North York Harvest Food Bank
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.
80%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 80 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About North York Harvest Food Bank:
North York Harvest Food Bank is a 3-star charity with Fair demonstrated impact. It is financially transparent, has overhead spending within Ci's reasonable range, and has above-average results reporting.
Founded in 1986, the North York Harvest Food Bank (NYH) provides food assistance, education, advocacy, and long-term food solutions to help create a community where all members can meet their food needs.
In F2022, North York Harvest allocated 54% of program spending to food distribution programs and 41% to community food banks and programs. Along with running community gardens and kitchens where program participants can learn skills and socialize, NYH runs three food banks: Bathurst-Finch, Oriole, and Lawrence Heights. NYH reports 223,427 clients served in F2022. It reports a 37% increase in first time clients from F2021. The charity states that of its clients, 57% are female, 29% are children (under 18), 12% are seniors, and 45% have a long-term disability or illness.
In F2022, NYH collected and distributed food to 36 member agencies across northern Toronto. The network of agencies delivered more than 77 community food programs. In F2019, North York Harvest merged with FoodReach. FoodReach is a program where non-profit organizations can purchase bulk food from North York Harvest. The charity reports that in F2022 it completed 700 orders for 38 non-profit clients. Demand for the program’s services increased by 40% from last year.
NYH’s Who’s Hungry 2021 report describes current statistics on the people and areas most affected by hunger, the causes of hunger, and solutions to hunger in Toronto. NYH published the report in partnership with Daily Bread Food Bank after completing more than 1,400 client interviews. The report states there was a 61% increase in new clients at Toronto food banks in 2021. The report highlights insufficient income support, precarious employment, and lack of affordable housing as primary causes of food insecurity.
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Results and Impact
In F2022, North York Harvest Food Bank received 1.4 million pounds of food. It reports that it distributed $7.8m worth of food.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of North York Harvest Food Bank’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has given North York Harvest a Fair impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances
North York Harvest Food Bank had total donations and special events revenue of $4.0m in F2022. Administrative costs are 5% of revenues and fundraising costs are 15% of donations and special events revenue. This results in total overhead spending of 20%. For every dollar donated, 80 cents go to the cause, which is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
NYH has $2.0m in reserve funds. These are the charity’s cash and investments, net of $57k in interest-bearing debt. The charity could cover 53% or six months of its annual program costs with reserves.
This report is an update that was sent to North York Harvest Food Bank for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated June 15, 2023 by Alessandra Castino.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending August
|
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 5.0% | 4.5% | 3.6% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 15.1% | 13.1% | 14.4% |
Total overhead spending | 20.1% | 17.6% | 18.0% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 52.6% | 66.8% | 45.9% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2022 | 2021 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 3,811 | 3,547 | 3,148 |
Government funding | 493 | 599 | 475 |
Fees for service | 848 | 364 | 260 |
Special events | 144 | 141 | 70 |
Other income | 124 | 102 | 328 |
Total revenues | 5,420 | 4,752 | 4,282 |
Program costs | 3,798 | 3,286 | 3,326 |
Grants | 98 | 67 | 92 |
Administrative costs | 272 | 216 | 152 |
Fundraising costs | 597 | 483 | 465 |
Total spending | 4,765 | 4,052 | 4,035 |
Cash flow from operations | 655 | 700 | 247 |
Capital spending | 109 | 58 | 214 |
Funding reserves | 2,048 | 2,240 | 1,570 |
Note: The charity does not report the value of donated food on its audited financial statements, annual report, or T3010 filings with the CRA. As a result, the administrative cost ratio may be overstated. Ci could not break out changes in government vs. non-government deferred contributions and therefore could not adjust for deferred donations. Ci removed amortization from program, administrative, and fundraising costs on a pro-rata basis.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
1 |
$80k - $120k |
3 |
$40k - $80k |
6 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2022
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-635-7771