Terry Fox Foundation
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.
75%
CENTS TO THE CAUSE
For a dollar donated, after overhead costs of fundraising and admin/management (excluding surplus) 75 cents are available for programs.
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OVERVIEW
About Terry Fox Foundation:
Terry Fox Foundation is a 5-star charity that is financially transparent. The charity has an above-average results reporting grade and overhead spending within Ci's reasonable range.
Founded in 1988, Terry Fox Foundation (TFF) funds cancer research. The charity honours the legacy of Terry Fox and his Marathon of Hope. Fox was diagnosed with bone cancer in 1977, and his leg was amputated above the knee. In 1980 he began his journey to run across Canada to raise awareness and money for cancer research. He made it 5,373 kilometers before needing to stop as cancer spread to his lungs. He died in 1981. TFF aims to achieve Fox’s vision of a cancer-free world. At the time of this report, Terry Fox Foundation's F2025 annual report was not yet available. While financial information is from F2025, program information is from F2024.
A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.
Founded in 2007, Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI) is a research-funding organization that is closely related to Terry Fox Foundation. TFRI receives and grants money received from TFF. TFRI also receives funding from other organizations and the Canadian government. In F2024, TFF distributed $23.1m in funds to TFRI. TFF also distributed $2.0m to international cancer research organizations.
TFRI states that an estimated one out of every two Canadians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. It also states that cancer is the leading cause of death in Canada. TFRI supported 36 cancer research projects with 96 partner institutions in F2023. It also supported 61 Marathon of Hope Cancer Centres Network (MOHCCN) projects. MOHCCN represents a collaboration across Canada to create a large cancer case database. The database currently has data from 15,000 patients. MOHCCN will help researchers understand how and why patients respond to certain treatments. TFRI supported 352 researchers total in F2023.
TFRI also supports the Digital Health and Discovery Platform. This national platform helps researchers analyze the massive amounts of health data generated by the MOHCCN. TFRI states this will improve health outcomes for Canadians by advancing precision medicine.
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Results and Impact
TFF and TFRI fund and report on many cancer research projects each year. Examples from the F2023 annual report include:
TFRI-funded research discovered a strategy that delivers drugs by fluidizing the cancer cell membrane. TFRI states that this strategy is more than 25 times as effective at crossing the cancer cell wall as current drug delivery.
Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS) is a rare condition that causes cancer in almost everyone with the condition. TFRI-funded research identified a germline that increases the likelihood of cancer in those who have a TP53 variant. The research team also developed a machine learning model to enhance the prediction of cancer risk in patients with LFS.
While Ci highlights these key results, they may not be a complete representation of Terry Fox Foundation’s results and impact.
The charity is not yet rated on impact (n/r).
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Finances
Charity Intelligence has consolidated Terry Fox Foundation and Terry Fox Research Institute in the following financial analysis. Transfers to and from the charities have been excluded. Both charities' financial statements use activity-based costing, which is a best practice.
In F2025, Terry Fox Foundation received $38.2m in Canadian donations and $35.2m in government funding, which is 43% of revenue. The charity spent $68.2m on its programs and grants, which is 83% of revenue.
Terry Fox Foundation spent $6.3m on fundraising, which is 17% of donations, and $6.7m on administration, which is 9% of revenue (excluding investment income). Total overhead spending is 25%. For every dollar donated, 75 cents are available to go to the cause, which is within Ci's reasonable range.
Terry Fox Foundation has $91.5m in reserve funds (cash and investments). These reserves can cover annual program and grant costs for one year and four months. This is within Ci's reasonable range. TFRI has committed $71.6m (78% of its funding reserves) to grants over the next five years: $34.9m in F2026, $18.5m in F2027, $11.0m in F2028, $6.1m in F2029, and $1.1m in F2030.
This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Terry Fox Foundation. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.
Updated on September 5, 2025 by Liam Chapleau.
Financial Review
Fiscal year ending March
|
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Administrative costs as % of revenues | 8.8% | 9.7% | 11.0% |
| Fundraising costs as % of donations | 16.5% | 17.4% | 14.6% |
| Total overhead spending | 25.3% | 27.1% | 25.5% |
| Program cost coverage (%) | 134.3% | 215.9% | 277.9% |
Summary Financial StatementsAll figures in $000s |
2025 | 2024 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Donations | 38,220 | 29,683 | 29,345 |
| International donations | 1,395 | 1,057 | 881 |
| Government funding | 35,210 | 25,277 | 14,200 |
| Business activities (net) | 1,028 | 1,292 | 616 |
| Investment income | 6,837 | 7,568 | (257) |
| Other income | (136) | 158 | 1,134 |
| Total revenues | 82,554 | 65,035 | 45,919 |
| Program costs - International | 1,218 | 1,949 | 976 |
| Program costs - Canada | 8,093 | 4,122 | 2,544 |
| Grants | 58,864 | 38,573 | 27,419 |
| Administrative costs | 6,654 | 5,582 | 5,058 |
| Fundraising costs | 6,308 | 5,174 | 4,283 |
| Other costs | 678 | 60 | 240 |
| Total spending | 81,816 | 55,460 | 40,521 |
| Cash flow from operations | 738 | 9,576 | 5,398 |
| Capital spending | 240 | 24 | 75 |
| Funding reserves | 91,546 | 96,399 | 85,982 |
Note: 1. Transfers Between Charities: Ci excluded the transfers between the foundation and the research institute. This affected revenue by ($24.5m) in F2025, ($21.2m) in F2024, and ($15.0m) in F2023. This affected expenses by ($29.8m) in F2025, ($23.1m) in F2024, and ($15.8m) in F2023. 2. Cost of Merchandise Sold: Ci included the cost of merchandise sold within business activities. This affected revenue and expenses by ($1.4m) in F2025, ($1.2m) in F2024, and ($843k) in F2023. 3. Grants Payable: Ci adjusted for grants payable within grants, which was $3.6m in F2025, ($3.0m) in F2024, and ($181k) in F2023. 4. Deferred Revenue: Ci adjusted for deferred revenue within donations and government funding. This affected revenue by ($5.9m) in F2025, ($1.2m) in F2024, and ($533k) in F2023.
Salary Information
$350k + |
0 |
$300k - $350k |
0 |
$250k - $300k |
1 |
$200k - $250k |
1 |
$160k - $200k |
4 |
$120k - $160k |
4 |
$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:
Comments added July 11, 2023
Together with the Terry Fox Research Institute (TFRI), the Terry Fox Foundation (TFF) is excited to embark on our most decisive step yet to end cancer as a life-threatening disease. It’s an ambitious goal, but as we know from Terry Fox, the extraordinary is possible when we unite in pursuit of a shared vision. We now have the vision and critical partnerships, through an unprecedented collaboration of nearly 40 universities, hospitals and research institutions from coast to coast, to realize the promise of precision medicine for all Canadians with cancer. Although most of the revenue raised for this critically important project is accounted for through our partner charitable organizations, we are very proud to lead this important initiative and ensure that over $300M will be invested in cancer research by March 2026.
We are grateful for the support of our many donors and volunteers that helped us manage and quickly recover from the pandemic. Moving forward, we have developed a three year plan to continue to increase our revenue and reduce our cost ratio to optimize operational efficiency and increase the funds raised for cancer research.
Our investment portfolio represents the approximate figure we have committed to TFRI to fund critical scientific projects over the next five to seven years. The fund balance is crucial for multiple-year research commitments, as TFF is the primary funder of TFRI through philanthropy and peer-to-peer fundraising programs. To ensure sustainability of our leading research projects, we must maintain a fund balance to support these initiatives over their multi-year timeframes.
We are incredibly grateful to our donors, supporters, and volunteers for their generosity and partnership in realizing Terry’s dream of a world without cancer. We urge our supporters to review our annual report and audited financial statements, which are available at terryfox.org. For more information on our mission, programs, and impact, please visit us online or contact a member of our team at 1-888-836-9786.
Charity Contact
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 1-604-200-0541