Special Olympics Canada is a 3-star charity with a below-average results reporting grade. The charity is financially transparent, however, the charity’s foundation’s audited financial statements were not available online. Special Olympics Canada has reasonable overhead costs. It has reserve funds that can cover its annual program costs for a little under a year.

Founded in 1969, Special Olympics Canada (SOC) is the Canadian body for Special Olympics International. It improves the lives of Canadians with intellectual disabilities through sports. It also promotes public awareness around disabled children. Special Olympics Canada oversees 12 Canadian chapters by programming and funding them. SOC provides sports programs, free health exams, leadership development, and public education.

Sports programs – 85% of program costs

Special Olympics Canada helps 41,000 athletes as of F2022. SOC has 17,500 volunteers and coaches running its programs. The charity states that it runs 6,175 programs across Canada for people aged 2 and above.

SOC’s Active Start and FUNdamentals programs help disabled children build basic skills through sports. The programs take place weekly and develop important motor and physical abilities.

Special Olympics Canada’s Healthy Athletes program provides free health exams for athletes. The program offers exams in eight disciplines including vision, podiatry and dentistry. SOC reports a large impact on providing healthcare to people with intellectual disabilities.

SOC’s Athlete Leadership program aims to develop athletes’ leadership abilities. It does so through public speaking and governance training. It also encourages athletes to join sports committees and input councils. The charity reports lasting benefits on participants, such as increased confidence.

Public education – 15% of program costs

In F2022, Special Olympics Canada held the Our Podium Campaign. This campaign considered the meaning of sport and success. It had over 5 million impressions online and increased volunteer registration.

The following analysis consolidates the financial statements of Special Olympics Canada and Special Olympics Canada Foundation.

Special Olympics Canada received $7.9m in donations and special events revenue in F2022. The charity also received $7.5m in government funding (47% of total consolidated revenues). Administrative costs are 4% of revenues (excluding investment income) and fundraising costs are 29% of donations. This means overhead costs are 33%. For every dollar donated, 67 cents go the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. The charity’s cents to the cause have dropped from 81 cents in F2021 to 67 cents in F2022. This is mostly due to an increase in fundraising costs. Fundraising costs are $2.3m in F2022, compared to $962k in F2021.

The charity and the foundation have funding reserves of $11.6m. These reserves can cover annual grants and program costs for 0.9 years. This includes grants to Special Olympics chapters across Canada.

This report is an update that has been sent to Special Olympics Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated May 23rd, 2023 by Victoria Allder.