Islamic Relief Canada is an average, 3-star rated charity and one of Canada's largest charities. The charity is financially transparent and has a high results reporting grade. Islamic Relief Canada has a Fair demonstrated impact. 

Founded in 2006, Islamic Relief Canada (IRC) is a Muslim charity working to end poverty, illiteracy, and disease. The charity is the Canadian arm of Islamic Relief Worldwide. Islamic Relief Worldwide comprises a network of national offices and field partners across 50 countries. According to the charity, one in five children live in extreme poverty worldwide, and 821 million people go hungry each day.

Islamic Relief Canada runs four main international programs: Emergency Response, Development Projects, Orphan Sponsorship, and Seasonal Projects. It also runs Our Help at Home, a social services program in Canada. Islamic Relief Canada does not provide a program spending breakdown for F2021.

International Programs: In F2021, Islamic Relief Canada helped over 3.2 million people across 40 countries. IRC currently has eight active emergency and disaster appeals. These include emergency responses in Afghanistan, Palestine, Yemen, Syria, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Somalia. In Bangladesh, the charity constructed 16 permanent shelters and repaired three roads in F2021. Islamic Relief Canada also runs development projects focusing on seven core areas: food, health, shelter, education, livelihood, protection, and water. In Niger, the charity built two solar-powered water supply systems in F2021. IRC’s sponsorship programs target children orphaned by wars, disasters, droughts, or disease outbreaks. Islamic Relief Canada encourages donors to sponsor orphans and fund their access to clean water, healthcare, and education. In F2021, Islamic Relief Canada sponsored 20,100 children across 26 countries and regions.

Canadian Programs: IRC’s Our Help at Home projects aim to respond to domestic emergencies, support at-risk youth, and reduce poverty in Canada. In F2021, the charity funded responses to four Canadian emergencies: BC floods, BC wildfires, winter homelessness, and the St. James fire in Toronto. In total, its emergency programs helped 12,890 people during the year.

Islamic Relief Canada is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations, with Canadian donations of $68.8m in F2021. It also received $325k in donated goods, $657k in government funding, and $428k in international cash donations. Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (less investment income), and fundraising costs are 11% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 15%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 85 cents go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Islamic Relief Canada has $25.0m in funding reserves, of which $946k is donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, IRC can cover just under six months of annual program costs with its existing reserves.

Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Islamic Relief Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on July 18, 2022 by Ann Lei.