Shaw Festival Theatre
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.
B-
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.
64%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 64 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Shaw Festival Theatre:
Shaw Festival Theatre is a 3-star charity. It has a B- Results Reporting score which is below average. Its overhead costs are outside Ci’s reasonable range.
Founded in 1962, Shaw Festival Theatre produces and performs plays in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario. Shaw’s productions are located at four venues: Festival Theatre, Royal George Theatre, Jackie Maxwell Studio Theatre, and Spiegeltent. It runs two programs: live performances and the Slaight Family Academy. The charity spent $29.1m on its programs in 2024.
Shaw Festival Theatre’s main program is live performances. In 2024, Shaw put on 817 live performances for 239,542 attendees. Festival theatre had the most attendance with 147,195 audience members total.
The Slaight Family Academy is the artist training program of the charity. The curriculum teaches skills specific to the nature of Shaw’s plays.
The charity is closing Royal George Theatre in 2025. It is running the All Together Now campaign to raise funds to rebuild the theatre along with other capital expansions. The charity is working on an agreement with the Federal government for a $15m grant for the project. It has entered into agreements with various contractors to complete these projects, which have an overall budget of around $30m.
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Results and Impact
Shaw Festival Theatre brings in over $220m each year to Ontario’s tourism economy. This is an average of over $7 in local spending for every dollar spent at the theatre. While Ci highlights this result, it may not completely represent Shaw’s results and impact.
Shaw is not yet rated on impact (n/r). This does not affect the star rating.
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Finances
Shaw Festival Theatre received $9.7m in Canadian donations and $3.5m in international donations in 2024. Total donations, $13.2m, is 30% of revenue. It received $2.5m in government funding, $22.5m in fees for service, and $3.8m in investment income.
The charity spent $29.1m on its programs in 2024, which is 67% of revenue. It ran a surplus of $7.4m (17% of revenue). Shaw spent $2.6m on fundraising (27% of donations), and $3.7m on administration, which is 9% of revenue (less investment income). For every dollar donated to the charity, 64 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range.
Shaw has $36.5m in its reserves (cash and investments), of which $34.2m is donor endowed. The charity has $7.5m in outstanding interest-bearing debts. Excluding donor-endowed funds, its debts outweigh its reserves.
Updated on June 19, 2025 by Joshua Leduc. This update has been sent to the charity and changes may be forthcoming.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending December
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 9.2% | 12.1% | 8.9% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 27.0% | 28.1% | 24.0% |
| Total overhead spending | 36.2% | 40.2% | 32.9% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | (25.1%) | (31.8%) | (13.1%) |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 9,707 | 9,832 | 9,194 |
| International donations | 3,454 | 1,508 | 1,499 |
| Goods in kind | 36 | 65 | 0 |
| Government funding | 2,538 | 5,522 | 10,287 |
| Fees for service | 22,496 | 16,209 | 15,994 |
| Investment income | 3,777 | 3,574 | (1,533) |
| Other income | 1,512 | (744) | (104) |
| Total revenues | 43,519 | 35,966 | 35,337 |
| Program costs | 29,090 | 33,333 | 27,918 |
| Administrative costs | 3,665 | 3,929 | 3,292 |
| Fundraising costs | 2,616 | 2,763 | 2,203 |
| Other costs | 721 | 662 | 233 |
| Total spending | 36,091 | 40,687 | 33,647 |
| Cash flow from operations | 7,428 | (4,721) | 1,690 |
| Capital spending | 1,921 | 581 | 2,972 |
| Funding reserves | 27,304 | 23,044 | 28,437 |
Note: 1. Ci adjusted for deferred donations which affected donations by $514k in 2024, ($504k) in 2023, and $494k in 2022. 2. Ci adjusted for deferred capital contributions which affected revenue by $2.5m in 2024, $238k in 2023, and $345k in 2022. 3. Ci adjusted for amortization of deferred capital contributions which affected revenue by ($896k) in 2024, ($923k) in 2023, and ($942k) in 2022. 4. Ci adjusted for deferred contributions which affected revenue by ($107k) in 2024, ($59k) in 2023, and $494k in 2024.
Salary Information
$350k + |
2 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
6 |
$120k - $160k |
2 |
$80k - $120k |
0 |
$40k - $80k |
0 |
< $40k |
0 |
Information from most recent CRA Charities Directorate filings for F2023
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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: 905-468-2172