Ottawa Symphony Orchestra-L'orchestre Symphonique d'Ottawa
Publicly funded institution · Nepean, Ontario · BN 119071876RR0001 · Arts · website
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-07-31. Split of total expenditures ($273,002) as filed with the CRA.
Ottawa Symphony Orchestra-L'orchestre Symphonique d'Ottawa is a charitable organization based in Nepean, Ontario, classified by the CRA under arts. 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 July 31, 2024, it reported $299K in revenue and $273K in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 11% from donations, 56% from government, 13% from other charities. Government funding is the majority of its budget. In 2024, 4 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $46K.
Compared with 355 arts institutions of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 16% of peers.
Revenue has declined over its filings on record here, from $556K in 2020 to $299K in 2024. Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 8 names.
In its own words
The primary aim of the ottawa symphony orchestra ('oso' or the 'orchestra') is to create memorable musical experiences that bring people together. They do this by performing large-scale repertoire including canadian music for the general public and by enabling dedicated local musicians to come together to play exciting repertoire in a large concert hall. The oso's concert offerings and charitable programs also include an active student mentorship program whereby select post-secondary music students from the university of ottawa audition to be associate members of the orchestra each season. …
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $299K | $273K | $163K | — | — | $182K |
| 2023 | $425K | $427K | $295K | $1,451 | — | $157K |
| 2022 | $335K | $391K | $226K | $4,077 | — | $159K |
| 2021 | $375K | $213K | $213K | $1,934 | — | $215K |
| 2020 | $556K | $424K | $247K | $43K | — | $53K |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Received $46K from 4 charities:
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
- Total compensation, all staff$77K
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Fiona Charlton (director); Lara Deutsch (musicians' representative); Venassa Baptiste (assistant treasurer); Bernard Etzinger (chair); Tayler Farrell (secretary); Yuen Yee (ada) Kwok (treasurer); Alexis Nickson (director); Jean-François Marquis (musicians' representative).
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from Ottawa Symphony Orchestra-L'orchestre Symphonique d'Ottawa’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 119071876RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.