The John Dobson Foundation
Private foundation · Montreal, Quebec · BN 119239531RR0001 · Support of Schools and Education
Source: T3010 return, FPE 2024-12-31. Split of total expenditures ($4,525,168) as filed with the CRA.
The John Dobson Foundation is a private foundation based in Montreal, Quebec, classified by the CRA under support of schools and education. In its fiscal year ending December 31, 2024, it reported $9M in revenue and $4.5M in expenditures.
Its funding that year was roughly 11% from donations.
Compared with 632 education charities of similar size, its share of spending on mission — charitable programs plus grants to other charities — ranked above 81% of peers. Its reserves, measured in years of spending on hand, sat in the top decile of the group. None of its ten highest-paid positions cleared $40,000. The charity reported 1 permanent full-time position.
As a grantmaker, it reported gifts to 57 qualified donees totalling $4.4M in 2024, the largest being $639K to Institut économique de montréal. Revenue has declined over its filings on record here, from $20.2M in 2020 to $9M in 2024. Its filed list of directors and trustees shows 6 names.
In its own words
Entrepreneurship bursaries sponsorship general education
Ongoing-program description from its T3010 filing, verbatim.
The ledger, 2020–2024
| Year | Revenue | Spending | Programs | Fundraising | Gifts out | Net assets |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | $9M | $4.5M | — | — | $4.4M | $93.8M |
| 2023 | $10.3M | $5.2M | — | — | $4.9M | $90.2M |
| 2022 | -$14.2M | $3.8M | — | — | $3.6M | $85.1M |
| 2021 | -$2.3M | $3M | — | — | $2.9M | $103.1M |
| 2020 | $20.2M | $3.7M | — | — | $3.5M | $108.4M |
Revenue printed in red where the year ran a deficit. Fiscal years by period end.
Money between charities, 2024
Granted $4.4M to 57 qualified donees — largest 25 shown:
- Institut économique de montréal$639K
- Enactus Canada$500K
- The University of Western Ontario$355K
- Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning$260K
- C.D. Howe Institute$250K
- Next Canada$200K
- Fraser Institute Foundation$200K
- Université Laval$150K
- Hope for Tomorrow's Shade Association Canada (HT-Saca)$150K
- The Frontier Centre for Public Policy Inc.$115K
- Concordia University-Universite Concordia$107K
- The Montreal General Hospital Foundation$100K
- The Macdonald-Laurier Institute$100K
- Institute for Liberal Studies Inc.$100K
- Fondation HEC Montréal$100K
- Centre for Civic Engagement$75K
- Canadian Constitution Foundation$75K
- Mount Royal University Foundation$72K
- La fondation de l'hôpital de montréal pour enfants/The Montréal Children's Hospital Foundation$71K
- Windmill Microlending$60K
- L'Association Selwyn House/selwyn House Association$60K
- Atlantic Institute for Market Studies$50K
- The Regulatory Research Institute of Canada$50K
- Simon Fraser University$50K
- SecondStreet.org$50K
As reported on the donors’ own T3010 qualified-donee schedules.
What it pays
Its ten highest-paid positions, by band:
- $1–39,9991 position
- Permanent full-time positions1
- Total compensation, all staff$40K
Schedule 3 of its 2020 return. The CRA discloses bands, not names or exact salaries.
Directors & trustees (2024)
Ian Aitken (director); Randall Kelly (executive director); Ari Kiriazidis (president secretary); Michel Kelly-Gagnon (administrator); Rene Catafago (treasurer); Kimberley Holden (administrateur).
As listed on its 2024 return.
Check the source
Every figure on this page is from The John Dobson Foundation’s own T3010 filings, published by the Canada Revenue Agency. Verify against the CRA’s charities listing (search BN 119239531RR0001), or read how we compute the receipt.