From Charity Intelligence Canada

"Charity Intelligence researches Canadian charities for donors to be informed and give intelligently. Our website posts free reports on more than 800 Canadian charities, as well as in-depth primers on philanthropic sectors like Canada’s environment, cancer, and homelessness. Today over 400,000 visitors use our website as a go-to source for information on Canadian charities reading over 1.5 million charity reports. Through rigorous and independent research, Charity Intelligence aims to assist Canada’s dynamic charitable sector in being more transparent, accountable and focused on results.

How Charities are Rated

Charity Intelligence's mission is to help donors answer their key questions and to provide information to allow better informed giving decisions. Donors have told us that they want a quick summary of the charities that they are interested in. To provide this summary, we have created a star rating that ranges from 0 to 5 stars. All of the information that goes into a charity star rating is available to donors if they wish to dig into the details; however, these star ratings will give donors an initial place to start." Read more