Best Ontario Charity Annual Reports Announced

Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards 2011 announces five winners

TORONTO, Nov. 22, 2011 – Ontario’s best charity annual reports for 2011 have been selected by the Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards (VSRAs). Five winners in four categories were selected from 17 finalists from across Ontario. The winners each received a prize of $5,000.

“The VSRA recognition program is based on the premise that it is better to provide examples of excellence in order to raise the bar on financial reporting transparency in the not for profit sector rather than making more rules,” said Steve Salterio, Director of the CA-Queen’s Centre for Governance, which organizes the VSRAs every year in partnership with the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario (ICAO). PwC has been the sponsor of the program since its inception.

The awards, now in their fourth year, were open to registered charities that produce annual reports in Ontario. More than 100 charities were nominated. This year’s winners include:

     National and International Organizations headquartered in Ontario:
         World Vision Canada
         Mississauga
         www.worldvision.ca

Ontario only organizations

    Total revenues over $10 million
          Canadian Paraplegic Association Ontario
          Toronto
          www.cpaont.org

    Total revenues from over $1 million to $10 million - TIE
          DeafBlind Ontario Services
          Newmarket
          http://www.deafblindontario.com

    United Way Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox & Addington
    Kingston
    www.unitedwaykfla.ca

Total Revenues up to $1 million
    Hospice King (Operating as Hospice King-Aurora)
    Richmond Hill
    www.hospicekingaurora.ca

“The organizations recognized by this year’s Voluntary Sector Reporting Awards are to be commended for their straight forward and open financial reporting,” noted Brian Leader, FCA, Vice-President of Learning at the ICAO. “Beyond the people they serve and the charities’ donors and volunteers, the not-for-profit sector as a whole benefits from their example.”

More information about the VSRAs is available online at:

The CA-Queen’s Centre for Governance website: www.annualreportaward.ca;
The PwC website: http://www.pwc.com/ca/vsra; and
The ICAO website www.icao.on.ca.

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Editor’s Note:

For interviews, please contact:

    John Suart
    CA-Queen’s Centre for Governance
    613-583-3062
    go@johnsuart.com

    Perry Jensen
    The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario
    416-969-4271 or 1-800-387-0735 ext. 271
    pjensen@icao.on.ca

About the CA-Queen’s Centre for Governance at Queen’s School of Business

CA-Queen’s Centre for Governance (business.queensu.ca/centres/CA-QCG/) goal is to raise the bar on Canadian governance research with respect to transparency and financial accountability and convey that research’s implications to academics, students and the public at large. Situated at Queen's School of Business www.business.queensu.ca one of the world’s premier business schools, the Centre conducts cutting edge basic and applied research on governance dealing with such issues as fraud prevention and detection and improving the quality of Canadian securities’ regulation.

About the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario:
The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario is the qualifying and regulatory body of Ontario’s 35,000 Chartered Accountants and 5,000 CA students. Since 1879, the Institute has protected the public interest through the CA profession’s internationally recognized standards of qualification and the enforcement of its rules of professional conduct. Chartered Accountants are the professionals Canada’s business leaders trust to help make the financial, strategic and leadership decisions that matter. The Institute’s website is: www.icao.on.ca and the student website is www.guidetorulingtheworld.ca.

About PwC:

The firms of the PwC network provide industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory services to enhance value for clients. More than 161,000 people in 154 countries in PwC firms across the PwC network share their thinking, experience and solutions to develop fresh perspectives and practical advice. In Canada, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, an Ontario limited liability partnership, and its related entities have more than 5,700 partners and staff in offices across the country. See www.pwc.com/ca for more information.