Dalhousie University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 986001098
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024, Form 990-T 2024
- Location
- Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada
- Phone
- 902-222-9379
- Rating
- 79
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $695,211,940
- Expenses
- $655,865,000
- Assets
- $2,093,003,000
- Liabilities
- $773,363,000
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
29 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Kimberley Brooks (PRESIDENT AND VICE CHANCELLOR)
Highest reported compensation
- David Anderson (Dean, Faculty of Medicine): $382,981 total reported compensation
- Kimberley Brooks (PRESIDENT AND VICE CHANCELLOR): $326,257 total reported compensation
- Frank Harvey (PROVOST): $288,804 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
To lift people, ideas, and communities. Fuelling the Future: Made-in-NS Clean Energy at Halifax Chamber Dinner "This is a place that has built ships, dug coal, cultivated forests — and now we’re taking the lead in figuring out how to fuel a better life for everyone." The crowd was energized with a sense of possibility and potential for what green energy could mean for Nova Scotia's future. Halifax Chamber dinner speakers standing on stage. Propelling Nova Scotia’s health priorities through Health Investigator Grants Funding supports scholars in establishing and expanding projects aimed at addressing some of our most pressing healthcare challenges, to positively impact the health of Nova Scotians. Three health practitioners wearing.
What it reported doing in 2024
Ancillary services (e.g. housing and conference services; bookstores; art centre; Dalplex (gym) and food service)
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
- Distribution model
- Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.
- Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.
The verdict
SUPPORTED - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. The filing reports few safeguards for money sent abroad and expenses are high relative to revenue.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 86
- Transparency & Controls: 61
- Accountability: 90
- Sustainability: 66
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 87.2%; rating input score 87
- Program expense ratio: 91.4%; rating input score 91
- Fundraising efficiency: $37.8 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 70; 70th percentile among comparable filings
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 94.1%; rating input score 94; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
- Compensation committee: Missing
- Independent consultant: Missing
- Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
- Written employment contract: Pass
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: Scored; rating input score 0
- Grant itemization coverage: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 90%; rating input score 90; 38th 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: 5.7%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.19; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.37; rating input score 48; 48th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.4% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 1 operating location identified
- Where the money goes: 87.2% of revenue deployed · 91.4% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 18 of 20 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $599.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $383K · 29 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $46.3M reported
- Consistency: 25 of 29 current checks pass · 4 findings to review
- Schedules: 8 filed schedules · includes foreign activity, grants, and executive pay
- Filing history: 5 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 10 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 scored 0/100.
- Review — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 59/100.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D expense reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D revenue reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 48/100.