ENDOWED FUNDS

The scholarship and other endowment funds represent accumulated donations to the school that have been externally restricted for endowment. Some fund balances include accumulated interest that has not yet been awarded. As a result, there are times when a total fund balance goes down, if some of the accumulated interest is awarded. Funds with a balance of at least $25,000 are shown indvidually, and all of the other scholarship funds are grouped together as Other.

Endowments in 2022 grew by $328,325, most notably with growth of the Sturrup Family Endowment Fund and the Ed and Elizabeth Richardson Fund. Continued growth in the scholarship and bursary funds is one of the key strategies to continue to attract and grow the student population at PC. In 2022, 18% of boarding students and 18% of day students received financial aid. To fund these awards, $195,616 ($141,350 in 2021) was drawn from the income on endowed funds.

As we rebuild our boarding population the need for financial aid will increase. For the 2022/23 academic year, our boarding population has grown to 103 students, with 26.5% receiving financial aid, and the average award has increased from $ $22,059 in 2021/22 to $23,500 in 2022/23.

One of the most significant financial changes during the year was the decision to change long-term investment/ endowment managers. With the change in managers, our portfolios were sold and the cash moved to the new managers, and that change resulted in a realized net gain of $1,313,011. These realized funds will be drawn down over the next couple of years to fund scholarships and bursaries, while the new portfolios become established and are given time to increase their annual income to a reasonable level. Long-term gross investment income earned during 2021 totaled $102,437 ($237,358 in 2021).

As our endowments grow, our ability to award more scholarships and bursaries will also increase. A healthy endowment and a strong financial aid program are a key strategy to attract and retain boarding students and potentially relieving tuition increase pressure and affordability concerns for families in the future. Focused attention on our fundraising and donations program is how we will increase our endowment funds.

The above Statement of Financial Position is an excerpt from the complete Audited Financial Statements. Complete Audited Financial Statements, including notes, are available upon request from the school’s Business Office.

PC’s cash and cash equivalents have increased over last year. Our overall cash and cash equivalents totaled $36,605,901 as at June 30, 2022 ($26,216,636 in 2021). Cash continued to increase with successful fundraising in capital and restricted donations, and cash flow from operations continues to be positive with increased enrolment and an operating excess. PC continues to closely monitor cash flow.

Overall, net assets have increased to a total of $34.8 million. Our investment in property, plant and equipment has grown due to the capital projects completed and our operating reserve, while still in a deficit position it has improved from ($5,961,490) in 2021 to ($5,855,596) as at June 30, 2022 due to the excess of revenue over expenses.

Overall, 2022 should be considered a year where we continued to cope with the restrictions and effect of the COVID-19 pandemic while building for our recovery. We began to recover, with our day student population growing to compensate for our low boarding student numbers. We continued to operate with enhanced health and safety protocols and uncertainty around government mandates. We operated isolation programs to ensure our boarding students could learn in person and kept boarding open all year long. Visitors were still not allowed on campus until graduation and competitive sports didn’t resume until Spring 2022 when the government lifted restrictions, but it was the start of a return to normal school activities. Our overall financial position at the end of 2022 was an excess of revenue over expenses, which will support capital projects in 2023, which total over $700,000, as they include both the New House and Meeting Room stage roof replacement. In addition to a financially positive year, safety was at the forefront of our operations and we had a very academically successful year.

We are starting the 2023 fiscal year with 475 students (102 boarders, 373 day students), our highest ever enrolment! We have a 93% retention rate for day students, 87% retention for boarding students and our Admission team recruited 127 new students for September 2022. Our focus for the 2022/23 year is to continue to rebuild our boarding program, focus on getting West Lake House built as we continue to enhance our programs and, with pandemic restrictions lifted, to re-engage our Pickering College community. In the long term we must continue to strive for innovation, new sources of revenue, continued cost control measures and continue to monitor cash flow closely. We must be flexible in our operations. Financial planning and modelling will be core to our business operations over the next few years as we focus on recovery from the pandemic.

We have a very dedicated team here at Pickering and with this team, together we can face the challenges and seize the opportunities that lie ahead.