Simon Fraser University
STAR RATINGCi's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics: |
✔+
FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY
Audited financial statements for current and previous years available on the charity’s website.
A
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
n/r
DEMONSTRATED IMPACT
The demonstrated impact per dollar Ci calculates from available program information.
NEED FOR FUNDING
Charity's cash and investments (funding reserves) relative to how much it spends on programs in most recent year.
79%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 79 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Simon Fraser University:
Simon Fraser University is a top-rated 5-star charity and one of Canada’s largest charities by donations. It has an A results reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead spending is within Ci’s reasonable range and it has reserve funds to cover its annual program costs for eight months.
Founded in 1965, Simon Fraser University (SFU) is a public research university in British Columbia. SFU has three campuses: Vancouver, Burnaby, and Surrey. Its main programs are Instruction and Research. In 2024, Macleans ranked SFU the #1 Canadian comprehensive university. It is also ranked #1 in Canada for innovation (World University Rankings for Innovation, 2024). SFU reports that it has reduced its investment portfolio’s carbon footprint by 45%, meeting its 2025 goal.
A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.
SFU spent $636.0m on Instruction in the fiscal year ending March 2024 (F2024). In the Fall of 2023, Simon Fraser University had 25,714 undergraduate and 4,425 graduate students. In F2024, SFU had eight faculties and three campuses. SFU offers 364 undergraduate and 149 graduate programs. As of June 2023, 8,800 students were enrolled in Co-op programs. SFU reports that its co-op program is one of the largest in Canada. SFU is currently working towards opening a School of Medicine. The school’s first incoming class is set for 2026.
SFU spent $154.6m on Research in F2024. In F2024, Simon Fraser University reported having over 60 research centres and institutes. It also had three Canada Excellence Research Chairs. As of March 2024, SFU had 1,076 faculty members. 40% of its faculty members have international backgrounds. SFU is in the top 15 universities in Canada for journal citations per faculty member (QS 2024).
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Results and Impact
During the June and October 2023 convocations, Simon Fraser University awarded 7,581 credentials. This included 5,088 Bachelors degrees, 1,189 Masters degrees, and 197 Doctorates. The remaining 1,107 credentials consist of undergraduate and graduate certificates and diplomas.
In the Fall 2023 Undergraduate Student Survey, 60% of respondents were very/somewhat satisfied with their overall SFU experience. This is significantly lower than the year before (87%).
SFU reported that over 40% of its research articles appear in the world’s top 10% of journals.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Simon Fraser University’s results and impact.
This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).
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Finances
The following financial review is for the fiscal year ending March 2023 (F2023). While the audited financial statements for F2024 are available, the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA has not been posted at the time of this update. Ci needs the T3010 to determine administrative and fundraising costs as these are not reported in the charity’s audited financial statements.
Simon Fraser University is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations. In F2023, Simon Fraser University received $55.8m in donations. It also received $429.4m in government funding (41% of total revenue). Fees for service were $314.2m in F2023 (30% of total revenue). Administrative costs are 8% of total revenue (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 13% of donations. Overhead spending is 21%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range. For every dollar donated, 79 cents are available for the cause. In F2023, SFU spent $705.9m on its programs (67% of total revenue).
In F2023, Simon Fraser University had a surplus of $263.0m and spent $169.2m on capital expenditures.
At the end of F2023, SFU has $932.6m in reserve funds. $485.5m of these funds are donor endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, SFU has reserve funds to cover 66% or around eight months of its annual program costs.
This charity profile is an update that was sent to Simon Fraser University for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated July 23, 2024 by Thea Clark.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 7.8% | 7.5% | 7.6% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 12.8% | 14.7% | 3.8% |
| Total overhead spending | 20.6% | 22.2% | 11.4% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 65.6% | 77.3% | 89.6% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2023 | 2022 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 55,758 | 46,099 | 160,512 |
| Government funding | 429,411 | 385,723 | 397,232 |
| Fees for service | 314,409 | 315,233 | 305,905 |
| Business activities (net) | 39,819 | 26,594 | 13,102 |
| Investment income | 143,285 | 138,789 | 125,999 |
| Other income | 73,996 | 119,137 | 53,932 |
| Total revenues | 1,056,678 | 1,031,575 | 1,056,682 |
| Program costs - International | 375 | 29 | 574 |
| Program costs - Canada | 705,572 | 670,376 | 619,223 |
| Administrative costs | 71,406 | 66,515 | 70,588 |
| Fundraising costs | 7,138 | 6,794 | 6,097 |
| Other costs | 9,213 | 9,164 | 9,152 |
| Total spending | 793,705 | 752,879 | 705,634 |
| Cash flow from operations | 262,973 | 278,696 | 351,048 |
| Capital spending | 169,155 | 167,077 | 176,338 |
| Funding reserves | 932,616 | 970,513 | 930,873 |
Note: ADMINISTRATIVE AND FUNDRAISING COSTS: The charity does not disclose administrative and fundraising costs in its audited financial statements. Ci used the charity’s T3010 filing with the CRA to determine administrative and fundraising costs, and removed these amounts from program costs. AMORTIZATION: Ci removed amortization from program, administrative, and fundraising costs on a pro-rata basis. DEFERRED REVENUE: Ci adjusted for deferred revenue, affecting total revenue by ($28.4m) in F2023, ($27.2m) in F2022, and $120.9m in F2021. DEFERRED CAPITAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Ci adjusted for deferred capital contributions, affecting total revenue by $54.1m in F2023, $23.3m in F2022, and $12.7m in F2021. DEFERRED TUITION: Ci adjusted for deferred tuition in fees for service, affecting total revenue by ($1.4m) in F2023, $2.1m in F2022, and $nil in F2021. DEFERRED LEASE PROCEEDS: Ci adjusted for deferred lease proceeds in other revenue, affecting total revenue by $11.1m in F2023, $58.1m in F2022, and ($652k) in F2021. DONATIONS TO ENDOWMENTS: Ci included donations to endowments in donations, affecting total revenue by $9.7m in F2023, $7.5m in F2022, and $6.6m in F2021. INVESTMENT INCOME: Ci adjusted investment income to include endowment investment income and equity gain from the SFU community trust, affecting total revenue by $72.4m in F2023, $99.3m in F2022, and $91.8m in F2021.
Salary Information
$350k + |
4 |
$300k - $350k |
6 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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