Orchestre Symphonique De Quebec

401, Grande Allée Est
Québec , QC G1R 2J5
General Director: Astrid Chouinard
Board President: Jean-Yves Germain

Charitable Reg. #:11906 9532 RR0001

STAR RATING

Ci's Star Rating is calculated based on the following independent metrics:

[Charity Rating: 1/5]

FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

Audited financial statements available only through official request for information from Charities Directorate.

C-

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.

28%

CENTS TO THE CAUSE

For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 28 cents are available for programs.

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OVERVIEW

About Orchestre Symphonique De Quebec:

Founded in 1902, Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec (OSQ) is Canada’s oldest active symphony orchestra. OSQ’s mission is to perform and promote symphonic music. The orchestra has a traditional American French sound. In 2011, OSQ nominated its eleventh conductor of the orchestra: Maestro Fabien Gabel, who is stepping down in 2021. The orchestra performs works by composers from Canada and abroad. To support the next generations of musicians, OSQ collaborates with the Conservatoire de musique de Quebec and the faculty of Music of Laval University. Outside of scheduled concerts, the orchestra runs educational concerts and programs for students. The charity does not provide a breakdown of its spending on its programs.

OSQ’s orchestra consists of 61 musicians playing strings, brass, percussion, and woodwind instruments. The orchestra reports it plays in front of more than 100,000 people annually. The orchestra currently has 26 works that have been recorded and published to its discography. The charity does not report the total number of performances or audience in F2020; however, it did conduct three small concerts with just string performers for 250 people.

The orchestra’s educational programming is broken out into two groups: preschool and primary, and secondary and post-secondary. The preschool and primary group hosts performances for children as well as hour-long educational workshops that teach students about the path to becoming a professional musician. The secondary and post-secondary program gives students the opportunity to attend orchestra rehearsals and ask questions of the musicians and conductor. In F2020, the charity interacted with eight school boards in Quebec and allowed 430 children to attend one of its concerts.  

The charity also aims to develop its social networks. In F2020, it had 9,972 Facebook followers, 1,993 Instagram followers, and 15,212 newsletter subscribers.

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Results and Impact

Charity Intelligence did not find any quantified outcomes reported on OSQ's website. This charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).  

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Finances

Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec is not financially transparent. Its audited financial statements are not posted on its website nor provided when requested. Charity Intelligence's financial review uses the 2019 audited financial statements. This is the most recent information we have received from the Charities Directorate from our request for information.

Ci has consolidated audited financial statements of Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec with figures of the Fondation de l’Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec’s T3010A filings with the CRA.

Orchestre Symphonique de Quebec has donations of $1.2m in 2019. The charity received $3.8m in government funding, representing 47% of total revenues. Administrative costs are 10% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 62% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 72%. For every dollar donated, 28 cents go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. The ratio is high due to fundraising costs increasing 280% since F2017.

OSQ has $4.7m in funding reserves. The charity could cover 73% or almost nine months of annual program costs with current reserves.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Orchestre Symphonique de Québec for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on July 30, 2021 by Brenleigh Jebb.  

Financial Review


Financial Ratios

Fiscal year ending May
201920182017
Administrative costs as % of revenues 10.3%10.1%9.3%
Fundraising costs as % of donations 62.1%38.4%26.3%
Total overhead spending 72.5%48.5%35.6%
Program cost coverage (%) 73.4%94.1%71.7%

Summary Financial Statements

All figures in $000s
201920182017
Donations 1,1801,210732
Government funding 3,7713,6383,312
Fees for service 2,4602,3381,862
Investment income 716422100
Total revenues 8,1267,6096,005
Program costs 6,4516,0065,324
Administrative costs 765728551
Fundraising costs 733464193
Other costs 26330
Total spending 7,9757,2326,068
Cash flow from operations 150377(63)
Capital spending 2016
Funding reserves 4,7335,6533,815

Note: Ci removed transfers between the foundation and the operating charity, reducing total revenues and expenses by $511k in F2019, $310k in F2018, and $261k in F2017.

Salary Information

Full-time staff: 77

Avg. compensation: $62,095

Top 10 staff salary range:

$350k +
0
$300k - $350k
0
$250k - $300k
0
$200k - $250k
0
$160k - $200k
0
$120k - $160k
1
$80k - $120k
1
$40k - $80k
8
< $40k
0

Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020

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Comments & Contact

Comments added by the Charity:

Charity Contact

Website: www.osq.org
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 418 643-8486

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