Financial Highlights

Message from the Treasurer and Vice-President, Finance and Operations

In a year filled with many challenges, we received tremendous support from our donors and government partners. Thanks to this generous response, Pathways Canada has a positive financial outlook in the midst of the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. With a combined investment of more than $32.2 million, our supporters demonstrated their confidence in the power of the Pathways Program and the essential role it plays for youth living in low-income communities.

In FY2021, we spent more than 85 per cent of funds in areas directly impacting students and their families. Grants to Pathways Program Partners—which provide ongoing academic, financial, social, and one-on-one supports to Pathways students—totalled $17.4 million, with an additional $1.4M spent on student scholarships.

The COVID-19 crisis presented new challenges over the past year that required us to be very adaptive as an organization. Although we have always embraced innovation as a means of reaching more young people across the country, we accelerated this approach in response to the pandemic. We made investments in alternative program delivery models, and increased effectiveness by leveraging new technology and processes to help keep youth connected to their education. Our total investment in innovation and program development increased in FY2021 to $4.1 million.

Our strong financial results from the past year have also resulted in a surplus, which has allowed us to contribute $4.5 million to our reserve funding. As we look to sustainability and growth in a post-pandemic world, this reserve funding will help to ensure the short- and mid-term sustainability of the program and support our continued investment in innovation. This comes at a critical time for Pathways youth—we make a 3- to 5-year commitment to students in the Pathways Program and we know that in the months and years ahead they will face even more significant barriers to success that will require increased support to ensure they stay connected to their education.

As always, we remain committed to providing our stakeholders with transparent, evidence-driven results. We have a strong, independent Audit, Investment, and Risk Committee, whose key responsibilities include oversight of the financial audit, budgets, investments, and risk management.

The past fiscal year taught us to expect the unexpected, just as it confirmed that our prudent financial management provides stability both for our staff and Program Partners. We remain committed to stewarding the financial resources entrusted to us, growing the financial health of the organization, and expanding the available opportunities to serve more youth. We are deeply grateful for your continued support, which allows us to reach more young people and help them build the foundation for a brighter future.