Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada is a 5-star charity with Average demonstrated impact. It is financially transparent, has overhead spending within Ci's reasonable range, and has a strong results reporting grade. The charity has $5.3m in reserve funds, which can cover ten months of annual program costs. 

Founded in 1964, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada (BBBSC) supports the Big Brothers Big Sisters (BBBS) network of agencies across Canada. It provides funding, staff training, national standards, policies, and a database for agency members. BBBS agencies work with kids who face challenges such as poor living conditions, family violence, mental health issues, difficulties in school, or identity challenges. Through mentorship, BBBS aims to reduce and avoid these risks to improve a child's chances of success. 

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.

At the time of this report, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada's most recent annual report was dated for F2022. While its financial information reflects F2023, the results above reflect F2022. 

In F2022, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada granted to 97 agencies in its network. The agencies provided mentoring for 26,435 children in 1,100 communities. The charity reports that 73% of mentees are coping with mental health challenges such as anxiety and depression. Mentor-mentee pairs are formed based on common interests and meet at least twice a month for at least a year. In F2022, 48% of mentoring was group-based, 31% was community based one-on-one mentoring and 20% was school-based one-on-one mentoring. The group-based mentoring includes the Go Girls! and Game On! programs, which teach teenagers about healthy living habits. 

Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada provided 56 education and training virtual events for agency staff. It also granted 29 scholarships to youth and distributed 500 beds to children in the communities it supports.  

In F2022, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada granted $3.0m to member agencies. The biggest grants went to BBBS Toronto ($367k), BBBS Peele ($308k) and BBBS Hamilton and Burlington ($182k). 

In F2023, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada received $3.0m in donations. It also received $2.7m in government funding, representing 38% of revenue. Administrative costs were 11% of revenues, less investment income. Fundraising costs were 9% of donations. Total overhead spending was 20%. For every dollar donated, 80 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. 

In F2023, BBBSC had $5.3m in funding reserves (cash and investments). These can cover ten months of annual program costs. 

Of its corporate donations ($2.8m in F2023), its auditors note that some undisclosed amount is donated goods-in-kind. Ci has included this under donations.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Big Brothers Big Sisters of Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.  

Updated on August 16, 2024 by Stellar Zhang.