Canadian Opera Company is a 1-star charity. It is not financially transparent. The charity has a C Results Reporting grade, which is below average. Its overhead costs are outside of Ci’s reasonable range. Its reserves can cover program costs for just under two years and two months, which is within Ci’s reasonable range. Please read Ci’s report before you give.

Founded in 1950, Canadian Opera Company (COC) is the largest producer of opera in Canada. It runs two programs: opera performances, and education and community programming. The charity spent $24.5m on its programs in the fiscal year ending in June (F2023).

COC put on seven opera performances in F2024, which includes Fidelo, La Bohème, The Cunning Little Vixen, Don Giovanni, Don Pasquale, Medea, and Aportia Chrptych: A Black Opera for Portia White. The charity reported there were 7,513 new single ticket buyers in F2024.

COC’s education and community programming includes the Ensemble Studio, season programming, young adult programming, and summer programming. The Ensemble Studio is a multi-year program where artists receive vocal, language, movement, and acting coaching. In F2024 the charity reports the participants received 550 hours of music coaching, 206 hours of language and diction training, and 155 hours of voice lessons.  Season programing offers free concerts (not for big productions), opera workshops, and its Showcase series, which features Asian, African, and Latin cultures. Young adult programming aims to engage youth in the opera. The charity’s summer programming offers summer music camps and the Summer Opera Intensive, which is where advanced singers can receive private coaching and participate in group classes.

Canadian Opera Company is not financially transparent. Ci had to obtain its financial statements through the CRA. We received unaudited statements without a cash flow or financial notes. Ci combined the financials of the charity and its foundation, and Ci could not include F2024 because the foundation's T3010 filings are not complete.

COC’s financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. The charity received $9.4m in donations in F2023, which is 25% of revenue. COC received $8.9m in government funding, $8.0m in fees for service, and $6.6m in investment income.

Canadian Opera Company spent $24.5m on its programs, which is 65% of revenue. The charity ran a surplus of $2.5m, which is 7% of revenue. It spent $2.2m on fundraising (24% of donations), and spent $4.9m on administration, which is 16% of revenue. For every dollar donated to the charity, 60 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside of Ci’s reasonable range.

COC has $52.8m in its reserves (cash and investments), which can cover program costs for just under two years and two months. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Updated on July 18, 2025 by Joshua Leduc. This update has been sent to the charity and changes may be forthcoming.