Plan International Canada 2025 Annual Report
Future-Ready: Building a world where children and girls can thrive
At Plan, we invest in children, especially girls, so that they are future-ready. That means growing up with real choices, relevant skills, and the confidence to shape a life they want, not just the one they’re handed.
In 2025, we helped build future-readiness by reaching 15.8 million people, including 7.9 million children (4.1 million girls), across 52 countries through 150 innovative projects – our biggest impact yet. Together with our institutional partners and more than 188,000 supporters in Canada, including 103,000 child sponsors, it’s our mission to create a world where children’s rights are respected and there’s equality for girls.
And we won’t stop until we are all equal.
Read the full 2025 Annual Report
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For the highlights only, see below
OUR TOP 5 IMPACTS
Together, we’re shaping a future-ready world – reaching 7.9 million children last year, including 4.1 million girls.
Health
6,000
children’s lives were saved through the distribution of 6 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets across Guinea, Senegal, and Liberia.
Education
100,000+
out-of-school children, including Sharon, returned to class in Uganda during the four-year RISING project.
Humanitarian response & resilience
675,000
people received 8,573 metric tons of life-saving food in four countries.
Youth leadership & economic empowerment
21,000
women, including Amal, participated in savings groups created in eight countries.
Protection from violence
12,050
life-changing birth certificates were issued in Cameroon.
EXECUTIVE INSIGHTS
Building tomorrow, together
When crises dominate headlines, hope feels fragile. Yet bold action is rewriting futures.
This year, our world was shaken. Wars and climate-related disasters forced countless families from the places they call home, putting millions of children in harm’s way. Financial strain reached every corner, here at home and in the communities where we work. With many major funding sources like USAID decimated and other government donors pulling back, the impact on children and communities has been profound – demanding new ways to deliver support quickly and effectively.
In the face of these shifts, our mission has never been more urgent. Children, especially girls, have borne the brunt of these crises, facing displacement, loss of education, and escalating violence. Yet amid these challenges, we achieved our strongest year ever – proof that resilience and adaptability create impact, even in the most volatile conditions.
This year, Plan International Canada reached 7.9 million children – our largest impact to date – with a record revenue of $307.9 million. This support enabled 94% of our long-term development projects to remain on track in extremely volatile conditions. What made it possible? The capabilities we’ve built to operate with clarity and discipline when conditions shift. Here are three examples:
Rising to the challenge, speeding up support
Faced with funding cuts to global health care, Plan International Canada was asked to accelerate the delivery of malaria, HIV, and TB prevention programs and related health products. We scaled up our supply chains, deployed additional teams, and coordinated with multiple governments simultaneously. We distributed 6 million insecticide-treated mosquito nets in Guinea, Liberia, and Senegal, helping protect vulnerable communities during the peak transmission season.
Ready when disaster strikes
When Myanmar experienced a devastating earthquake last March, traditional funding mechanisms would have meant weeks of delay. Our Children in Crisis Response Fund eliminated that timeline: Within 12 hours, funds had been mobilized and committed, allowing Plan’s country office to respond immediately.
Putting people first, powered by innovation
We are using artificial intelligence to analyze data and streamline operations. Our digital approach enables us to reach donors with updates and stories tailored to their interests. Our digital tools handle the data-heavy tasks, freeing our teams to focus on work that requires human judgment and experience. In an environment of shrinking resources, this efficiency directly impacts how many children we serve. We are strengthened by 26,440 partnerships globally, including 20,187 community-based organizations, which ensures local expertise guides every response.
These capabilities represent intentional changes we’ve made over the past few years. We’ve reimagined how we work to move quickly when it matters, put local voices at the heart of our projects, and teamed up with new funding partners so we can keep making a difference, together. As our operating environment continues to shift, we are ready.
But readiness isn’t built in isolation. None of this would be possible without our partners, donors, allies, and board, whose commitment made decisive action possible in a year of profound change.
Lindsay Glassco
President & CEO, Plan International Canada
Hon. Rona Ambrose
Board Chair, Plan International Canada
Our mission
At Plan International Canada, our mission is to strive for a just world that advances children’s rights and equality for girls. We stand with children, especially girls, wherever they are oppressed, exploited, left behind, or not equally valued. We strive to create a world where children, especially girls, learn, lead, decide, and thrive. We tackle the root causes of inequality. We’re determined optimists, and we will continue to persevere until we are all equal.
Our work
Child sponsorship
Helping children and their communities thrive through long‑term, locally led change.
129,026 children sponsored by 103,115 donors in Canada
Sponsorship active in 42 communities worldwide, driving long‑term local change
Health
Improving access to essential care so children, especially girls, grow up healthy and safe.
Delivered 6 million mosquito nets, helping save 6,000 children’s lives
Supported 3.39 million girls and 3.26 million boys through 40 health projects
Education
Bringing out‑of‑school children back to class with safe, inclusive learning.
110,086 out‑of‑school children in Uganda returned to class
Supported 178,690 girls and 165,510 boys across 15 education projects
Humanitarian response & resilience
Delivering rapid aid and protection for children and families affected by conflict, disaster, and displacement.
Delivered 8,573 metric tons of food to 675,000 people in crisis
Reached 240,000 people in Gaza with food and essentials through 61 aid trucks
Youth leadership & economic empowerment
Supporting youth and women with skills, savings, and opportunities to lead and earn.
Supported 25,050 girls and 24,780 boys through entrepreneurship and financial-literacy programs
21,000 women joined savings groups across eight countries
Protection from violence
Keeping children, especially girls, safe by helping prevent child marriage and gender‑based violence.
2,200 early marriages prevented in Benin and Cameroon
12,050 birth certificates issued so children can attend school and access services
Financials
Your support, our shared impact: Reaching 15.8 million lives
Through partnerships with communities, governments, and non-governmental organizations, Plan International Canada advances sustainable development where it’s needed most. In 2025, our collective efforts touched the lives of 15.8 million people, including 7.9 million children (4.1 million girls), thanks to supporters who see their contributions not just as donations but as investments in a better future.
Our Child Sponsorship program exemplifies this approach. Canadian sponsors’ donations act as seed capital in their sponsored children’s communities, sparking initiatives that attract additional partnerships and resources. This multiplying effect transforms an initial investment into broader tangible impact for sponsored children, their families, and their communities.
Paired with designated funding directed to specific projects – including major gifts, Gifts of Hope, and recurring contributions – these investments help tackle inequality. Our solutions are co-created with community members, especially children and girls. Through rigorous oversight, we maximize the share of resources that directly supports program participants and ensure that every dollar delivers measurable outcomes.
Revenue
Where did our support come from?
56.5%
Government & other institutional grants
17.9%
Child Sponsorship
12.9%
Gifts in kind
11.9%
Individual donations (contributions, gifts & bequests)
0.8%
Investments & other income
We received $308 million in support in fiscal year 2025.
Program expenditures
What percentage of program investments went to the different thematic areas?
65.6%
Health ($172 milliion)
13.5%
Education ($35 million)
11.0%
Humanitarian response and resilience ($29 million)
6.8%
Youth leadership & economic empowerment ($18 million)
3.1%
Protection from violence ($8 million)
Expenditures
What percentage of donations went to Plan International Canada programs?
84 cents of every dollar spent went toward programming for children and their communities worldwide. We focused on improving education, health, protection from violence, humanitarian response and resilience, and youth leadership and economic empowerment.
16 cents of every dollar spent went toward fundraising and operations to ensure that our programs are run efficiently and effectively. These funds go toward developing and administering our program-related services, marketing and fundraising initiatives. We also invest in rigorous child-safeguarding and risk management protocol training.
Total FY25 expenditures: $311 million Our fiscal year ran from July 1, 2024, to June 30, 2025. This number includes the purchase and amortization of capital or intangible assets.
Plan International’s impact in 2025
Explore the collective impact in 2025 of Plan International’s 1,328 active projects in 82 countries. Plan International’s work reached 49 million children, including 26 million girls. Plan International Canada’s programs in Health, Education, Humanitarian Response & Resilience, Youth Leadership & Economic Empowerment, and Protection from Violence reached 15.8 million people, including 7.9 million children (4.1 million of them girls).
Impact reports
We provide supporters with regular updates on the projects they help fund.
Read our Impact ReportsPowerful Stories and Powerful Points of View
Voices of crisis and resilience in Haiti
“School is the only way to become someone useful,” says 15-year-old Isabelle, one of three teenage girls living in displacement camps in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, who share their story in our mini-documentary Displaced. Isabelle met with filmmakers from our Embedded Storytellers program, which partners with local storytellers to capture authentic stories of girls driving change around the world. With striking honesty, Isabelle describes daily rituals shaped by fear and scarcity – but also by compassion, strength, and determination.
Our Supporters and Champions
Our supporters
We are deeply grateful to our generous and loyal supporters, including the following donors who have contributed over the past three years and whose lifetime giving exceeds $100,000.
Legacy donors
We are incredibly grateful for these thoughtful and generous individuals, who contributed to Plan International Canada through a gift in their estate.
Donor Spotlights
Brotherly love
After Ben Heller lost his sister, Erika, in 2009, he vowed to keep her spirit of kindness alive. “She always wanted to work with kids,” Ben recalls. Today, as a father and steward of the Erika Heller Foundation, Ben sponsors 10 children across Ecuador, Mali, and Bangladesh to honour her memory. “Sponsorship is the best way I know to directly support children’s success,” he says, “just as Erika would’ve wanted.”
Turning compassion into a plan
Lexi Clague was just 10 years old when she saw her father help Hungarian families settle in the United States after the 1956 revolution. “They were totally lost,” she recalls. “To have somebody who spoke the language spending time with them – that impressed me.”
A life of adventure and impact
Kaare Foy, a Scots-born Australian who made Canada his home, lived a life so cinematic that it almost seems invented. A mining executive by trade, Kaare built ventures from scratch, steered companies through tough turnarounds – and still found time for adventure.
We would also like to thank our institutional partners, without whom our work wouldn't be possible:
Thank you for supporting girls and children around the world!
The world will remain unpredictable – that’s why future-ready solutions matter. We are proud of what we have accomplished this year, together, and optimistic about what’s possible for children everywhere. With your support, we won’t give up on our efforts until we are all equal.
Plan International Canada is grateful for your commitment to this work and for sharing our vision to create a world where children’s rights are respected and there’s equality for girls.
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