President of the National Council
Interim Executive Director
Our human family living on a healthy planet in dignity, solidarity, justice and peace. This is the renewed vision of Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada. All organizations and movements are called to ongoing reflection and renewal. The beginning of 2023-24 marked an important milestone in our own journey. In October 2023, our national council approved our renewed vision, mission, values and approaches alongside our 2023-2028 Strategic Plan.
We have now completed the first year of that plan. There is not enough room in this report to share all of the good news! There are not enough pages to tell 420,000 plus stories―one for each person directly touched by our solidarity last year. Nor are there enough pages to tell the stories of our 12,800+ members in Canada and the work they have done to promote our mission, such as through our Stand for the Land campaign. We cannot tell all the stories, but we can tell some of them. From Madagascar to Myanmar and from Vancouver to Halifax, you will read how we are putting our theme of Create Hope into action.
Despite our strategic plan, the biggest challenge this year was unforeseen. The evil brutal attack by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023, shocked the world. We could not have imagined the lethal violence to follow. Among the 43,600 Palestinians killed in Gaza, two deaths touched us personally. Our Caritas Jerusalem colleagues Viola Al ‘Amash and Issam Abedrabbo, along with their families, lost their lives to this senseless slaughter. We pray for them and all Caritas Jerusalem staff. Thanks to their heroic efforts, we are one of the Canadian organizations able to reach those in need. Their rapid response has supported people with multiple emergency services. Seventeen medical teams stationed at strategic points throughout Gaza have helped over 40,000 people in need. “Thank God we work at Caritas,” says Ahmed Al-Daya, “allowing us to support people in the most challenging conditions. This organization helps us make our voices heard, which brightens our days.” Amplifying the voices of people like Ahmed, our advocacy and public engagement work on the crisis is also an important focus for us, as you will read.
Anger is a natural emotion for us to feel at the unnecessary suffering of so many people, not only in Gaza but also in Ukraine, Sudan and many other regions throughout the world. It is important that this anger not turn into hate, which only serves to obscure our ultimate vision. Hate cannot create hope. The only thing that can create hope is the work of the Gospel that our mission calls us to. We cannot create hope without our network of members, donors and the Bishops of Canada. We are infinitely grateful for your support, your commitment and your faith in what we can accomplish together, which enable Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada to fulfill its mission.
President: Brenda Arakaza (francophone youth representative); Vice-president: Gabrielle Dupuis (Ontario); Treasurer: Danny Gillis (Atlantic); Secretary: Tashia Toupin (West); Member: Most Rev. Jon Hansen (bishop, West)
Don Devine (Atlantic), Frank Fohr (Ontario), Simone Fournier (Quebec), Most Rev. Pierre Goudreault (bishop, Quebec, until January 2024), Most Rev. Peter Hundt (bishop, Atlantic), Most Rev. Martin Laliberté (bishop, Quebec), Reanne Laurie (anglophone youth representative), Teresa McKerral (West), Jason Noble (member at large until January 2024), Luc Picard (member at large), Boris Polanski (Quebec), Most Rev. Pierre-Olivier Tremblay (bishop, Ontario)
From September 1, 2023, to August 31, 2024
invested in overseas projects
reached directly and indirectly through overseas projects
in Africa, Asia, Eastern Europe, Latin America and the Middle East
in community development and humanitarian aid in34 countries
Amount invested from September 1, 2023 to August 31, 2024 in the following regions:
In Brazil’s midwestern state of Goiás, the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT for its Portuguese acronym) plays a crucial role in promoting citizen participation, particularly in rural communities, which is fundamental to strengthening democracy and promoting sustainable development.
The CPT is active in defending human rights, fighting for agrarian reform and promoting social justice in rural areas. Its importance lies in the support it provides, organizing and mobilizing vulnerable communities to assert their rights and influence public policy.
The CPT promotes citizen participation by providing public political education and training to peasant farmers through courses, meetings, seminars, round tables and councils. This enables them to understand and defend their rights and take active part in decisions that affect their lives and territories. The CPT also monitors and denounces human rights violations in rural areas, including agrarian conflicts, forced labor and illegal deforestation. By exposing these issues, it puts pressure on the state and society to act, thereby promoting social responsibility and justice.
Over the past year, the CPT team has:
On December 20, 2023, the Congolese people were called to the polls. In the run-up to the elections, the Electoral Education and Inclusive Governance Program in the Democratic Republic of Congo (EEGIR, for its French acronym), funded in part by the Government of Canada, conducted a major awareness-raising campaign that focussed on citizen participation, the electoral process and peace through:
The facilitators were drawn from diocesan Women’s Dynamic groups of the Justice and Peace Commission, and other community movements. They were committed to working with the EEGIR project because it highlighted the situation of women and other marginalized groups.
Their training served at once to motivate the facilitators and build their capacities. Their role enabled the facilitators to discover and develop their competencies. For some, it provided an opportunity to tackle political issues fearlessly. For others, it awakened a desire to run in the next elections.
Songs and sketches containing messaging designed to raise awareness of the importance of civic and electoral participation were repeatedly broadcast across the DRC’s six ecclesiastical provinces.
We believe that all present and future generations have the right to live in a healthy and sustainable environment. That is why we seek to strike a balance between the environmental, social and economic aspects of development to promote well-being for all.
From 2020 to 2024, we implemented RENIALA,1 a project for the protection of livelihoods through the adoption of soil conservation and sustainable development practices in Antananarivo and Bongolava. The project was funded by Quebec’s Ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs. It was implemented with our partner, the Conseil de Développement d’Andohatapenaka and in collaboration with the University of Sherbrooke’s environment and sustainable development training centre.
The project has helped 120 farmers’ associations, including 17 women’s associations, set up adaptation initiatives in waste management, agriculture and livestock farming. A highly vulnerable urban neighborhood has also been transformed into a showcase for ecological practices like a community garden. Now micro-projects in their own right, these initiatives are responsive to changing climatic conditions and generate year-round incomes for participants.
In Bongolava, a rural area where poor subsistence practices like fire-setting prevail, new agroecological techniques have been introduced to meet the needs of the soil and the people’s need for food. Some 60 associations, including a dozen women’s associations, have learned and adopted new watershed management techniques that protect against soil erosion.
The associations have drawn up action plans to ensure the sustainability of these initiatives. Communities have also collectively formulated environmental protection rules known as dina that have been validated from the local to the regional levels. Being conducive to adaptation initiatives, these dina regulations have helped reduce and control brush fires; reforest denuded areas; protect reforested areas and sensitive ecosystems; prevent the silting-up of rice fields; and safeguard lowlands, lakes and water sources.
1Reniala, meaning “mother of the forest,” is the Malagasy name of the baobab tree.
Since 2006, our partner, the Episcopal Commission for Social Action (CEAS for its Spanish acronym), has been supporting the Peruvian community of La Oroya in its case against the state at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The community is suing the state to compel it to address the pollution from a local polymetallic smelter that has affected the health of thousands of people by contaminating their blood with toxic metals.
In March 2024, the community reaped the rewards of its struggle when it scored a small victory. The IACHR ordered the Peruvian state to pay individual reparations to the 80 plaintiffs and collective compensation to all the 30,000 or so residents of La Oroya.
The IACHR also ordered additional measures to protect the health of Peruvians from mining and extractive industry pollution, and to bring the Peru’s environmental standards into line with international norms. This ruling, seen as a significant step forward in the recognition of the right to a healthy environment across the Americas, will set a precedent for communities around the world that are affected by toxic pollution.
Despite this historic decision, the work and struggle of the communities is not over. CEAS now accompanies a new pastoral network for environmental and human health (SAH for its Spanish acronym) that comprises 18 dioceses. The SAH advocates for lasting socioecological and systemic change at the community and institutional policy levels.
We believe that all human beings should have the same rights and opportunities to contribute to the well-being of their families and societies. That is why we seek to transform the power relations that create and perpetuate inequality and prevent women from becoming active citizens in their communities and in society at large.
Our partner Arkom Indonesia firmly believes in the resilience of impoverished communities living in slums. They regard them as architects, because most of these people have designed their own makeshift homes. In response to the climate crisis, Arkom is working with local associations to implement shantytown transformation projects.
Arkom’s approach is based on the theory that lasting positive change can only be achieved by addressing people’s needs simultaneously at several levels. This process begins with building community knowledge and skills and extends to influencing policymakers to build a safe and healthy environment.
To address the shantytowns’ problems, which included their precarious location, unclear land titles, vulnerability to disasters and a lack of access to drinking water, Arkom facilitated the formation of women’s associations in these riverside communities. One such association, Kalijawi, is recognized as a model of community empowerment. For over 10 years, its activities have included participatory mapping, collective awareness-raising, savings groups, inter-community contacts, women’s cooperatives and advocacy. These activities have improved women’s understanding of gender perspectives.
When a local government’s proposed ban on homebuilding on the riverbanks (to reduce flood risk) threated to displace slumdwellers, Kalijawi helped the community devise a creative solution. They proposed moving the houses behind a narrow buffer street and allowing two-storey construction so people could recover the floorspace lost to the buffer zone. The plan was accepted, and over 50 houses and infrastructure were improved.
Thanks to this community organization, women have contributed significantly to the resolution of local conflicts, promoting neighborhood harmony and well-being.
Since the 2021 coup in Myanmar (Burma), over 2 million people have been internally displaced; 76,923 homes have been burned or destroyed; and at least 8,640 civilians have been killed.
The escalation of fighting in Kachin State and the attendant exposure to forced conscription, killings, abductions, rape, physical and emotional violence, arbitrary arrests and detentions, have severely affected the well-being of communities and led to an increase in depression, anxiety and gender-based violence.
Against this backdrop, our partners Trócaire and Karuna Mission Social Solidarity (KMSS), implemented a two-year project to protect conflict-affected communities, especially women and girls. Completed in December 2023, the project aimed to improve conditions for 831 women and 619 men in 16 camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) and three host communities, prioritizing those who had suffered trauma.
A variety of services and activities were offered at women’s and girls’ centers and community centers. Participants received psychosocial support focused on relaxation techniques, self-compassion, relationships with others and positive coping strategies to build resilience and deal with trauma. Group sessions connected people with their peers and strengthened community relationships. Recreational activities like sports, sewing and collective cooking were organized to foster a sense of normalcy and learning, and to help people cope with day-to-day stressors.
In addition, four social action groups, each comprising 25 women, received small grants to pursue collectively chosen activities like making liquid soap and cooking traditional foods. Profits from the sales of their products were used to cover part of the medical expenses of the elderly or pregnant women or to support their children’s education.
419 vulnerable women and girls, including survivors of gender-based violence, received care; material or financial assistance; and hygiene or dignity kits.
In Colombia, our partner, the Asociación Campesina de Antioquia (ACA, Peasant Association of Antioquia), promotes development projects through audiovisual production, arts and culture. In collectively creating documentaries, dance, poetry and photography, the young peasant members of the ACA promote a new culture of peace. This process allows the youths, who have experienced generations of violence and conflict, to deepen their knowledge of subjective and sensitive issues such as their views of themselves and others; of the territory; and of the preservation of water and biodiversity.
Our partner believes that young people are the adults of the future and that peacebuilding is essential to rebuilding rural life. A vibrant and dynamic rural life can allow young people to recover their dignity and peasant identity and thereby avoid falling into the traps of drug traffickers who offer false hopes of a better life.
For the ACA, an organized, mobilized and trained peasantry helps ensure that peasant peoples can remain on their territories and lead dignified lives. To strengthen food sovereignty, the solidarity economy and fair trade, the Peasant Sovereignty project aims to consolidate not only the technical capacities in agriculture of peasant communities, but also their organizational, communication and advocacy capacities. This helps restore community fabrics and revitalize the peasant economy, allowing the territories to be revived and healed after many years marked by violence.
To these ends, ACA has worked hard over the past year, to:
In May 2023, our partner Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS) launched a project entitled Economic empowerment and strengthening the resilience of survivors of armed conflict in Nigeria.
For over 14 years, conflict in northeastern Nigeria, particularly in the states of Adamawa and Borno, has had a significant impact on people’s livelihoods. In addition to claiming thousands of lives, the violence had resulted in a cumulative $100-billion loss to the Nigerian economy by 2021. There is evidence that women are facing greater difficulties in terms of the fragmentation of families, demoralization and gender-based violence.
The project helps rehabilitate women who, as victims of violence perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgency, have had to flee to safer zones. It works with the women to rebuild their livelihoods and resilience by providing training in agriculture and literacy; financial services; and start-up capital for savings groups.
Because food shortages and reduced incomes have increased tensions between internally displaced people and host communities, the project pursues long-term solutions to help both communities become self-sufficient. These include improving access to education and training, increasing agricultural activities and promoting sustainable economic development.
Priority was accorded to women who headed households or lived in large families where another was the main income earner; young single mothers; persons with disabilities; and survivors of gender-based violence. At one-year follow-up sessions, it was found that there was a change in the way women viewed their role in contributing to household finances.
The project has had a positive influence, creating and reinforcing a culture of peace by making internally displaced women agents of local development in the communities to which they have been displaced; by improving the general well-being of host communities; and by empowering women and helping preserve their cultural practices.
When Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, killing over 1,000 civilians and taking more than 200 hostage, Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada condemned the atrocity unreservedly. Israel’s retaliation was swift, brutal and relentlessness.
Within weeks, it had wreaked enough havoc to prompt the International Court of Justice to order Israel to take measures to curb civilian casualties, displacement and infrastructure destruction. Ignoring the ruling and its allies’ entreaties, Israel had killed over 40,000 Palestinians in Gaza and over 650 in the West Bank by the end of August 2024. The victims included Caritas Jerusalem employees Viola Al ‘Amash and Issam Abedrabbo.
Our response to the crisis was guided by Catholic Social Teaching and Pope Francis’s call “to take just one side in this conflict: that of peace.” We launched an appeal for donations and began advocating for a ceasefire early on. We also called for humanitarian corridors and the release of hostages and detainees.
Gradually escalating our advocacy, we asked the Government of Canada to cease exporting arms to Israel; support international courts’ rulings on the conflict; and work toward an internationally mediated peace process.
Working with partners in the Canadian civil society and ecumenical spaces, we undertook 11 advocacy actions such as signing petitions and writing joint, open and private letters to the prime minister, the foreign minister and the premier of Quebec. With Caritas Australia and Caritas New Zealand, we wrote a joint letter to the three countries’ prime ministers.
Our advocacy helped bring about the restoration of Canada’s funding of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency; the announcement of an arms embargo; and a very slight shift in Canada’s voting patterns on UN resolutions on Gaza and Palestine.
To sensitize and mobilize Canadians, we wrote a dozen articles; encouraged members to write to their MPs; and organized and participated in several rallies and walks, including a series of pilgrimages for peace culminating in a memorable march at Parliament Hill on May 22, 2023. Our webinar featuring the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the secretary general of Caritas Jerusalem attracted over 300 people.
The solidarity we fostered was expressed in substantial generosity, which allowed us to contribute $250,000 to Caritas Jerusalem’s relief efforts. With this, and funding from other Caritas agencies, Caritas Jerusalem provided shelter, water, food, clothing, cash grants, medical services and psychosocial support to over 24,000 people.
We will continue supporting Caritas Jerusalem’s activities; redoubling our advocacy efforts; and mobilizing Canadians to support the Palestinian people’s quest for justice and peace.
On September 8, 2023, Morocco was hit by a magnitude 6.9 earthquake whose epicenter was in Al Haouz, in the mostly mountainous and inaccessible greater Marrakesh region. There were more than 2,900 deaths, and 5,600 people were injured. Material damage, too, was very significant. Our partner Caritas Maroc reacted immediately, launching an emergency protocol with Caritas Internationalis.
In partnership with Caritas Maroc and with funding from Quebec’s ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie, we decided to work on three areas: emergency aid, protection against the rigours of winter and the installation of sanitary facilities. This was in addition to providing financial, material and technical support to help families recover their livelihoods.
We assisted 800 families comprising 5,300 vulnerable people (young children, elderly people and persons with disabilities) in the provinces of Al Haouz, Ouarzazate and Taroudant, and migrants affected by the earthquake in the city of Marrakesh.
Caritas Maroc improved these people’s living conditions by providing shelter and drinking water; promoting community hygiene; and protecting and strengthening livelihoods, in accordance with local culture and gender-related needs. It thus contributed to the realization of fundamental rights and the well-being of the populations affected by the earthquake.
The social action commission of the Moroccan Catholic Church has also offered sporting activities to provide psychoeducational support to children and adolescents. In some villages, solar lamps have been installed outside houses to improve the nighttime safety of earthquake survivor families.
People supported by our projects in reviving their economic activity have seen improvements in their income and are better able to meet their basic needs independently and sustainably.
in over 60 dioceses across Canada
in 255 regional events including 3,099 participants in nearly 100 courses and workshops across Canada
taking part in the D&P Schools Program
Our mission can only be accomplished through the dedication and involvement of our members, who are the cornerstone of our organization.
Our members are organized from coast to coast into 50 diocesan councils (DCs). The primary responsibility of the councils, which comprise our most active members, is bringing our awareness, advocacy and fundraising initiatives to life in their dioceses.
Each year, members from different dioceses gather, network and deepen their commitment to our work at eight regional assemblies across the country. These meetings provide members the opportunity to listen to inspiring testimonials; share successes and challenges; and receive training to help them better fulfill our mission.
The regional assemblies require an immense amount of work, and we would like to express our gratitude to all the members of our diocesan councils who play a crucial role in organizing them alongside our staff.
At this year’s Ontario Regional Assembly, nearly 100 people of all ages from across the province gathered in Toronto. Attendees were impressed by the workshop organized by students from Mother Teresa Catholic High School in London, who created several posters to explain how our D&P Schools program has helped them raise awareness and mobilize so many of their fellow students for global solidarity.
Under the leadership of its president, Yolanda Broderick, our Vancouver diocesan council carried out a multi-year awareness-raising project aimed at contacting all priests in the archdiocese and asking them to support our work.
“I realized that we needed to make connections at the pastoral level, reach out to each of our pastors and make them aware of the work of our organization. I also knew that this would take time, commitment and a bit of organization, and that we couldn’t do it alone―we needed the Holy Spirit to guide our work.”
― Yolanda Broderick, president, diocesan council, Archdiocese of Vancouver
Thanks to this mobilization, the diocesan council has grown from 23 representatives in 18 parishes to 64 representatives in 46 parishes! Unsurprisingly, fundraising in the diocese has increased by over 50 per cent.
Our members organize activities all over the country, including in our most northerly diocesan council in Yellowknife, N.W.T. To announce their in-person Stand for the Land campaign workshop, members produced elegant wedding-invitation-style cards, a special touch that elevated the workshop to a memorable event. Thanks to their efforts, nearly 50 signatures were collected for our campaign!
No matter where they are, no matter how big or small their group, our members make a difference!
This year, youth activities were in full swing across Canada. Our two youth programs officers and our animators had little respite as the numbers of youths motivated to become engaged for a better world kept growing.
Of the 3,099 people who participated in our campaign workshops during the year, 1,932 (or 62 per cent) were young people.
Inspired by Pope Francis’s encyclical, Laudato Si’, the D&P Schools program encourages and challenges young people to think about and act for various global and social justice themes, with each action or theme corresponding to a merit badge to earn.
One of the most popular badges this year was Major Mustard. To earn it, students had to plant a mustard seed and watch it grow. As harvested “seeds,” they also collected $1 or $2 coins to support our partners, showing that just like the tiny mustard seed that grows manifold, small gestures can make a big difference!
Participants greatly appreciated the Truth and Action badge, which enabled them to learn more about Indigenous culture.
This year, 337 schools (288 English; 49 French), from Vancouver, B.C., to St. John’s, Nfld., took part in the D&P Schools program.
We would like to highlight the commitment of the 22 youth representatives (11 anglophone; 11 francophone) on our diocesan councils. Two positions are also reserved for youth representatives (one anglophone; one francophone) on our national council.
These representatives are actively involved in managing university kiosks, planning campus events, attending diocesan council meetings and accompanying young people in their regions.
In February 2024, 18 young adults gathered for a weekend of training, planning and building team spirit at the National Youth Assembly in Montreal.
Four young people had the chance to work with us thanks to the Fabien Leboeuf Youth Ambassador Program, which is named after a former executive director of Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada who was a fervent advocate of youth engagement.
Hired on fixed-term contracts under the program, these youth ambassadors had the enriching experience of interacting with our public engagement team and members to exchange ideas and rethink the world together.
This enabled them to improve their organizational and leadership skills and self-confidence. By organizing events such as a benefit concert in Moncton and participating in various activities like Hunger on the Hill, the ambassadors had the opportunity to deepen their knowledge on various subjects including advocacy and food sovereignty.
Their efforts resulted at least eight young adults making a long-term commitment by creating or joining a youth group and another 150 being reached through awareness-raising events.
Our 2023 and 2024 campaigns, which continue under the overarching five-year Create Hope theme, testify to the great commitment of our members.
Whether in autumn or Lent, the campaigns create powerful moments of solidarity and sharing with our sisters and brothers around the world.
Our Stand for the Land advocacy campaign concluded in April 2024 with the delivery to Her Excellency Beatriz Valle, the Honduran ambassador to Canada, of a letter signed by 52,629 Canadians. The letter draws the Honduran government’s attention to the struggles of the communities of Guapinol and the San Pedro sector. Since 2015, they have been protesting an illegal open-pit iron mine in Carlos Escaleras National Park.
The campaign’s initial goal was to collect 32,000 signatures (1,000 for each of the 32 Guapinol camp activists arrested on trumped-up charges). However, Canadians responded with such exceptional solidarity that this target was far exceeded. A five-person delegation, supported by several of our members, handed over the signatures to the ambassador in Ottawa. For the Guapinol and San Pedro communities, this meeting was a major step towards the recognition of their rights. It sent a strong message to the Honduran government and conveyed unity and hope to the communities.
The 2024 Share Lent campaign Reaping our Rights turned attention to the peasants who feed the world while caring for the Earth. We met three partners on three continents who are helping communities to become more resilient, to practice agroecology, to diversify their incomes or to assert their rights in the face of land contamination.
At the national campaign launch webinar, 220 people virtually met Eva Colque, the director of Fundación NUNA in Bolivia, and Nnimmo Bassey, the director of HOMEF in Nigeria. In late February 2024, Karno Batiran from PAYOPAYO in Indonesia visited B.C. He met over 500 people at 18 events, including two bishops, an MP, academics and environmental groups.
The Share Lent campaign is Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada’s most important annual fundraising effort. This year, our various initiatives raised more than $6 million. We are very grateful to our members and donors.
Building a Quebec without borders
The Voices Without Borders in Defence of Lives and Land project, funded by Quebec’s ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie as part of the Nouveau Québec sans frontières (New Quebec Without Borders, NQSF) program, ended on March 31, 2024. This three-year project was successfully implemented in Colombia, Honduras and Quebec. The project strengthened the capacities of communities in Colombia and Honduras to defend their territories and their human and environmental rights, and to build societies based on peace, reconciliation and social and environmental justice. The project also involved solidarity visits by Raquel Soto from Colombia and Elvin Hernández from Honduras in 2023. Activities around their tours allowed Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada members and supporters in Quebec to learn about and mobilize on various local issues in Colombia and Honduras and on the essential work of our partners.
In addition to longer project videos produced by our partners, we produced a short French-language documentary titled Dans les coulisses de notre travail – NQSF (Behind the scenes of our NQSF work). It reveals the interlinked operationalization of our partnership work in the Global South and our mobilization work in Canada, from the design to the implementation of our projects and campaigns.
Donors play a key role in the realization of our missionWithout their generosity and commitment, our work would not be possible.We thank them for their support!
from 4,419 donors including 178 new monthly donors
Share Year-Round donors exert a significant influence throughout the year. By helping ensure our financial stability, they allows us to plan long-term transformation work and respond rapidly to humanitarian emergencies.
We would like to welcome the 178 people who became Share Year-Round monthly donors during Share Lent 2024. Thanks to a matching fund set up by generous donors and religious communities, their annual contribution of $85,554 has been doubled to $171,108!
worth $2,805,331
A bequest is above all a profound gesture of generosity. It allows people to distribute their estates as they wish whilst continuing their commitment to causes close to their hearts even beyond their lifetimes.
Making a bequest to Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada is a simple and accessible process that entitles donors to a tax receipt and provides tax relief for their estates. Legacy of Hope donations are a way for people to leave behind a heritage that resonates with their values and convictions.
from 19 stock donations
Donating stocks, bonds, term investments or mutual funds is a simple and effective strategy for mitigating the tax impact of investments that have appreciated in value since they were acquired. Donations of securities are fully exempt from capital gains tax and generate tax-deductible receipts.
This strategic choice allows donors and wealth managers to contribute more while preserving their liquidity.
accumulated in the Solidarity Fund
Donations to the Solidarity Fund are invested in perpetuity. The income they generate enables us to target regions of the world facing major challenges; to implement humanitarian aid and longer-term community development and education programs; and to empower women to change the world.
By contributing to the Solidarity Fund, donors can gain a tax advantage while enabling us to take on major challenges and create fairer, more sustainable alternatives to unjust social, political, economic and environmental structures.
We remain eternally grateful to the religious communities and foundations that have made remarkable contributions to the Solidarity Fund.
This year, our team participated in several important Canadian and international events.
In March 2024, our national council president Brenda Arakaza attended the 68th annual session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York.
She moderated a panel discussion entitled Fragile contexts, strong women: the role of religious leaders and faith-based organizations in promoting women’s leadership.
The panelists included Caritas Internationalis secretary general Alistair Dutton.
In May 2024, our campaigns coordinator Mayalène Lavigne-Martel represented us at the COMED conference hosted by our Portuguese sister organization FEC in Lisbon.
At this annual three-day event, representatives of the communications, campaigning and fundraising teams of CIDSE member organizations exchange insights on their work and best practices and prepare for the future. She presented our work on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants as part of the Reaping our Rights campaign and led a discussion on peer-to-peer fundraising.
In August, Joan Gauthier, our director of philanthropic development, took part in a meeting of the Catholic Women’s League of Canada (CWL) in Saskatoon. This meeting consolidated our ties with the CWL, which date back to 1969. CWL members contribute to the 1% Program, which supports our projects for some of the most vulnerable women in developing countries.
In the 2024-2026 period, the League is supporting two projects that help women and young people combat food insecurity, one in the Sahel region and the other in Somalia. By setting aside one per cent of their personal expenses and funds raised by parish councils, CWL members are making a real impact on the lives of thousands of women who are pursuing social and economic justice for themselves, their families and their communities.
We are deeply grateful for their commitment and ongoing support.
From our campaigns to our advocacy for Gaza, our work was featured 79 times in newspapers, on websites and on radio stations in French, English and Spanish.
Members of our team and one of our solidarity visitors spoke to raise awareness about our work across Canada.
During the Journées québécoises de la solidarité internationale (Quebec International Solidarity Days) in November 2023, one of our projects in Brazil was featured in a special supplement of the leading French daily, Le Devoir. In the same newspaper, Indonesia and the work of our partner PAYOPAYO were featured in the International Development Week supplement in March 2024.
Jason Cegayle, our animator for Manitoba and Thunder Bay, gave a radio interview on the Share Lent campaign and our work.
Our Stand for the Land campaign was also covered by several media outlets, including Radio-Canada International and a Spanish-language radio station in Toronto. In another interview, Elvin Hernández, a representative our Honduran partner ERIC-Radio Progreso, explained our campaign and the situation in Guapinol, and Romina Acosta, our communications and public relations advisor, spoke about the conclusion of the campaign and our meeting with the Honduran ambassador to Canada.
and 7 press releases published on our website
by 33,186 unique visitors
followed us on our various social networks
received 21 newsletters and humanitarian appeals
In February 2024, we proudly launched Voices of Solidarity, a new podcast series that amplifies the voices of justice, celebrates diversity and expresses solidarity with communities near and far.
Voices of Solidarity presents stories of empathy, action and resilience that highlight our partners’ work around the world.
Six episodes have been produced thus far (four bilingual, two in English).
Available on Spotify and SoundCloud, the podcast has been listened to over 1,500 times.
From the bottom of our hearts, we at Development and Peace ― Caritas Canada thank all our members, donors, religious communities and supporters.
We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada, through Global Affairs Canada; of the Government of Quebec, through the ministère de l’Environnement, de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques, de la Faune et des Parcs and the ministère des Relations internationales et de la Francophonie; of the Manitoba Council for International Cooperation, of the Canadian Foodgrains Bank; and of The Catholic Women’s League of Canada in fulfilling our mission.
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Our international cooperation program is carried out in part with the financial support of the Government of Canada acting through Global Affairs Canada.
Development and Peace — Caritas Canada is the official international solidarity organization of the Catholic Church in Canada and the Canadian member of Caritas Internationalis.
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