Brands for Canada is a 3-star, financially transparent charity with a below-average C+ results reporting grade and a Fair impact rating. Its reserves are a reasonable size and can cover just under one year and nine months of its annual program spending. Its 18% overhead spending means that for every dollar donated, 82 cents are available to go to the cause.

Founded in 1992 and operating out of Toronto, Brands for Canada (BFC) distributes clothing, hygiene products, and other consumer goods to individuals and other non-profit organizations across Canada. BFC also collects recycled goods from organizations and repurposes these goods for reuse. Additionally, BFC provides job seekers professional attire and interview skills training.

Brands for Canada runs three programs: Brand Donations, Recycling, and Employment. It spent $2.1m on its programs in the March 2024 fiscal year (F2024). BFC did not provide any further breakdown of its program spending at the time of this profile update.

Brand Donations is BFC’s main program and involves first collecting donated goods from retailers and distribution centres before distributing these goods to those in need. In F2024, BFC distributed 993,998 articles of clothing and other goods (reportedly worth $65 million).

Recycling refers to BFC’s work rebranding, recycling, and repurposing recycled products for future use. In F2024, BFC received 1,543,653 lb of recycled goods from 42 organizations. The charity reportedly diverted this entire amount away from landfills thanks to its recycling efforts.

Employment is BFC’s jobs preparation program where it provides interview clothing and training for those looking for work. In F2024, BFC provided 1,602 people interview skills training (1,402 in F2023) and referred this group to 125 organizations.

Brands for Canada’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing, meaning they do not clearly separate expenses into program, administrative, and fundraising activities. This is not a best practice.

In F2024, BFC received $1.6m of donations and special events revenue (80% of total revenue) and $170k of government funding (9% of revenue). Although BFC reportedly receives and distributes clothing and other products to its clients, it did not report the value of in-kind donations received and used in its programs in its F2024 audited financial statements nor its T3010 filings with the CRA.

Administrative costs are 4% of total revenue less investment income and fundraising costs are 14% of donations. Its 18% overhead spending means that for every dollar donated, 82 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

BFC spent $2.1m on its programs in F2024 – a 4% increase from $2.0m spent in F2023. The charity reportedly purchased a recycling converter used to process textiles, zippers, and buttons in F2024.

At the end of F2024, BFC had $3.6m in reserve funds (cash and investments) which can cover 173% or just under one year and nine months of its annual program spending.

During F2024, BFC paid external fundraisers $68k who raised just over $68k on (cost of 99 cents per dollar raised) on behalf of the charity.

Profile updated by Julian Dranitsaris on July 10, 2025. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming.