McMaster University
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 237213309
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2009–2024
- Official website data refreshed
- Sep 2026
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
- Phone
- 9055259140
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $1,115,308,465
- Expenses
- $999,465,567
- Assets
- $3,062,492,760
- Liabilities
- $1,192,016,363
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
61 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- DAVID FARRAR (PRESIDENT/VICE-CHANCELLOR)
Highest reported compensation
- DAVID FARRAR (PRESIDENT/VICE-CHANCELLOR): $399,289 total reported compensation
- CLAUDIA EMERSON (Professor): $378,313 total reported compensation
- SALIM YUSUF (Professor): $368,561 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Committed to creating a brighter world. The Office of the Provost promotes and supports institution-wide commitments to equity, diversity, inclusion, and accessibility, and principles of inclusive excellence, to foster a campus culture and community that respect the human rights, integrity and dignity of all community members. To learn more, please visit our Equity and Inclusion Office. Academic Excellence Office of the Provost & Vice-President (Academic). The Office of the Provost and Vice-President (Academic) supports the students, staff, faculty and researchers who drive innovation to build a brighter world. About the Office of the Provost Teaching & Learning Strategy.
What it reported doing in 2024
Ancillary fund -- sales of goods and services by departments that are defined as being supplementary to the university's operating activities of education and research. Such sales may be made to the university community and/or external clients. Ancillary operations are self-sustaining.
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 92% 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 some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 85
- Transparency & Controls: 67
- Accountability: 77
- Sustainability: 72
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 93.3%; rating input score 93
- Program expense ratio: 98.9%; rating input score 99
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 68th 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: Missing
- Compensation survey or study: Missing
- Board or committee approval: Pass
- Foreign activity oversight: 0 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 0
- Claims monitoring procedures: Fail
- 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: 99.9%; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
- Related-party transparency: Yes; rating input score 100
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 68%; rating input score 68; 20th 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: 10.4%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.06; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.39; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 0.6%; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 1.9% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 24th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- What they do: 1 programs and campaigns described on the official site
- Where the money goes: 93.3% of revenue deployed · 98.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 34 of 50 board members independent · 8 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $988.2M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $399K · 61 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
- Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $7.6M reported
- Consistency: 47 of 47 current checks pass
- Schedules: 11 filed schedules · includes major donors, foreign activity, grants, executive pay, and related organizations
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2009 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 33 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: 8 filed related-organization links
- 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: 8 of 8 not reported.
- Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Form 990 shared with the board not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.