Canada Council for the Arts
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 986000843
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2025
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
- Phone
- 1-800 263-5588
- Rating
- 73
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Arts Council/Agency
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $296,130,177
- Expenses
- $290,674,347
- Assets
- $520,068,785
- Liabilities
- $155,229,604
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
24 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Michelle Chawla (Director and CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- Michelle Chawla (Director and CEO): $245,978 total reported compensation
- Joanne Larocque-Poirier (Chief of Staff and Corp. Sec.): $174,020 total reported compensation
- Lise Ann Johnson (Deputy Director General, Arts Granting Programs): $165,244 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our vision is one where the arts are thriving in all parts of Canada and on the world stage, to the full cultural, social and economic benefit of people across the country.
What it reported doing in 2025
0
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 88% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- Distribution model
- Grant intermediary. The nonprofit sent 91% of its reported program spending out as grants.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and most voting board members are independent. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and program spending has declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 82
- Transparency & Controls: 60
- Accountability: 95
- Sustainability: 49
- Growth: 20
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 92%; rating input score 92
- Program expense ratio: 92.8%; rating input score 93
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 93.3%; rating input score 93; 18th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Missing
- Foreign activity oversight: 1 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 12
- Claims monitoring procedures: Pass
- Requires narrative reports: Fail
- Conducts field audits: Fail
- May suspend future funding: Fail
- Requires financial reports: Fail
- Conducts site visits: Fail
- Requires grant agreements: Fail
- May require repayment: Fail
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 8 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 89
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: Pass
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Pass
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 1.8%; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.79; rating input score 45; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.6%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: -6.7% per year; rating input score 0; 6th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: -6.4% per year; rating input score 0; 1st percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 1% per year; rating input score 100; 7th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 6 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 92% of revenue deployed · 92.8% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $269.7M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $246K · 24 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $5.5M reported
- Consistency: 45 of 46 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes foreign activity and executive pay
- Filing history: 6 filing years from 2020 to 2025
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 23 filed money-flow records
- Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
- People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.
Key Signals
Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.
- High — Transparency & Controls: Foreign activity oversight: 7 of 8 not reported.
- High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
- High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 42/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 45/100.
- Review — Transparency & Controls: Foreign grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 58/100.