Pacific Salmon Foundation is a 4-star charity with an average results reporting score. It is financially transparent and has overhead costs just within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1987, Pacific Salmon Foundation (PSF) aims to conserve, restore, and enhance Pacific salmon and their ecosystems in British Columbia and the Yukon. PSF funds habitat restoration projects, raises awareness, and promotes sustainable practices to protect wild salmon. 

The Marine Science Program represented 33% of program spending in F2022. The program aims to understand why Pacific salmon populations have been declining in the Salish Sea. In F2022, PCF launched its Strait of Georgia Marine Reference Guide which is an online tool that helps people learn about the marine environment in the Strait of Georgia. In F2022, 10,520 users accessed the tool online. The charity is also evaluating the effectiveness of hatcheries and reviewed 21 Chinook and 16 Coho hatcheries in F2022.

PCF’s Salmon Watersheds Program represented 21% of program spending in F2022. The program focuses on research into conserving and monitoring salmon, and making this information easily available. The Pacific Salmon Explorer is a data-visualisation tool with information on the state of salmon in British Colombia. As of F2022, 92% of BC’s salmon population was represented on the Pacific Salmon Explorer. The charity has also launched a pilot project which uses artificial intelligence to monitor salmon. As of F2022, the project had 530,000 labelled images.

The Climate Adaptation program made up 16% of program spending in F2022. The charity focussed on three projects in F2022: the Forest Fire Playbook, Genetic Adaptability, and Assessing Fraser River Migration Impediments.

The charity’s Community Salmon program made up 13% of program spending in F2022. Through this program, PCF funds schools, First Nations, and conservation organizations to save and restore Pacific salmon populations.

PCF’s High Seas Expedition was 11% of program spending in F2022. The charity’s High Seas research investigates salmon and ecosystem health through the salmon’s life cycle.

The remaining 6% of program spending went to the charity’s other programs including Percy Walkus Hatchery (Rivers Inlet program), Stewardship Community Bursary, and Provincial Portfolio.

Pacific Salmon Foundation received $4.1m in donations and special events revenue in F2022. It also received $6.7m in government funding, representing 48% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 19% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 16% of donations and special events revenue. This results in total overhead spending of 35%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 65 cents go to the cause. This is just within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

PSF has reserve funds of $8.7m which can cover around nine months of annual program and grant costs.

Pacific Salmon Foundation has a close relationship with another independent charity, Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society (PSEFS). PSEFS was founded in 2001 to manage and distribute a $30m government grant for the conservation of Canada’s West Coast salmon. In 2019, it received another $5m in government funding. PSEFS had $40.1m in liquid assets in F2019. Since 2015, PSEFS has distributed $8.5m in grants, with Pacific Salmon Foundation receiving $8.4m (99%) and one other charity, Comox Valley Land Trust, receiving $100k (1%).

According to the CRA, two of Pacific Salmon Endowment Fund Society’s ten directors are also directors of PSF. PSF’s auditors do not recognize these two charities as related parties. Charity Intelligence has therefore not consolidated the two in this financial analysis, and classified contributions from PSEFS in other income.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Pacific Salmon Foundation for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 5, 2023 by Kiara Andrade.