McMaster University
Publicly funded institution · Hamilton, Ontario · BN 119035988RR0001 · Teaching Institutions · website
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-04-30. Split of total expenditures ($1,378,988,000) as filed with the CRA.
McMaster University is a charitable organization based in Hamilton, Ontario, classified by the CRA under teaching institutions. It appears on the charity register the way hospitals, universities, and other publicly funded bodies do — to issue tax receipts — rather than as a donation-driven charity in the usual sense. In its fiscal year ending April 30, 2024, it reported $1.5B in revenue and $1.4B in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 30% from government. In 2024, 128 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $20.8M.
Compared with 733 education institutions of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 92% of peers. Its reserves, measured in years of spending on hand, sat in the top decile of the group. Its highest-paid positions fell in the $350,000 and over range (10 positions in that band). The charity reported 5,351 permanent full-time positions.
Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 35 names.
In its own words
McMaster charitable donations fund Student Scholarships and Bursaries Teaching and Community Initiatives
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $1.5B | $1.4B | $1.3B | $7.9M | $109K | $2.3B |
| 2023 | $1.4B | $1.3B | $1.2B | $6.9M | $100K | $1.9B |
| 2022 | $1.2B | $1.1B | $1.1B | $6M | $94K | $1.7B |
| 2021 | $1.3B | $1.1B | $1B | $5.5M | $87K | $1.8B |
| 2020 | $1.2B | $1.1B | $1B | $5.5M | $84K | $1.2B |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Granted $0 to 1 qualified donee:
Received $20.8M from 128 charities:
- Weston Family Foundation$2.9M
- Labarge Charitable Foundation$2.5M
- The Schroeder Foundation$2.4M
- Hamilton Health Sciences Foundation$1.6M
- Canadian Cancer Society$1.2M
- United Jewish Appeal of Greater Toronto$1.1M
- Marta and Owen Boris Foundation$750K
- ST. Joseph's Healthcare Foundation Hamilton$735K
- Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada$696K
- Diabetes Canada Diabète Canada$695K
- The Azrieli Foundation$593K
- The Krembil Foundation$405K
- Hamilton Community Foundation$391K
- The Samuel Family Foundation$375K
- Actua$375K
- Cancer Research Society$321K
- The Kidney Foundation of Canada$312K
- RBC Foundation$275K
- Charitable Gift Funds Canada Foundation$255K
- CHIMP: Charitable Impact Foundation (Canada)$212K
- BenefAction Foundation$207K
- The Hospital for Sick Children Foundation$200K
- The Marinucci Family Foundation$150K
- The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada/societe de Leucemie & Lymphome du Canada$150K
- Trust Under the Will of P Remsen Onderdonk$134K
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $350,000 and over10 positions
- Permanent full-time positions5,351
- Total compensation, all staff$859.6M
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Susan Tighe (director); Stephen Elop (director); Sandra Cruickshanks (director); David Farrar (director); Mamdouh Shoukri (director); Dina Brooks (director); Justin Boye (director); Bradley Merkel (director); Kevin Nye (director); Jennifer Rowe (director and vice chair); David Huctwith (director); Silvia Stankovic (director); Michael Ferencich (director); Jane Allen (director and chair); Fareen Samji (director); Ryan Clarke (director); Lisa Brown (director); Andrea Thyret-Kidd (director); Santee Smith (director); Natalia Lishchyna (director); Robert Walker (director); Barry Hill (director); Wayne Purboo (director); Saara Greene (director); Catherine Anderson (director); Nicole Agyei-Odame (director); Ben Menka (director); Michael Ramsay (director); Rishav Jaiswal (director); Arlene Dosen (director); Lance Trumble (director); Megumi Harada (director); Susan McCracken (director); Mayu Nishimura (director); Brenda Vrkljan (director).
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from McMaster University’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 119035988RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.