Islamic Relief Canada
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.
A-
RESULTS REPORTING
Grade based on the charity's public reporting of the work it does and the results it achieves.
Fair
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.
85%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 85 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Islamic Relief Canada:
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.
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Results and Impact
Islamic Relief Canada currently responds to various disaster appeals. In Afghanistan, IRC provided emergency food supplies to 9,940 individuals. In Bangladesh, the charity provided aid to 9,980 victims of emergency monsoon floods in Jamalpur. In Indonesia, the charity provided emergency shelter and sanitation supplies to 1,764 individuals affected by the West Sulawesi Earthquake.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Islamic Relief Canada’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has given Islamic Relief Canada a Fair impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances
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.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 4.4% | 3.7% | 2.8% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 11.0% | 8.2% | 14.4% |
Total overhead spending | 15.4% | 11.9% | 17.2% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 46.6% | 33.5% | 36.8% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2021 | 2020 | 2019 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 68,758 | 55,921 | 38,717 |
International donations | 428 | 560 | 523 |
Goods in kind | 325 | 4,703 | 24,994 |
Government funding | 657 | 1,545 | 1,000 |
Investment income | 366 | 101 | 175 |
Other income | 463 | 205 | 209 |
Total revenues | 70,998 | 63,034 | 65,617 |
Program costs - International | 46,322 | 43,497 | 31,954 |
Program costs - Canada | 1,321 | 1,326 | 1,737 |
Grants | 4,018 | 2,204 | 973 |
Donated goods exp | 325 | 4,703 | 24,994 |
Administrative costs | 3,104 | 2,334 | 1,832 |
Fundraising costs | 7,559 | 4,604 | 5,591 |
Total spending | 62,649 | 58,667 | 67,080 |
Cash flow from operations | 8,349 | 4,367 | (1,463) |
Capital spending | 319 | 1,288 | 128 |
Funding reserves | 24,975 | 16,691 | 13,642 |
Note: Ci classified donated investments as donations rather than donated goods in kind. Ci classified unrealized investment gains (losses) as investment income rather than other revenue. Ci reported international donations (less donated goods) from IRC’s T3010 filings with the CRA and removed the amounts from Canadian donations. IRC’s audited financial statements no longer disclose Canadian program spending. Ci used T3010 filings to separate Canadian program costs from international program costs. Ci removed donated goods and grants to qualified donees included in program costs to report them separately. To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted international program costs by changes in amounts payable to Islamic Relief Worldwide. This affected expenses by ($1.7m) in F2021, ($836k) in F2020, and ($991k) in F2019. Ci removed amortization on a pro-rata basis from administrative and fundraising costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
2 |
$80k - $120k |
7 |
$40k - $80k |
1 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2021
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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