Fred Victor's mission is to improve the health, income and housing stability of poor and homeless people in Toronto. It works towards its vision for Toronto to be a healthy and thriving city where every person has a home and access to opportunity. Fred Victor Centre (FVC) is one of Toronto's lead agencies addressing homelessness in the ZeroTO initiative to end homelessness.

Fred Victor is a multi-service charity. It has 19 different sites across Toronto providing many programs to many distinct clients. These cover four main categories: Housing, Health, Income, and Ending Homelessness.

Fred Victor’s Housing programs include 2 emergency homeless shelters that are open 24/7, providing emergency respite care. Its Bethlehem United shelter is the only Toronto shelter allowing pets. Fred Victor provides shelters and transitional housing for dedicated demographics. For example, it was recently loaned the Mary Sheffield mansion where, in partnership with LOFT, it provides transitional housing to 23 older women (55+) with complex needs. Also under housing programs, FVC works with Toronto Community Housing to provide community supports in affordable housing centres. 

In health programs, Fred Victor is one charity on the frontlines of Toronto's opioid crisis. In 2018 it opened a safe-injection site. It provides 3 booths. Its treatment numbers are not yet available. FVC made 500 referrals to fast-track services for people with mental health and addictions. It also provided on-site health and support services to 450 people in F2017.

FVC's Income programs include Employment & Training, Friends Catering, and Women’s Bakery. At the Women’s Bakery, Fred Victor provided 24 women training with the goal that they would be able to increase their income. Its Friends Restaurant served 52,200 low-cost meals. In F2018, 1,000 clients visited Fred Victor employment and training services.

Fred Victor's Ending Homelessness program housed 487 people and provided transitional housing for 40 people in 2017. Additionally, 450 people received onsite health and support services for mental health and addictions.

Fred Victor is a ­­­­medium-sized charity, with total donations of $1.3m in F2018. Fred Victor received $22.5m in government funding which represents 86% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 6% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 2% of donations. Note that overhead ratios are likely understated due to a lack of transparency in cost breakdowns for common expenses like salaries, rent, and benefits. For every dollar donated, 92 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

­­Fred Victor’s interest-bearing debts of $11.6m (held in mortgages) exceed its gross funding reserves of $4.0m. Excluding interest-bearing debts, Fred Victor could operate using reserve funds for less than a month.

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

Updated on July 15, 2019 by Lauren Chin.