About Us
Our mission:
“Our mission has been to improve the quality of life of the elderly poor, support their independence and inclusion, and provide services and programs to relieve distress, poverty and sickness.”
Who we are
Help the Aged (Canada) is a non-denominational, non-profit international development organization and is the only registered charity in Canada dedicated exclusively to assisting elderly people living in poverty in both Canada and the developing world since 1975.
Meet the Board
Help the Aged (Canada)'s (HTAC) volunteer Board of directors currently has 16 members from a variety of professional backgrounds. Learn more about our Board members…
What we do
- Offer programs for the elderly poor in 11 countries worldwide.
- Programs focus on primary health care, agroforestry, food aid, emergency assistance, capacity building, training and sponsorship.
- All of our overseas programs are coordinated through local charitable organizations such as the Oblate missionaries, the Salvation Army, and the St. Vincent de Paul Society.
- Work in collaboration with other national and international nongovernmental organizations.
- Obtain funding from federal and provincial government sources, corporations and foundations, and individual donors to support our programs.
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Over 50% of our funding is raised through general donations and donations in-kind. Government income is used to supplement general donations.
- Administration costs were 4.1% in 2007-08, fundraising costs are 3.4%.
- Governed by an elected volunteer Board of Directors. The Board also appoints Management Committees to advise the Executive Director, who is hired by the Board.
- Receives support and professional expertise through its affiliate membership with HelpAge International and through its membership with organizations such as the Alberta Wild Rose Foundation.
When we started
- HTAC was created as a registered charitable organization in 1975, (charitable registration Number 118955921 RR0001) and incorporated in 1984, (incorporation number 173327-3.)
Where we are
View our Audited Financial Statement (1Mb)
Getting the Most Mileage from your Donation
For some international projects, CIDA (the Canadian International Development Agency) gives us a grant equal to double the amount of the donations we dedicate to these projects. We may also receive matching funds from the Alberta Wild Rose Foundation. This means that for every dollar HTAC spends on these projects, we may receive an additional three dollars. (This does not apply to our Adopt-a-Gran program)
Administration costs are held to the bare minimum (4.1% during the 2007-08 fiscal year). Volunteers are a key element here since Help the Aged has only five full time staff.
Top priority is given to avoiding corruption, which is always a serious problem in developing countries such as Haiti. How we do it is by working mostly with religious organizations like the Oblate Missionaires, the Salvation Army and others that have dedicated their lives to the poor.
We love the word FREE! We take advantage of donated materials and supplies and ship them by 40 foot containers to the charitable organizations that we support. This can range from a container of donated food shipped to the Glace Bay Food Bank in Nova Scotia to a container of $325,000 worth of donated orthopaedic supplies shipped to Haiti.
Corporate support also counts. For the last 14 years, Air Canada has provided us with six annual complimentary tickets, which we use for field trips to projects. Every year, foundations and corporations provide us with grants to support our work. All of this adds up quickly and means that your donations go even further.
Thank you for your generous support!
