Operation Smile 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.
Average
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.
57%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 57 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Operation Smile Canada:
Operation Smile Canada is a 3-star charity with Average Demonstrated Impact. The charity has a A- Results Reporting grade and reasonable reserve funds. For every dollar donated to the charity, 57 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside Ci's reasonable range.
Founded in 2011, Operation Smile Canada (OSC) raises money to support programs conducted by Operation Smile (OS), headquartered in Virginia, US. Operation Smile began in 1982 by the American plastic surgeon, William Magee, and his wife Kathy. Operation Smile's mission is to use its expertise in treating cleft lip and cleft palate surgery to help people where it's needed most. Operation Smile Canada reports that every three minutes, a child is born with a cleft lip or cleft palate. This is approximately 175,000 children each year. OSC states that children born with cleft lip or cleft palate are at nine times the normal risk of dying in their first year of life. Over 6,000 doctors volunteer with Operation Smile to go abroad and do cleft palate surgeries and other medical procedures. OSC spent $13.0m on its programs in F2024, $11.8m internationally (to Operation Smile International) and $1.2m in Canada.
OSC’s Surgical program represented 45% ($5.3m) of international program costs in F2024. Operation Smile Canada funds cleft lip and palate surgery to youth internationally. The charity funded 4,774 surgeries on 4,126 patients in F2024. OSC also funded 17,672 nursing consultations and 11,837 pediatric consultations in F2024. Including Surgical program costs and overhead costs as allocated by Ci ($9.9m total), it cost OSC $2,069 per surgery funded in F2024.
OSC’s Comprehensive Care program represented 39% ($4.6m) of international program costs in F2024. Operation Smile Canada funds health services such as dentistry, nutrition consultations, and speech consultations at its local care centres. In F2024, 56,040 patients received care at Canadian-funded Care Centres. OSC funded 109,909 consultations in F2024. Of which, 38,667 were oral health, 21,901 were speech therapy, 16,107 were psychology, 13,751 were nutrition, 6,339 were social work, 4,057 child life, 2,492 were ear, nose, and throat, 1,125 were medicine, and 161 were audiology. Including Comprehensive Care program costs and overhead costs as allocated by Ci ($8.6m total), it cost OSC $153 per patient served and $78 per consultation provided in F2024.
OSC’s Training and Education/Research program represented 16% ($1.9m) of international program costs in F2024. Operation Smile trains health professionals across the world. 85% of Operation Smile’s volunteers live in the low- and middle-income countries Operation Smile serves. Operation Smile Academy, an e-learning and remote mentorship service for cleft care professionals, recorded 630 new users on the platform across 35 countries. Operation Smile also offers courses to train American Heart Association’s (AHA) volunteers. In F2024, the charity offered courses to 26 anesthesiologists, 15 pediatricians, 39 nurses, 12 volunteer instructors, and 80 volunteers seeking to keep their AHA credentials.
Operation Smile also reported $1.2m (9% of all program costs) in Canadian program costs on its T3010 filing; however, it is not clear how this cost is allocated to the charity's programs. Ci did not find any reporting on the charity's Canadian program costs.
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Results and Impact
In F2024, Operation Smile Canada funded 4,774 cleft and palate surgeries on 4,126 patients.
Learn more about the impact of cleft surgery medical missions.
Charity Intelligence has rated Operation Smile Canada as Average based on demonstrated impact per dollar spent.
Impact Rating: Average
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Finances
Operation Smile Canada received $20.6m in Canadian donations and $1.2m in international donations in F2024. OSC spent $13.0m on its programs. Of which, $11.8m was international, and $1.2m was domestic. Program costs were 59% of revenue in F2024.
Operation Smile Canada spent $7.0m on fundraising, which is 34% of donations, and $1.9m on administration, which is 9% of revenue. Total overhead spending is 43%. For every dollar donated to the charity, 57 cents are available to go to the cause, which is outside of Ci’s reasonable range.
OSC holds $6.4m in reserve funds (cash and investments). These reserves can cover 49%, or six months of the charity’s annual program costs. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.
Operation Smile Canada uses external fundraisers. In F2024, it paid fundraisers $1.2m to collect $1.7m. It cost 69 cents to raise a dollar through external fundraisers in F2024. It is likely more cost efficient to donate directly to the charity than through external fundraisers.
This charity report is an update that has been sent to Operation Smile Canada for update and review.
Updated on May 14, 2025 by Liam Chapleau.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending June
|
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 8.8% | 10.0% | 10.2% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 34.0% | 36.7% | 33.0% |
| Total overhead spending | 42.8% | 46.8% | 43.1% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 49.1% | 61.1% | 65.3% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2024 | 2023 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 20,570 | 17,679 | 15,411 |
| International donations | 1,216 | 1,770 | 209 |
| Other income | 290 | 219 | 6 |
| Total revenues | 22,076 | 19,668 | 15,626 |
| Program costs - International | 11,783 | 9,684 | 7,976 |
| Program costs - Canada | 1,233 | 960 | 1,018 |
| Administrative costs | 1,937 | 1,969 | 1,589 |
| Fundraising costs | 7,001 | 6,496 | 5,080 |
| Other costs | 9 | 6 | (1) |
| Total spending | 21,963 | 19,115 | 15,662 |
| Cash flow from operations | 113 | 553 | (37) |
| Capital spending | 66 | 0 | 0 |
| Funding reserves | 6,390 | 6,503 | 5,873 |
Note: 1. Receivable from Operation Smile International: Charity Intelligence adjusted for the amounts receivable from Operation Smile international. This affected revenue by $127k in F2024, $652k in F2023, and ($779k) in F2022. 2. Due to Operation Smile International: Ci adjusted for the amounts due to Operation Smile International within international program costs, which was $576k in F2024, ($576) in F2023, and ($nil) in F2022.
Salary Information
$350k + |
1 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
0 |
$200k - $250k |
0 |
$160k - $200k |
1 |
$120k - $160k |
3 |
$80k - $120k |
5 |
$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:
Comment added on August 21, 2025:
Thank you to Charity Intelligence for highlighting our work. We appreciate the chance to provide additional context and to celebrate the impact our donors and partners make possible.
Every child deserves access to free, safe and quality surgery and comprehensive cleft care, regardless of where they live. The child with a cleft condition takes us back to their community to show us the need to address the gaps in the health systems. We can only operate with the expertise of our global medical volunteers and generosity of our Canadian donors. Together, we’re helping more children in more places, closer to home. We welcome the opportunity to expand on the details shared in this report.
All surgical and comprehensive cleft care services provided through Operation Smile are free of charge to patients and their families. The average costs outlined in Ci’s calculations reflect the full investment required to deliver this care — including surgical programs, comprehensive health services at local care centres, training, education, and the infrastructure that ensures safe, high-quality outcomes for every child we serve. While it may still cost as little as $240 for a simple cleft surgery, many of our children require more complex surgical procedures. Based on our internal calculations, the average cost per surgical patient attending a Short-Term Surgical Program in F2025 is $1,147 USD.
In F2025, our program investments increased despite financial challenges caused by a national postal strike. We estimate the strike still reduced our revenue potential by approximately $672,500. Thanks to the generosity of our donors and stronger engagement through digital channels and personal outreach from our Philanthropy team, 59% of this gap was closed.
Operation Smile treats every surgical and comprehensive care program as an education and training opportunity to enhance the skills of local medical volunteers, thus increasing capacity within the local (district) hospitals within a 2-hour or 75 km radius of where our patients live. By equipping and strengthening local medical teams in the countries where we work, these efforts are helping to create long-term, sustainable access to cleft care and build stronger local healthcare teams.
Operation Smile operates as locally led and globally supported: program countries and their teams lead the delivery of care with educators involved within our global network, while generous partners — including Canadian donors — provide the resources to make it possible to reach and care for more children.
Transparency and accountability remain central to our work. Our Audited Financial Statements, annual Impact Report, and bi-annual Smile Reports are available at operationsmile.ca/about-us/financial-accountability. Each year, our program investments continue to grow, and with the ongoing support of our donors, thousands of children and families are receiving life-changing surgery and comprehensive health services.
Charity Contact:
Nathalie Punkkinen
Director, Brand & Strategic Communications
Operation Smile Canada
Toll free: 1-844-376-4530 ext. 127
Tel: 437-836-9452
Email: nathalie.punkkinen@operationsmile.org
Charity Contact
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Toll free number: 1-844-376-4530
Tel: 647-696-0600