Operation Smile Canada is a 3-star charity with Average Demonstrated Impact. The charity has a B Results Reporting grade and reasonable reserve funds. For every dollar donated to the charity, 57 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci's reasonable range. 

Founded in 2011, Operation Smile Canada (OSC) raises money to support programs conducted by Operation Smile (OS), headquartered in Virginia, US. Operation Smile began in 1982 by the American plastic surgeon, William Magee, and his wife Kathy. Operation Smile's mission is to use its expertise in treating cleft lip and cleft palate surgery to help people where it's needed most. Operation Smile Canada reports that every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. This is approximately 175,000 children each year. OSC states that children born with cleft lip or cleft palate are at nine times the normal risk of dying in their first year of life. Over 6,000 doctors volunteer with Operation Smile to go abroad and do cleft palate surgeries and other medical procedures. OSC spent $13.0m on its programs in F2024, $11.8m internationally (to Operation Smile International) and $1.2m in Canada.

OSC’s Surgical program represented 45% ($5.3m) of international program costs in F2024. Operation Smile Canada funds cleft lip and palate surgery to youth internationally. The charity funded 4,774 surgeries on 4,126 patients in F2024. OSC also funded 17,672 nursing consultations and 11,837 pediatric consultations in F2024. Including Surgical program costs and overhead costs as allocated by Ci ($9.9m total), it cost OSC $2,069 per surgery funded in F2024.

OSC’s Comprehensive Care program represented 39% ($4.6m) of international program costs in F2024. Operation Smile Canada funds health services such as dentistry, nutrition consultations, and speech consultations at its local care centres. In F2024, 56,040 patients received care at Canadian-funded Care Centres. OSC funded 109,909 consultations in F2024. Of which, 38,667 were oral health, 21,901 were speech therapy, 16,107 were psychology, 13,751 were nutrition, 6,339 were social work, 4,057 child life, 2,492 were ear, nose, and throat, 1,125 were medicine, and 161 were audiology. Including Comprehensive Care program costs and overhead costs as allocated by Ci ($8.6m total), it cost OSC $153 per patient served and $78 per consultation provided in F2024.

OSC’s Training and Education/Research program represented 16% ($1.9m) of international program costs in F2024. Operation Smile trains health professionals across the world. 85% of Operation Smile’s volunteers live in the low- and middle-income countries Operation Smile serves. Operation Smile Academy, an e-learning and remote mentorship service for cleft care professionals, recorded 630 new users on the platform across 35 countries. Operation Smile also offers courses to train American Heart Association’s (AHA) volunteers. In F2024, the charity offered courses to 26 anesthesiologists, 15 pediatricians, 39 nurses, 12 volunteer instructors, and 80 volunteers seeking to keep their AHA credentials.

Operation Smile also reported $1.2m (9% of all program costs) in Canadian program costs on its T3010 filing; however, it is not clear how this cost is allocated to the charity's programs. Ci did not find any reporting on the charity's Canadian program costs. 

Operation Smile Canada received $20.6m in Canadian donations and $1.2m in international donations in F2024. OSC spent $13.0m on its programs. Of which, $11.8m was international, and $1.2m was domestic. Program costs were 59% of revenue in F2024.

Operation Smile Canada spent $7.0m on fundraising, which is 34% of donations, and $1.9m on administration, which is 9% of revenue. Total overhead spending is 43%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 57 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range.

OSC holds $6.4m in reserve funds (cash and investments). These reserves can cover 49%, or six months of the charity’s annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Operation Smile Canada uses external fundraisers. In F2024, it paid fundraisers $1.2m to collect $1.7m. It cost 69 cents to raise a dollar through external fundraisers in F2024. It is likely more cost efficient to donate directly to the charity than through external fundraisers.

This charity report is an update that has been sent to Operation Smile Canada for update and review.

Updated on May 14, 2025 by Liam Chapleau.

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