Indian Residential School Survivors Society is a 2-star charity. It is financially transparent and has a C+ Results Reporting grade, which is below average. The charity’s overhead spending is within Ci’s reasonable range and its reserve funds can cover program costs for two years and eight months, also within Ci’s reasonable range.

Founded in 2004, the Indian Residential School Survivors Society (IRSSS) works with First Nations people in B.C. The charity supports Residential School Survivors and their families who experience generational trauma.

IRSSS runs seven programs: Resolution Health Support, Cultural Support, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, Indian Day School Coordinators, Workshops and Presentations, Crisis Line, and Youth Justice Program. The charity spent $9.0m on its programs in the fiscal year ending in March 2024 (F2024). IRSSS did not provide a spending breakdown in its latest annual report.

Resolution Health Support offers crisis and trauma supports to survivors and their families. The program had 109,956 client interactions in F2024.

Cultural Support offers activities including smudging, cedar brushing, eagle fan, sweat lodges, and traditional medicines. The program had 20,443 cultural support interactions in F2024. 

The Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls program helps families file a missing persons report and holds safety workshops for young people. In F2024, the program had 40,401 member support interactions. 

Indian Day School Coordinators guide Indian Day school and Clean Water settlement claimants through the federal claims process. The program helped 12,604 claimants in F2024. 

The Workshops and Presentations program delivers presentations to Indigenous communities and organizations about the impact of residential schools and intergenerational trauma. The charity delivered over 170 presentations in F2024.

The Crisis Line is a 24-hour phone line to support survivors and families across B.C. In F2024, the program received over 4,200 calls.

The Youth Justice Program teaches leadership skills to young people.

In F2024, Indian Residential School Survivors Society received $3m in donations, which is 32% of total revenue. This is a 26% decrease from $4.1m last year. The charity received $5.6m in government funding (58% of total revenue) and made $1m in investment income.

IRSSS’s audited financial statements follow line-item costing which is not a best practice. This means Ci referred to its CRA filings with the T3010 to report program, administrative, and fundraising costs. The charity spent $9.0m on its programs in F2024, which is 94% of revenue. It ran a deficit of $585k, meaning it drew on its reserves to fund its operations. The charity spent $1.2m on administrative costs, which is 14% of revenue (excluding investment income) and it did not report any fundraising costs on its financial statements or T3010 filing with the CRA. For every dollar donated to the charity, 86 cents are available to go to the cause. This is within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

IRSSS has $24.2m in its reserve funds (cash and investments). This can cover its program costs for two years and eight months, which is within Ci’s reasonable range.

This report was updated by Joshua Leduc on May 27, 2025.