Seva Canada is a financially transparent 5-star charity. It has an above average results reporting grade and its overhead costs are inside Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending. Ci has given this charity a High rating for demonstrated impact.

Founded in 1982, Seva Canada (Seva) focuses on reducing blindness worldwide. The charity works in low and middle-income countries. Seva states that 1.1 billion people live with vision loss, 90% of which is preventable or treatable. It also states that by 2050, an additional 600 million people will experience vision loss. The charity reports that girls are only half as likely as boys to receive care. Charity Intelligence estimates SEVA spent $2.0m on its programs in its fiscal year ending June 2024 (F2024).

A Charity Intelligence 2024 Top 100 Rated Charity.

Seva reports it provided 1,684,953 people with accessible eye care services in F2024. It also gave 27,648 people prescription glasses. The charity states that its goal each year is to increase the results of last year by 10%. 

Seva also trains people in services related to eye care. Seva trained 4,722 people in F2024. This includes 195 hospital staff, 13 general nurses, and 3,751 community members. Community members include teachers, village leaders, and primary care providers. Seva also reports that two ophthalmologists received sub-specialty training and three received cataract surgical training.

Seva operates in nine countries: Benin, Burundi, Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Madagascar, Nepal, Tanzania, and Uganda. Seva provides a breakdown by country in its annual report. This breakdown includes the number of surgeries performed, children screened, and glasses provided.

Seva Canada’s audited financial statements follow activity-based costing, a best practice. This means its expenses are clearly defined between program, administrative, and fundraising categories.

In F2024 Seva received $8.6m in donations, a 325% increase from F2023 ($2.0m). Seva received $6.5m from an anonymous donor in F2024. Seva states that it plans to use $3.0m of that donation as an endowment fund. It also plans to spend $3.0m of that donation on improving its programs and fundraising, and $500k on expanding its programs.

Administrative costs are 3% of revenues (excluding investment income). Fundraising costs are 4% of donations. This results in total overhead spending of 7%. For every dollar donated, 93 cents are available to go to the cause. This falls within Ci’s reasonable range for overhead spending.

Seva spent $2.0m on its programs in F2024 excluding donated goods used, which is 23% of its revenue excluding donated goods. In F2024 it had a surplus of $6.2m.

Seva has $7.9m in reserve funds (cash and investments), a 388% increase from F2023 ($1.6m). The reserves can cover 387%, or three years and ten months of program costs.

This charity report is an update that has been sent for review to Seva Canada. Changes and edits may be forthcoming. 

Updated on June 6, 2025, by Grady Simpson.