Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
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.
B+
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.
70%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 70 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:
Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals is a 4-star charity that is financially transparent. It has a B+ results reporting grade which is above average. For every dollar donated, 68 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
Founded in 1873, Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) runs programs to improve animal well-being in Ontario. The charity operates 12 animal centres across the province. OSPCA states that it values all animals and treats them with respect and kindness. Charity Intelligence estimates OSPCA spent $16.0m on its programs in 2024. Ci did not find a breakdown of program spending in the charity’s annual report or on its website.
OSPCA merged with the Humane Society of Durham Region on January 1st, 2024.
OSPCA supplies food for animals, provides animal medical treatment, and helps find homes for animals. The charity reports it gave 302,489 pounds of food to its food bank partners in 2024. This provided 807,588 meals for animals in need. OSPCA vaccinated 1,761 animals and conducted 968 physical exams in 2024. The charity’s Neuter Scooter subprogram transports animals to and from neuter/spay surgeries. It made 36 trips and resulted in 761 neuter/spay surgeries for cats. OSPCA also reports it supported 800 dogs and cats through its behaviour programs in 2024.
OSPCA educates the public about animals and issues they face. Its AnimalSmart subprogram offers free presentations to students in grades one to eight. OSPCA designed the presentations to inspire students to care for and protect animals in their communities. The charity delivered 603 presentations to 13,235 students in 2024.
OSPCA advocates on behalf of animals in Ontario. The charity reports that 2,000 people supported its advocacy campaigns by sending emails to the provincial government in 2024. It also reports that visitors to its animal advocacy webpage increased by 271% from 2023 to 2024.
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Results and Impact
OSPCA reports that it helped 5,721 animals in Ontario become adopted in 2024. The adopted animals consist of 1,720 dogs, 3,774 cats, and 227 small animals. It also reports it reunited 820 lost animals with their families.
OSPCA performed 9,276 spay/neuter surgeries in 2024. It reports that the surgeries prevented an estimated 539,120 potential offspring from being born.
OSPCA reports that it contributed to the passing of the Preventing Unethical Puppy Sales Act in June 2024. This act makes puppy mills illegal in Ontario. Puppy mills are inhumane high-volume dog breeding facilities. OSPCA reported in December 2024 that it is now advocating for increased dog breeding regulations to make the new act more effective.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has not yet rated OSPCA on impact (n/r). This does not affect the star rating.
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Finances
Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.
As mentioned above, OSPCA merged with the Humane Society of Durham Region on January 1st, 2024. This report uses the audited consolidated financial statements for 2024, along with the unaudited consolidated values for 2023. The 2022 values represent the charity prior to the merger.
In 2024 OSPCA received $22.5m in donations. It also received $4.2m in shelter and veterinary fees (14% of total revenues).
Administrative costs are 15% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 15% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 30%. For every dollar donated, 70 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
OSPCA spent $16.0m on its programs in 2024, which is 54% of its revenue. In 2024 it had a surplus of $5.7m, which is 19% of its revenue.
OSPCA has $42.5m in reserve funds (cash and investments). Excluding $1.3m in donor-endowed funds, the net funding reserves can cover 258%, or just under two years and seven months of program costs.
The most recent T3010 filing at the time of this update was from 2023. OSPCA paid external fundraisers $6.7k who collected $100 in donations in 2023. This means it cost OSPCA $67 to raise $1 using external fundraisers. It is likely more cost efficient to directly donate to the charity.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 18, 2025, by Grady Simpson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 14.9% | 16.9% | 18.3% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 14.8% | 12.2% | 13.6% |
| Total overhead spending | 29.7% | 29.0% | 31.8% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 258.3% | 286.2% | 335.8% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 22,458 | 19,197 | 15,808 |
| Goods in kind | 23 | 138 | 53 |
| Government funding | 1,128 | 1,097 | 946 |
| Fees for service | 4,183 | 2,922 | 2,618 |
| Investment income | 1,659 | 1,654 | 237 |
| Other income | 101 | 254 | 231 |
| Total revenues | 29,552 | 25,263 | 19,894 |
| Program costs | 16,041 | 13,069 | 9,289 |
| Donated goods exp | 23 | 138 | 53 |
| Administrative costs | 4,165 | 3,979 | 3,593 |
| Fundraising costs | 3,327 | 2,334 | 2,145 |
| Other costs | 290 | 208 | 219 |
| Total spending | 23,847 | 19,728 | 15,299 |
| Cash flow from operations | 5,705 | 5,535 | 4,596 |
| Capital spending | 1,028 | 918 | 542 |
| Funding reserves | 42,544 | 38,271 | 31,932 |
Note: Deferred fees for service: OSPCA uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred fees for service. This affected revenue by $1k in 2024, ($16k) in 2023, and ($30k) in 2022. Amortization of deferred capital contributions: Ci did not include amortization of deferred capital contributions. This affected revenues by ($56k) in 2024 and ($56k) in 2023. Goods in kind: Ci removed donated goods in kind from donations and reported it as goods in kind. Ci removed donated goods used in programs from program expenses and reported it as donated goods expense. Legacies: Ci included legacies in donations. This affected revenues by $7.8m in 2022.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
1 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
9 |
$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:
This comment was added to a previous profile by the charity. Ci hopes to receive an updated comment soon, which will be posted below.
About Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals:
The Ontario SPCA and Humane Society is a registered charity, established in 1873. The Society and its network of communities facilitate and provide for province-wide leadership on matters relating to the prevention of cruelty to animals and the promotion of animal well-being.
With 12 animal centre locations across the province, as well as two spay/neuter services locations accessible to the public, the Ontario SPCA is an integral part of each community, promoting mutually beneficial human-animal interactions
Mission-based programs include:
Helping animals during covid
To support animal centres as they continued their essential services during COVID-19, and to assist families across Ontario struggling to care for their animals, the Ontario SPCA launched the Urgent Animal Care Fund in 2020.
Food was one of the biggest needs; by the end of 2020, more than 500,000 lbs of food for animals had been distributed across the province thanks to the generosity of donors and corporate partners.
Deemed an essential service by the Government of Ontario, the Ontario SPCA was able to remain open by appointment during the pandemic. After careful consideration and research to determine the best way to keep communities safe, limited contact adoptions were introduced at Ontario SPCA animal centres. Over 3,400 animals found loving homes through the Ontario SPCA in 2020.
A limited contact approach was also implemented in the Ontario SPCA’s spay/neuter services locations in Barrie and Stouffivlle. A total of 4,539 spay/neuter procedures were performed in 2020, preventing an estimated 209,000 offspring. The SPCA’s Mobile Animal Wellness Services Units also made four community stops in 2020, performing 319 spay/neuter surgeries, which prevented an estimated 12,600 offspring.
*Note: provincially mandated lockdowns and restrictions to help slow and stop the spread of COVID-19 affected programs, services and adoption statistics in 2020.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 905-898-7122