Fred Victor is a 3-star, financially transparent charity with an excellent A results reporting grade. It has $14.8m in reserve funds that can cover just over three months of its program spending. It also has 45% overhead spending which exceeds Ci’s reasonable range, though this is possibly overstated as Fred Victor is in the process of updating its overhead calculations. For every dollar donated, 55 cents are available to go to the cause. 

Founded in 1984, Fred Victor provides comprehensive services to Toronto’s homeless population. The charity operates short-term emergency shelters, long-term transitional housing, harm reduction services, job skills training, and criminal diversion programs for those in need. According to the charity, over 12,000 people across Toronto sleep on the streets, in shelters, or in jails each night, with an average of three people each week dying of homelessness in the city. 

Fred Victor runs five programs: Emergency Shelter; Transitional Housing; Employment & Training; Health & Wellness; and Prevention, Outreach, and Engagement. It spent $54.7m on its programs in the March 2025 fiscal year (F2025). 

Emergency Shelter was 46% of Fred Victor’s program spending funding operations at eight emergency shelters and respite centres. In F2024, the charity housed 2,643 people (2,456 in F2023) who stayed for an average of 136 days across its shelters. Fred Victor provided a total of 225,707 nights of shelter in F2024 and reported a 95% occupancy rate.

Employment & Training was 19% of Fred Victor’s program spending. The charity’s case managers set career goals for clients who enter retail, kitchen, and baking skills training courses. Fred Victor also helps clients who graduate these programs find work through employer partnerships. In F2024, the charity provided 47,400 hours of employment training programming to 237 people. 

Housing was 14% of Fred Victor’s program spending. The charity manages 774 rent-subsidized apartments in 12 locations across Toronto. In F2024, the charity housed 820 people (778 in F2023) in second-stage transitional housing and reported a 98% average occupancy rate across its locations.

Health & Wellness was 11% of Fred Victor’s program spending and includes healthcare services provided by its clinic and safe consumption site. In F2025, the charity reported 21,195 safe consumption site visits. An average of 286 people visited this site every month in F2024.

Prevention, Outreach, & Engagement was 10% of Fred Victor’s program spending. The charity’s outreach and diversion teams diverted 1,284 homeless people to Fred Victor's shelters in F2024 (447 diversions in F2023). These teams also reported 17,964 interactions with Toronto's homeless in F2024.

Fred Victor’s latest audited financial statements follow line-item costing as the charity’s financials do not clearly separate expenses into program, administrative, and fundraising activities. This is not a best practice.  

Accordingly, Ci referred to its T3010 filings with the CRA when available. Since Fred Victor’s F2025 T3010 filings are not published, Ci estimated its fundraising expenses based on appropriate line items within its audited statements.

After discussions with the charity, Ci learned that Fred Victor is in the process of updating its F2024 and F2025 fundraising and administrative spending information. As such, Ci's overhead ratios are likely currently overstated for both years. Ci will update this profile with new financial information at the end of giving season (January 2026) once it becomes publicly available.

Fred Victor has also assured Ci of plans to report financial information consistently between its audited financial statements, annual report, and T3010 filings. 

In F2025, Fred Victor received $5.7m in donations (8% of total revenue) and $61.1m of government funding (83% of revenue). It also earned $3.6m of rental income from its rent-subsidized apartments (5% of revenue). 

Administrative costs are 5% of total revenue less investment income and fundraising costs are 40% of donations. Its 45% total overhead spending means that for every dollar donated, 55 cents are available to go to the cause. This is outside Ci’s reasonable range. 

Fred Victor spent $54.7m on its programs in F2025 – a 28% increase from $42.6m spent in F2024. It also spent $11.9m on capital expenditures in F2025. The charity purchased new property and opened 64 new apartment units in F2025. 

At the end of F2025, Fred Victor had $26.0m gross and $14.8m net reserves (cash and investments). Ci backed out $11.2m worth of mortgage interest-bearing debt from its gross reserves. 

Profile updated by Julian Dranitsaris on July 29, 2025. Comments and corrections may be forthcoming. 

Questions? Contact jdranitsaris@charityintelligence.ca