Founded in 2008, Assiniboine Park Conservancy (APC) is responsible for taking care of Winnipeg’s Assiniboine Park & Zoo. The charity has a 50-year lease on the 1,100-acre Park with the City of Winnipeg. The city owns the property and assets and gives an annual grant to the charity to support the Park’s operations and maintenance.

Assiniboine Park Conservancy runs a variety of programs for people to enjoy the Park’s and Zoo’s attractions – adult programs, kids’ programs, a summer Zoo Camp, custom programs, school & group programs, outreach programs and a membership program. The charity also has a research and conservation department that works on sustainability initiatives across the park. In 2019, the Zoo took in a plethora of new animals due to transfers or births – thirteen domestic goats, three red panda cubs, three great rhea, two boa constrictors, two Prevost’s squirrels, a female golden eagle, a Clydesdale horse, a female while-handed gibbon, and a female toco toucan. The Zoo’s newly-constructed rotating exhibit gallery also opened the Stingray Beach exhibit with cownose and southern rays.

Assiniboine Park Conservancy reports over 5 million unique visits to the Park and Zoo annually. During 2019, 26,586 students participated in school and group programs, and APC fully subsidized the cost for 17.5% of students. APC’s summer Zoo Camp runs for nine weeks each summer and had 931 campers in 2019. APC introduced 60-minute drop-in tours in 2019, and 277 visitors paid an additional $5 on top of their Zoo admission for the experience. In 2019, APC ran its Fostering Engagement program with the Pembina Trails School division for the seventh consecutive year. This program creates an experiential learning environment for struggling students through interactions with animals and nature at the Park and Zoo.

In 2009, APC started its Imagine a Place campaign to redevelop the Park and Zoo in three major phases. The City of Winnipeg is committed to cover a quarter of the costs associated with the project. The first phase, now complete, was renewal of the Park. This included building the Park’s Nature Playground and Streuber Family Children’s Garden, the Qualico Family Centre, the Park Café, and refurbishing the Riley Family Duck Pond.  The second phase, also complete, focused on Zoo redevelopment projects such as the Leatherdale International Polar Bear Conservation Centre, the McFeetors Heavy Horse Centre, and the Journey to Churchill exhibit. The third phase, which is still in progress, focuses on building a horticultural attraction called Canada’s Diversity Gardens. Construction is set to be complete in late 2021.

Assiniboine Park Conservancy had donations of $8.7m in F2019. Park revenues of $13.0m were 39% of total revenues in F2019. APC also received $11.1m from the City of Winnipeg, representing 33% of total revenues.

Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (excluding investment income) and the charity does not report any fundraising costs in its audited financial statements. APC's 2019 CRA filing was not available at the time of this profile update, and previous years did not reconcile with the charity's audited financial statements, so Ci could not determine the charity's fundraising costs. This means overhead costs are 4%. For every dollar donated, 96 cents go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Donors should be aware that extremely low overhead costs can be a risk to a charity’s operational abilities, or could represent a lack of proper disclosure.

APC has funding reserves of $19.3m, of which $1.6m is donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, the charity’s funding reserves can cover 72% of annual program costs, indicating a need for funding.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Assiniboine Park Conservancy for review. Comments and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 5, 2020 by Eric Jose.