Click on the video to listen to a special message from our President & CEO and Board Chair.

When conflict escalates or a natural disaster occurs, we are often the first to respond and we stay for as long as we are needed, to help children and families as they rebuild their lives. During and after emergencies, children are at an increased risk of abuse, exploitation, and missing out on education. Your help allows us to protect children, and fulfill their rights to learn, play, and enjoy their childhood.

The National Reconciliation Program (NRP) at Save the Children works to advance reconciliation and Indigenous rights. We follow leadership from Indigenous communities, supporting their priorities, programs, and initiatives. These include mental health and wellness, climate resilience, and education.

This community-driven, community-led approach and our commitment to centring community voices and cultural safety are central to our partnerships and ways of working.

Using guidance from an Indigenous-led and rights-based approach, the NRP establishes meaningful relationships with Indigenous (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) communities and children, committed to programming focused on Truth and Reconciliation efforts in Canada.

In 2023, the NRP supported the Kw’umut Lelum Foundation through the PhotoVoice project to shine a light on young people from nine Coast Salish Nations. The youth — aged from nine to early twenties — set off in four canoes during the annual Tribal Journeys. The journey was not only physical but was also one of cultural identity and connections. They captured photographs along the way, which were later put on display.  

With your support, we directly contributed to reducing gender inequality to advance our vision for a world where every child attains an equal right to survival, protection, development, and participation, regardless of their gender.  

We recognize that gender inequalities create major barriers to sustainable development, and we work to ensure our programs identify and account for the different needs, abilities, barriers, and opportunities of all, including girls, boys, women, and men.  

Programming supports meaningful and lasting positive change in the lives of children and adolescents. It is a priority to work alongside children, their families, community and government leaders, and influencers to identify and transform root causes of gender inequality for girls and women, boys and men.

Empowering Girls and Boys

Since 2020, The Slaight Family Foundation has supported Save the Children with our work  to empower adolescent girls and boys in Sierra Leone to help them make informed decisions about marriage, pregnancy, and sexual and reproductive health. As a result, adolescent girls experiencing child, early, and forced marriage (CEFM) decreased from 26% to 5% throughout the lifetime of the project. 

The climate crisis affects children’s future, yet they have contributed the least to the destruction of the environment. With your support, we work with children, families, and communities to increase their climate resilience and help implement smart solutions, which ensure families are better prepared when a climate disaster hits.

In 2023, we supported more than 14,200 children across 40 countries to strengthen their skills and meaningfully lead and participate in campaigns for a greener and fairer future.

Your help gave 3,000 children the tools, safe spaces, and platforms to share their views and hold their leaders accountable, ahead of the UN Sustainable Development Goals summit.

We also held the first virtual Children’s Assembly, with more than 50 children from more than 10 countries, and ensured their views were heard by world leaders.  

In 2023, children were resilient in the face of unimaginable hardship. They displayed the strength of their spirit and their limitless potential.

As we look ahead, we know that the path to a better world for children requires all of us to continue to stand together, act with compassion, and amplify the voices of children.

The achievements of 2023 reflect what we can accomplish when we come together for children. Thank you for being part of this incredible journey.

Report of the Independent Auditor on the Summary Financial Statements

Opinion

The summary financial statements, which comprise the summary statement of financial position as at December 31, 2023, and the summary statements of operations and changes in net assets for the year then ended, and related note, are derived from the audited financial statements of Save the Children Canada (the “Organization”) for the year ended December 31, 2023.

In our opinion, the accompanying summary financial statements are a fair summary of the audited financial statements, on the basis described in the Note to the summary financial statements.

Summary Financial Statements

The summary financial statements do not contain all the disclosures required by Canadian accounting standards for not-for-profit organizations. Reading the summary financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon, therefore, is not a substitute for reading the Organization’s audited financial statements and the auditor’s report thereon.

The Audited Financial Statements and Our Report Thereon

We expressed an unmodified audit opinion on the audited financial statements in our report dated May 28, 2024.

Management’s Responsibility for the Summary Financial Statements

Management is responsible for the preparation of the summary financial statements on the basis described in the Note to the summary financial statements.

Auditor’s Responsibility

Our responsibility is to express an opinion on whether the summary financial statements are a fair summary of the audited financial statements based on our procedures, which were conducted in accordance with Canadian Auditing Standard (CAS) 810, Engagements to Report on Summary Financial Statements.