Covenant House Toronto is a two-star financially transparent charity with a Low demonstrated impact score. It has an excellent A results reporting grade, reasonably overhead spending, and a reasonably sized reserve fund. For every dollar donated, 67 cents are available to go to the cause.

Founded in 1982, Covenant House Toronto (COVT) helps homeless youths (aged 16 – 24) live a fulfilling life away from the streets. It provides emergency shelter, transitional housing, job skills training, and mental health services to those in need. The charity also runs human trafficking educational classes, youth homelessness awareness campaigns, and government advocacy programs. According to the charity, 6,000 youths sleep on Toronto’s streets each night, of which 63% were victims of parental abuse.

Covenant House Toronto runs four programs: Shelter and Crisis Care, Long-Term Transitional Housing, Community Support Services and Outreach, and other programs. The charity spent $31.2m on its programs in the fiscal year ending in June 2024 (F2024) and disclosed a breakdown of the amount it spent on each of these four programs.

Shelter & Crisis Care was 39% ($12.5m) of this charity’s program spending. Covenant House Toronto operates a 96-bed emergency shelter which houses an average of 94 youths at any given time (98% occupancy rate). According to the charity, 1,444 youths visited this shelter in F2024, a 12% increase from 1,289 visits in F2023.

Long-Term Transitional Housing was 27% ($8.7m) of this charity’s program spending. COVT operates mixed-use transitional housing in Toronto and opened a new 10-unit building during F2024. According to the charity, 411 youths received support that helped them secure and maintain housing (388 youths in F2023).

Community Support Services & Outreach was 24% ($7.5m) of this charity’s program spending. COVT runs life skills and job training workshops for its clients. In F2024, workshop participants earned 1,421 credits for completing all courses. Also, 185 youths found work after finishing job skills training.

Other programs were 10% ($3.2m) of this charity’s program spending and includes this charity’s educational classes and advocacy work. In F2024, COVT ran a campaign covering the National Human Trafficking Awareness day which attracted 5,000 visitors to this campaign’s website page. The charity also educated 34,945 high school students across Canada on the dangers of homelessness and human trafficking.

Covenant House Toronto’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing – a financial reporting best practice. This means its financial statements clearly indicate how much it spent on program, administrative, and fundraising costs.

During F2024, COVT received $32.8m worth of donations (72% of total revenue) and $4.3m worth of government funding (9% of total revenue). This is a 7% and 42% respective decrease from $35.1m donations and $7.4m government funding received in F2023.

Administrative costs are 5% of total revenue and fundraising costs are 28% of donations. This means the charity spent 33% on overhead. For every dollar donated, 67 cents are available to go to the cause.

In F2024, charity spent $42.6m on its programs, a 3% increase from $41.4m spent during F2023. COVT’s operating cash flow decreased from $8.1m to $3.1m from F2023 to F2024.

At the end of F2024, COVT had $48.5m worth of net reserve funds (cash and investments). This covers 155% or around one year and six months of its annual program spending.

Profile updated by Julian Dranitsaris on April 15, 2025. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.