Royal Canadian Legion Branch Poppy Fund is a 0-star charity with Low demonstrated impact. It is not financially transparent and has an F results reporting grade, which is below average. Its overhead spending is 21%, which is within Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserve funds can cover program costs for eight years, which is not within Ci’s reasonable range. Read Ci’s report before donating.

Founded in 1967, Royal Canadian Legion Branch Poppy Fund (RCPF), also known as Calgary Branches Poppy Fund, raises money through the annual Poppy Campaign. The Poppy Campaign aims to provide financial and non-financial assistance to veterans and their dependents.

The charity spent $553k on its programs and grants in the fiscal year ending September 2024 (F2024). The charity reports that its funds are held in trust by The Royal Canadian Legion. The Legion ensures that they are spent only as allowed by the Poppy Manual and bylaws.

All information below is from a previous profile update as currently Royal Canadian Legion Branch Poppy Fund's website has no program information. Thus, the information is outdated.

Calgary Branches Poppy Fund runs two major programs for eligible veterans: Veteran Assistance and Veteran's Food Bank [1]. Veterans must apply and are screened by City of Calgary’s City Links [2]. RCPF's Veteran Assistance program helps veterans and their families through major assistance and bursaries. Calgary Branches Poppy Fund spent $321k directly on veteran aid programs in F2017, down 64% from $892k in F2016. This includes help paying medical costs, first and last month rents, utility bills and other items, and also parking passes for local hospitals. Bursaries of $1,000 per student are disbursed to veterans, their children, their grandchildren, and even great grandchildren, as per the Legion manual. Calgary Branches Poppy Fund also distributes cash to other charities. These grants totaled $109k, compared with F2016 when the Calgary Branches Poppy Fund gave a $500k grant to Alberta Command Legion, $165k to Calgary Health Trust, $105k to Hospice Calgary, and other grants.

The Veteran's Food Bank is closing down, with the Calgary Food Bank supporting veterans in need of food. The Veteran’s Food Bank provides food hampers and food vouchers to veterans, ex-service persons, widows, and dependents in financial strain. Hampers contain only non-perishable food and food vouchers and other essentials [3].

News update: The Veterans Calgary Food Bank did not close down as previously announced. It is now being operated as Veterans Food Bank of Calgary with little information on its website. It is being operated by Calgary Veteran Services Society, a new charity founded in January 2020.

Going forward, operating decisions will be made at Alberta's Legion Command, also based in Calgary.

Royal Canadian Legion Branch Poppy Fund is not financially transparent. Its audited financial statements are not posted on its website nor provided when requested. Charity Intelligence received RCPF’s financial statements from the CRA Charities Directorate.

The charity’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a financial reporting best practice. This means the charity provided a breakdown of program, administrative, and fundraising expenses.

RCPF received $1.1m in donations in F2024, which is 74% of total revenue. In F2024, it earned $388k in investment income, which is 26% of revenue. RCPF spent $553k on its programs and grants in F2024, which is 37% of revenue; $18k went to programs and it granted $535k. In F2024, it recorded a surplus of $692k (47% of revenue).

RCPF spent $217k on fundraising costs, which is 20% of donations. It spent $17k on administrative costs, which is 2% of revenue. RCPF has total overhead spending of 21%. For every dollar donated to RCPF, 79 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

RCPF has $4.4m in reserve funds (cash and investments). Its reserve funds can cover 801% or eight years of its annual program and grant costs. This is not within Ci’s reasonable range of under three years.

In F2024, RCPF had investment returns of 9%. It is 56% invested in fixed income. Its investment returns have averaged 2% over the last five years.

This report is an update that has been sent to Royal Canadian Legion Branch Poppy Fund for review. Changes and edits may be forthcoming.

Updated on August 13, 2025, by Leah DeFrancesco.