WE Charity is moving to “wind down” operations in Canada and sell its assets in the country to “establish an endowment fund to sustain the organisation’s existing international humanitarian programs”, the charity announced in a press release on Wednesday.
The group said that it is also planning to “digitize” its educational resources in Canada “for long-term access”.
“It is with great sadness that WE Charity and its Board of Directors announce they are winding down the organization’s operations in Canada. The organization will be selling its assets to establish an endowment fund to sustain the charity’s existing international humanitarian programs and digitize its Canadian educational resources for long-term access,” the group said in a press release.
The move came as WE Charity became involved in an ongoing scandal over its role in a $912 million student volunteer program funded by the administration of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in the wake of which the nation's Finance Minister resigned.
In the release, WE said that it was prompted to liquidate its operations in Canada because the nonprofit organisation is facing financial difficulties as a result of a decline in donations amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
WE Charity pointed out that the Canada Student Service Grant scandal put the organisation “in the middle of political battles and misinformation” that it is “ill-equipped to fight”.
“COVID-19 significantly disrupted WE Charity programming. The fallout from the Canada Student Service Grant (CSSG) has placed the charity in the middle of political battles and misinformation that a charity is ill-equipped to fight. As a result, the financial math for the charity’s future is clear,” the press release read.
Craig Kielburger, co-founder of the WE charity, said in a statement that the charity is moving to sell its assets in Canada as it will not be able to “sustain” global projects such as the organisation’s hospital, college and agricultural learning centre “that meet critical needs of children and families” for the long-term.
“We are saddened by these developments. This year marks the 25th anniversary of WE Charity Canada. We planned to launch an endowment this year, but not in this way,” said Marc Kielburger, a second co-founder.
Earlier this month, WE Charity repaid the Canadian government $30 million rewarded to the organisation to manage the $900 million summer student volunteer grant program in the wake of the CSSG scandal, which is still being investigated by Canada’s Ethics Commissioner Office.
As of today, WE Charity has transferred back the full balance of funds for the CSSG to the Government of Canada. Over the last 2 months, WE Charity repeatedly communicated to the ESDC the desire to return the remaining funds as soon as the Gov was able to accept the transfer. 1/3
— WE Communications (@WE_Comms) September 3, 2020
Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and former Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who stepped down in mid-August, are subject to a conflict of interest investigation by the Ethics Commissioner for their alleged role in a scandal involving WE Charity, as both have family ties with the organisation.
