Strong Start Charitable Organization
Charitable organization · Waterloo, Ontario · BN 825948060RR0001 · Foundations Advancing Education · website
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-06-30. Split of total expenditures ($2,149,900) as filed with the CRA.
Strong Start Charitable Organization is a charitable organization based in Waterloo, Ontario, classified by the CRA under foundations advancing education. In its fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, it reported $2.2M in revenue and $2.1M in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 17% from donations, 67% from other charities. In 2024, 26 other registered charities reported granting it a combined $1.3M.
Compared with 632 education charities of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 32% of peers. Its highest-paid positions fell in the $120,000–159,999 range (2 positions in that band). The charity reported 12 permanent full-time positions.
Revenue has grown substantially over its filings on record here, from $1.4M in 2020 to $2.2M in 2024. Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 8 names.
In its own words
Strong start provides unique programs through community-wide partnerships to help young children learn to read. At current scale there are 292 locations running our programs. We help over 4 290 children per year and have more than 2 000 active volunteers. During this reporting period over 40 512 hours of volunteer time was given. Rooted in sound educational practices and techniques strong start's high-impact programs get measurable results. Programs serve children 6 months to 9 years of age.
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $2.2M | $2.1M | $1.7M | $45K | — | $1.8M |
| 2023 | $2.4M | $2.3M | $1.8M | $70K | — | $1.7M |
| 2022 | $1.6M | $1.6M | $1.1M | $92K | — | $1.5M |
| 2021 | $1.9M | $1.3M | $817K | $82K | — | $1.6M |
| 2020 | $1.4M | $971K | $609K | $5,083 | — | $956K |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Received $1.3M from 26 charities:
- The Lyle Shantz Hallman Charitable Foundation$1M
- Abundance Canada$61K
- Waterloo Region Community Foundation$52K
- Canadian Online Giving Foundation$32K
- Canadahelps Canadon$21K
- Canadahelps Canadon$21K
- Brant United Way$20K
- J.P. Bickell Foundation$20K
- J.P. Bickell Foundation$20K
- The Cowan Foundation$15K
- United Way Waterloo Region Communities$10K
- Mowbray and Doris Sifton Family Foundation$10K
- Barterpay It Forward Foundation$8,417
- Social Venture Partners Waterloo Region$5,674
- London Community Foundation$3,200
- Gore Mutual Insurance Company Foundation$3,000
- The May Court Club of Kitchener-Waterloo$2,500
- Kiwanis Club of Brantford Charitable Corporation$2,500
- Kitchener-Conestoga Rotary Club Community Aid Fund$2,325
- Oxford Community Foundation$2,000
- The Rotary Club of Brantford Sunrise$1,000
- The Cowan Foundation$1,000
- Caledonia Community Foundation$1,000
- Charitable Gift Funds Canada Foundation$250
- United Way East Ontario / Centraide Est de l'Ontario$180
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $120,000–159,9992 positions
- $40,000–79,9995 positions
- $1–39,9993 positions
- Permanent full-time positions12
- Total compensation, all staff$1.3M
Schedule 3 of its 2024 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Jennifer King (board chair); Kristiina Montero (secretary); Kendra Siddall (vice-chair); Jamil Shamji (director); Sydney Pereira (director); Bobbie Chatha (director); Louise De Forest (treasurer); Susan Bruyns (director).
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from Strong Start Charitable Organization’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 825948060RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.