Canadian Council of Churches is a 3-star charity. It has a C Results Reporting grade, which is below average. Its overhead costs are within Ci’s reasonable range. The charity’s reserves can cover program costs for just under six months, which is within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 1944, Canadian Council of Churches (CCOC) is a group of 24 member churches of Christian faith. The charity’s mission is to respond to Christ’s call for unity and peace, seek Christ’s truth with affection for diversity, act in love through prayer, dialogue, and witness to the gospel. CCOC has six program areas: Project Ploughshares, Faith and Witness, Justice and Peace, Faith and Life Sciences, Intercultural Leadership and Learning, and Christian Interfaith Relations. It spent $1.5m on programs in 2024 and did not break down spending by program.

Project Ploughshares advances policies that prevent war and armed violence. It focuses on nuclear weapons, space security, emerging technologies, and the Arms Trade Treaty. In 2024, the charity conducted over 20 CBC radio interviews about arms manufacturing and export issues in relation to Gaza. Project Ploughshares is part of a campaign called Stop Killer Robots with 142 organizations in 62 countries, which is working to ban weapon systems that select and attack targets without human intervention. The Arms Trade Treaty sets global standards for the control of shipments of weapons across international borders. CCOC is a member of the Steering Board of the Control Arms Coalition, which is a group of NGOs promoting the treaty.

Faith and Witness includes the Commission on Faith and Witness, and the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity Writing and Animation Team. The commission brings together churches of different Christian backgrounds to discuss theological questions. The central dialogue question from 2024-2027 is ‘if we are members or “citizens” of the Church, what does this mean for other forms of our “citizenship” in Canada today?’ The Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is an annual celebration to pray for the unity of all Christians. For the event, the writing and animation team produces resources based on materials from the World Council of Churches.

Justice and Peace includes the Commission on Justice and Peace, the Ending Sexual Exploitation Working Group, and Corrections and Restorative Justice Working Group. The commission talks about how Canadian churches contributed to racism and reviews the churches’ advocacy work on poverty. The Ending Sexual Exploitation Working Group works to reduce sex trafficking demand by educating local communities and promoting theological reflection. The Restorative Justice Working Group promotes education on corrections and restorative justice, and sponsors initiatives to build safer communities through theological reflection.

The Faith and Life Sciences Reference Group works to increase the involvement of faith representatives and philosophers in the regulations of new gene editing, bio-enhancement, and machine learning technologies.

The Forum for Intercultural Leadership and Learning is a partnership of Canadian churches focusing on intercultural leadership development.

The Christian Interfaith Reference Group focuses on engagements with other religions. Its current priorities include: contributing to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples by respecting their faith; encouraging Christian-Muslim relations in Canada; and encouraging Christian-Jewish relations in Canada.

Canadian Council of Churches’ audited financial statements follow line-item costing, which is not a best practice. Given this, Ci had to refer to the charity’s T3010 filings with the CRA to report program, fundraising, and administrative costs.

CCOC received $1.3m in donations in 2024, which is 84% of revenue. It received $114k in government funding and $38k in investment income.

The charity spent $1.5m on its programs, which is 93% of revenue. It ran a deficit of $246k, meaning it drew on its reserves to fund its programs. CCOC spent $133k on fundraising (10% of donations), and spent $219k on administration, which is 14% of revenue (less investment income). For every dollar donated to the charity, 76 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

The charity has $696k in its reserves (cash and investments), which can cover program costs for just under six months. This is within Ci’s reasonable range.

On its CRA filings, CCOC reports nine staff in the top ten salary range, but only reports seven full-time staff. This is not a material error.

Updated on July 16, 2025 by Joshua Leduc. This update has been sent to the charity and changes may be forthcoming.