Plan International Canada
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.
62%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 62 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Plan International Canada:
Founded in 1968, Plan Canada is the Canadian branch and fundraising arm of Plan International. Plan International works to advance the rights of children and equality for girls around the world. Plan was founded during the Spanish Civil War in 1937. During World War II, it was known as Foster Parents Plan and aimed to help displaced children across Europe. As Europe recovered, Plan pivoted to focus on international development.
Plan International today is a partnership of 20 national branches that raise money for projects in more than 75 countries. Plan Canada is the second-largest partner and raises 18% of Plan International’s global revenues (Plan Germany is the largest, raising 22%). Plan Canada works to help children around the world in nine core areas: child protection, climate change, education, economic empowerment, emergencies, gender equality and inclusion, health, water and sanitation, and youth engagement. In F2020, Plan Canada funded 1,838 projects and reached 6,084,849 children across all of its programs.
In F2020, Plan Canada’s three largest programs were Maternal and Child Health, Emergencies and Food Assistance, and Sexual and Reproductive Health.
Maternal and Child Health made up 39% of total program spending in F2020. Plan Canada aims to improve health outcomes for women and girls by equipping local hospitals and raising awareness of maternal health. It reports that it reached 4,482,632 children through health and disease prevention programs in F2020. It also reached 1,022,199 children and new mothers through health education and awareness projects.
Emergencies and Food Assistance programs were 18% of program spending in F2020. During the year, Plan Canada ran 171 disaster response projects, including covid-19 relief programs. It states that it provided more than one million pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE) in the Asia-Pacific region in F2020. In Latin America and the Caribbean, it also distributed more than 440,000 food kits.
Sexual and Reproductive Health represented 13% of programs in F2020. During the year, the charity distributed 9,000 dignity kits, which included reusable sanitary pads and soap, to girls in refugee settlements. It also led monthly sessions to reduce stigma and teach both girls and boys about menstrual hygiene and sexual health.
The remaining 30% of program spending included Education (12%), Child Protection (8%), Women’s Rights (4%), Economic Security (3%), Sponsorship (3%), and Water and Sanitation (1%).
In F2020, Plan Canada spent $21.5m of its program costs in Canada (excluding amortization), or 15% of total cash program expenses. The charity states that Canadian spending includes costs of personnel, travel, and other expenses related to supporting its international programs. This spending also included costs incurred in Canada for promoting youth and public engagement in international development. Plan Canada states that it engaged 14,669 Canadian youth in its programs during the year.
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Results and Impact
Plan Canada's 20 Million Reasons Campaign aims to improve the lives of 20 million children by 2022. By training healthcare workers and funding newborn health clinics in Rukwa, Tanzania, the campaign helped more than 53,000 pregnant women and saved 826 premature babies. Plan Canada has also launched a mobile app in Bangladesh with campaign funds. The app helps marriage officials confirm the true age of a bride and groom, compared to reported ages. Plan Canada reports that its app stopped more than 3,700 underage marriages during its 6-month pilot period.
Plan Canada states that it has found significant improvements in maternal and child health, based on program results measured in five countries over one year. It reports that the proportion of children vaccinated against measles rose from 41% to 66% in one year. In addition, women receiving care from a skilled health provider at least four times during pregnancy increased from 46% at the start of programs to 63%.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Plan Canada’s results and impact.
Charity Intelligence has given Plan Canada a Fair impact rating based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Fair

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Finances
Plan Canada is a Major 100 charity, one of Canada’s largest charities in terms of donations. In F2020, Plan Canada received $103.6m in Canadian donations, down from $106.2m in F2019. Around 68% of donations were for child sponsorships and 32% were general contributions. Plan Canada also received $66.5m in international donations, or 28% of revenues, and $43.5m in Canadian government funding, or 18% of revenues. In F2020, the charity received $25.5m in donated goods, such as food, bed nets, and medicine.
Administrative costs are 7% of revenues (less investment income) and fundraising costs are 31% of Canadian donations. This results in total overhead spending of 38%. For every dollar donated, 62 cents go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Plan Canada was previously within the reasonable range in F2019. However, its fundraising expenses increased by 19% in F2020, rising from $27.2m to $32.6m.
Plan Canada has $77.9m in funding reserves, of which $3.6m is donor-endowed. Excluding donor-endowed funds, Plan Canada can cover 51% or over six months of annual program costs.
In F2020, Plan Canada provided $132.3m in funding to Plan International.
Plan Canada used external fundraisers in F2020. The charity paid $16.2m to raise $46.3m through external fundraisers, at a cost of $0.35 per dollar raised.
Charity Intelligence has sent this update to Plan Canada for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on May 31, 2021 by Eric Zhao.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending June
|
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Administrative costs as % of revenues | 6.7% | 8.5% | 7.3% |
Fundraising costs as % of donations | 31.4% | 25.7% | 24.4% |
Total overhead spending | 38.1% | 34.1% | 31.7% |
Program cost coverage (%) | 50.7% | 34.9% | 32.5% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2020 | 2019 | 2018 |
---|---|---|---|
Donations | 103,556 | 106,219 | 104,878 |
International donations | 66,515 | 61,836 | 65,606 |
Goods in kind | 25,499 | 22,881 | 23,881 |
Government funding | 43,522 | 48,938 | 41,944 |
Investment income | 2,029 | 1,310 | 160 |
Total revenues | 241,121 | 241,184 | 236,469 |
Program costs - International | 125,157 | 148,938 | 148,570 |
Program costs - Canada | 21,467 | 18,592 | 16,136 |
Donated goods exp | 25,499 | 22,881 | 23,881 |
Administrative costs | 16,014 | 20,371 | 17,270 |
Fundraising costs | 32,550 | 27,245 | 25,569 |
Total spending | 220,687 | 238,027 | 231,425 |
Cash flow from operations | 20,434 | 3,157 | 5,044 |
Capital spending | 517 | 572 | 989 |
Funding reserves | 77,854 | 61,504 | 56,483 |
Note: Ci included changes in fair value of investments in investment income, affecting total revenues by ($5k) in F2020, ($146k) in F2019, and ($71k) in F2018. Ci included endowment fund contributions in donations, affecting revenues by $566k in F2020, $45k in F2019, and $136k in F2018. To report on a cash basis, Ci adjusted international program costs by changes in amounts payable to Plan International, Inc. This affected total expenses by ($12.5m) in F2020, ($1.1m) in F2019, and ($2.6m) in F2018. Ci removed donated goods used in programs from international program costs to report them separately. Ci removed amortization of capital and intangible assets on a pro-rata basis from Canadian program, administrative, and fundraising costs.
Salary Information
$350k + |
2 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
2 |
$200k - $250k |
6 |
$160k - $200k |
0 |
$120k - $160k |
0 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2020
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Comments & Contact
Comments added by the Charity:
The following comments were made by Plan Canada in the year 2014. Updated comments may be forthcoming.
Plan International Canada Inc. (“Plan Canada”) has been a member of the Plan International global federation (“Plan”) since 1968. Plan Canada is a not-for-profit corporation, federally incorporated without share capital and granted status as a registered charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada), and continued under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act on September 18, 2014.
Plan is a global movement for change, mobilizing millions of people around the world to support social justice for children in developing countries. Founded in 1937, Plan is one of the world’s oldest and largest international development agencies, working in partnership with millions of people around the world to end global poverty. Not-for-profit, independent and inclusive of all faiths and cultures, Plan has only one agenda: to improve the lives of children. Worldwide, Plan is a global federation made up of different legal entities operating in many countries around the world under the Plan name and brand. Plan International has built a reputation as one of the world's most effective and responsible development agencies.
Accountability to our donors, our partners and to the children, families and communities that we work with across 51 program countries is paramount. Annually, Plan Canada complies with all prescribed annual regulatory requirements including Canada Revenue Agency and Imagine Canada Accreditation Program. Plan Canada’s financial statements are audited on an annual basis by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP (“PWC”), who conduct their audit in accordance with the recently issued Accounting Standards for Not-for-Profit Organizations (“ASNPO”) and are the same standards that apply to our peer organizations. This ensures integrity and transparency of our financial results on a basis that is consistent between organizations. Plan Canada’s and Plan’s current and past annual reviews and financial statements are available at plancanada.ca/financials.
Plan Canada respects Charity Intelligence’s choice to recast financial information using Non-ASNPO measures for the purposes of trying to achieve comparability amongst organizations. Given that these measures are not sanctioned by any regulatory authority and that these measures do not consider an organization’s operating complexity, our belief is that these measures will further confuse users. We fully support a donor's right to do their own independent research and be fully informed as to how they choose to spend their philanthropic dollars. Accordingly, Plan Canada directs interested parties to visit the Plan Canada website at plancanada.ca to see the depth and breadth of information available and to better understand how Plan Canada is contributing to helping children and their communities.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 416-920-1654