McMaster University
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.
n/r
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.
94%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 94 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About McMaster University:
McMaster University is a 5-star charity. It has an A results reporting grade, which is above average. Its overhead spending is within Ci’s reasonable range and it is financially transparent.
Founded in 1887, McMaster University is a public university in Hamilton, Ontario. McMaster has a focus on research and has six faculties: business, engineering, health sciences, humanities, science, and social science. Charity Intelligence estimates McMaster spent $1.2 billion on its programs in its fiscal year ending April 2024 (F2024). McMaster’s main programs are education and research. It does not provide a program spending breakdown.
A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.
Education: McMaster had a total of 37,592 students in F2024. Of those students, 83% were domestic students (31,207) and 17% were international students (6,385). McMaster had 1,079 full-time faculty and 5,468 full-time staff in F2024. McMaster ranked 103rd in the 2024 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. McMaster reports 92% of first-year undergraduates continued to second year.
Research: McMaster has 70 research centres and institutes. McMaster states it ranked number two in Canada for faculty research intensity. In F2024 McMaster provided $407k per faculty member for research. It also states it ranked number three in Canada for graduate research intensity. McMaster provided $68k per graduate student for research. In F2024 McMaster had 86 Canada Research chairs. Clarivite Analytics’ 2024 list of the World’s Most Highly Cited Researchers featured 18 McMaster researchers.
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Results and Impact
McMaster awarded 8,056 degrees in 2023. McMaster reports that from 2019 to 2023 the number of degrees awarded has increased by 18.5%.
The six-year graduation rate for the 2017 McMaster cohort was 84%.
McMaster states KPMG studied its economic impact. KPMG determined that McMaster’s annual economic impact is $9.2 billion. KPMG also reported that McMaster has a $3.87 billion impact on Hamilton’s GDP. KPMG reported that every dollar invested in McMaster returns nearly eight dollars to the economy.
McMaster also reports on its research publications. For example, researchers lead by a McMaster professor published a study in the journal Nature in 2023. It showed that the hormone GDF15 can help with weight loss.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not completely represent McMaster University’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has not yet rated McMaster on impact (n/r). This does not affect the star rating.
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Finances
McMaster University’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing, which is not a best practice. This means Ci referred to its T3010 filings to report program, administrative, and fundraising costs.
In F2024 McMaster received $198.2m in donations, a 133% increase from F2024 ($84.8m). McMaster received $461.4m in government funding, which is 29% of total revenue. It also received $615.1m in tuition and other fees (39% of total revenue).
Administrative costs are 2% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 4% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 6%. For every dollar donated, 94 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.
In F2024 McMaster spent $1.2 billion on its programs, which is 79% of its revenue. In F2024 it had a surplus of $282.7m, which is 18% of its revenue.
McMaster University has $2.4 billion in gross reserve funds (cash and investments) and $421.4m in interest-bearing debts. This results in net funding reserves of $1.9 billion. Excluding $645.4m in donor-endowed funds, the net funding reserves can cover 107%, or one year and just under one month of program costs.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to McMaster University. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on June 9, 2025, by Grady Simpson.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending April
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 2.0% | 1.7% | 2.2% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 3.7% | 7.5% | 4.6% |
| Total overhead spending | 5.7% | 9.2% | 6.8% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 107.4% | 113.0% | 113.2% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 198,208 | 84,786 | 120,996 |
| Government funding | 461,387 | 519,601 | 450,641 |
| Fees for service | 615,061 | 592,183 | 567,387 |
| Business activities (net) | 90,659 | 86,101 | 64,718 |
| Investment income | 179,164 | 140,474 | (66,777) |
| Other income | 22,694 | 107,437 | 70,220 |
| Total revenues | 1,567,173 | 1,530,582 | 1,207,185 |
| Program costs | 1,231,628 | 1,118,787 | 1,006,056 |
| Administrative costs | 27,368 | 23,351 | 28,400 |
| Fundraising costs | 7,347 | 6,364 | 5,514 |
| Other costs | 18,130 | 18,185 | 17,392 |
| Total spending | 1,284,473 | 1,166,687 | 1,057,362 |
| Cash flow from operations | 282,700 | 363,895 | 149,823 |
| Capital spending | 126,307 | 179,573 | 131,926 |
| Funding reserves | 1,933,729 | 1,820,226 | 1,656,235 |
Note: Deferred adjustment: McMaster uses deferred accounting. To show donors information on a consistent basis, Ci adjusted for these deferred revenues. This affected revenue by $734k in F2024, $64.8m in F2023, and $44.0m in F2022. Deferred capital contributions: Ci adjusted for deferred capital contributions. This affected revenues by ($29.7m) in F2024, ($4.2m) in F2023, and ($18.6m) in F2022. Endowment contributions: Ci included external endowment contributions in donations. This affected revenues by $32.5m in F2024, $32.6m in F2023, and $20.6m in F2022. Endowment investment income: Ci included external endowment investment income (loss). This affected revenues by $46.3m in F2024, $31.6m in F2023, and ($36.4m) in F2022. T3010: McMaster uses line-item costing. Ci used the charity’s T3010 filing to report administrative and fundraising costs. Amortization: Ci removed amortization on a pro rata basis from program, administrative, and fundraising costs in F2024, F2023, and F2022. Government funding: Ci reported government funding using the charity’s T3010 filing and removed it from donations.
Salary Information
$350k + |
10 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2024
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
Charity Contact
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