REIMAGINING ANIMAL WELFARE LIKE NO OTHER.
In Toronto today, access to animal care—and to the full spectrum of animal support—remains deeply unequal. If a family can find and afford care in the private sector, their pet receives what they need. If not, the options narrow. And too often, the result is heartbreaking: economic euthanasia, forced surrender, fractured families.
This is not a failure of compassion. It’s a failure of current animal welfare systems. And it’s time to change that.
Toronto Humane Society is advancing a bold new model of animal welfare. One that does not begin—or end—at the doors of a shelter. A model where sheltering is repositioned as part of a broader care system that works to prevent crisis while always ensuring a safe haven, a shelter, exists for those left with nowhere else to turn.
Over the next five years, we will begin the development of a community-wide network of care: a collection of clinics, hospitals, programs, and partnerships that bring support directly into the places people and animals in need live.
This isn’t just about access, it’s about challenging the status quo and building a new system. Our goal is to reduce crisis before it starts—and build systems that keep animals where they belong: home. We will do this by expanding beyond the traditional sheltering model through offering animal care counselling. pet food support, temporary fostering, student training and leading edge, evidence-based research.
This requires preserving and operating high-
Leadership
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quality sheltering in Toronto, because when animals are in crisis, the need for safety, stability and respite remains, and so does our responsibility to provide it.
We are also scaling what we know works. Since 2019, we’ve grown our veterinary services from a $1.5 million program to a $4 million self-sustaining system. Now, we are extending that work— through new facilities, deeper partnerships, and a unified vision: to create a more humane Toronto, and in doing so, shaping the future of animal care in Canada.
We want to build Toronto into the most humane city in Canada. One that invests in community. One that lifts professional standards. One that proves compassion and excellence belong in the same sentence—and in every neighbourhood. This plan is not only a roadmap. It’s a call to action. We invite our donors, partners, colleagues, and policymakers to help us build what’s never been built before.
Together, we can reimagine what animal welfare looks like in this city. And we can show the world what’s possible.
Phil Nichols, RVT, CAWA Chief Executive Officer Toronto Humane Society
“We are not just imagining a better future for animals. We’re building it.”
CARE
We promote and provide humane care and protection of animals.
ROOTED IN CARE. REDEFINING WHAT’S POSSIBLE.
Who We are
OUR MISSION
To Improve the Lives of Animals
OUR VISION
To be a leader in animal welfare, working for a compassionate society where all animals are respected and valued.
OUR EVOLUTION
For many years, Toronto Humane Society has been known as an animal shelter. But today, we are much more than that.
Over the past decade, we’ve evolved from a model that centred almost exclusively on sheltering animals in crisis, to one that combines high-quality shelter care with communitybased services that prevent crisis before it starts.
We now operate a non-profit veterinary service unit that delivers tens of thousands of treatments per year, a growing network of outreach programs, and an integrated model of care that includes social work, food bank support, temporary fostering, and behaviour services, as well as creating and contributing to field-leading science and animal welfare research.
WHAT MAKES US DIFFERENT
Toronto Humane Society is redefining the role of an animal welfare organization. Our work is no longer confined to just our shelter walls—it will live in our shelter, our communities, our clinics, and in classrooms. We are:
• A care provider, offering services at 50% below market cost
• A care innovator and network builder, designing a city-wide model of access and equity
• A training institution, shaping the next generation of professionals
• An advocate championing the value of the human-animal bond.
• A partner, embedding our work alongside human health and social service systems
INTEGRITY
We earn trust by acting with honesty and openness, ensuring accessibility in all we do.
LEADERSHIP
We use our skills, people, and resources to provide direction and support as Canada’s experts in animal welfare.
PARTNERSHIP
We collaborate with others to build collective strength for the wellbeing of animals.
HOPE
We work for a future world where animals live free from pain, suffering, and need.
A MORE HUMANE CITY, BUILT ON ACCESS, COMPASSION AND CARE
THE VISION: A NEW STANDARD OF ANIMAL WELFARE
Animal welfare in Toronto is at a turning point. What has existed as a fail safe —sheltering animals with nowhere else to go—must now evolve to include not just sheltering, but also a preventative, integrated, and community-based system of care.
Toronto Humane Society is leading this evolution.
Our vision is to build Toronto into the most humane city in Canada — one where access to care is no longer a privilege, and where animal support services are embedded in the social fabric along with public health and housing.
WHAT WE ARE BUILDING
Over the next five years, Toronto Humane Society will expand from a single-site operation into a citywide network of care. We will:
• Continue to advance our sheltering services, care and support, as one of the top animal welfare organizations in North America.
• Open new services, clinics and hospitals, offering care at 50% below market rates to expand access to care.
• Grow programs in food support, behavioural health, fostering, animal care counselling, and veterinary social work
• Train the next generation of veterinarians, RVTs, and care professionals through a model embeds the principles of access
• Advance animal welfare science through research, data, and sector influence
• Advocate for policies and curricula that recognize the human-animal bond as essential to public health
OUR MODEL: INTEGRATED COMMUNITY CARE
Our future is not a single building.
The future of animal welfare isn’t a single shelter, it’s a connected, community-embedded system that reaches pets and people where they live.
Animal wellbeing cannot be treated in isolation. That’s why we’re integrating our work into broader supports like housing, health, and social services. Our partnerships will span veterinary colleges, Indigenous organizations, housing providers, and municipal health networks. We are intentionally creating an animal welfare model that fits within—and strengthens—the broader public good.
A SYSTEM UNDER STRAIN. A CITY READY FOR MORE.
Why Now: The Case for Change
TORONTO HUMANE SOCIETY’S ROLE IS CHANGING
Historically, animal shelters were the safety net of last resort. But that safety net was never meant to carry the full weight of a failing animal welfare system. At Toronto Humane Society, we’ve realized that to truly help animals, we must do more than take them in—we must change the conditions that lead them to us in the first place.
We are transforming from a shelter into a community-embedded network of care—offering not only veterinary services, but food support, temporary fostering, animal care counselling, and behavioural training and support. In doing so, we are helping pets remain with the people who love them and addressing root causes of vulnerability before they escalate.
This shift is deliberate. It is strategic. And it is essential.
THE ACCESS TO CARE CRISIS
Veterinary care in Toronto is becoming increasingly inaccessible. Fees have soared, the veterinary workforce is stretched thin, and systemic shortages mean hundreds of thousands of animals go without basic treatment. For pet owners without the means, the consequences are devastating: animals surrendered, medical needs left unmet, and families forced to make impossible choices.
Behind every statistic is a story of unnecessary loss—of a bond fractured not by lack of love, but by lack of access.
A NEW MODEL OF ANIMAL WELFARE
We are building something that doesn’t yet exist in Canada: a nonprofit veterinary network operating on a social enterprise model, supported by student training, partnerships, and a mission to serve.
It’s not unlike how human hospitals operate. Just as leading hospitals pair care with research, education, and prevention—Toronto Humane Society is pairing clinical delivery with workforce development, system design, and applied policy.
This new model is already working. Our veterinary services unit is now a $4 million social enterprise. Our behavioural, fostering, and outreach programs are growing. And our role as an educator and thought partner is strengthening—through collaborations with institutions like Ontario Veterinary College and Seneca College.
OUR MOMENT AND OUR RESPONSIBILITY
The needs are real and the timing is urgent. Over the next five years, we will invest in physical infrastructure, program innovation, and human capital. But more than that—we will lead a movement toward a more integrated, accessible, and humane animal welfare system across the city of Toronto.
Because when families can access care, when professionals are trained in equitable models of service, and when animal welfare is understood as part of a broader social good—we all benefit.
OUR STRATEGIC PRIORITIES
EXPANDING ACCESS TO CARE
At the heart of our vision is a commitment to ensure animals and their caregivers have access to local, timely, affordable, high-quality care. Through our nonprofit veterinary network, Toronto Humane Society will launch new community-embedded facilities—including pop-ups, clinics, and hospitals, delivering care at a fraction of private market cost. This care will go beyond veterinary medicine. It will include food bank access, behavioural support, animal care counselling, and foster services—delivered in partnership with communities, not imposed on them. Each site will serve not only as a treatment location, but as a hub for preventative, culturally appropriate, and interdisciplinary care.
LEADING THROUGH INTEGRATION AND RESEARCH
Toronto Humane Society will help redefine animal welfare as a legitimate part of public health, social service, and academic research ecosystems. We will continue embedding veterinary social workers in our teams, advocating for policy change, and pursuing co-location and collaboration with human-focused agencies, ensuring we are meeting those animals and guardians most in need, where they are. We will also scale our impact on the field— through research, practice publications, advisory roles, and direct influence on academic curricula. Our model is evidencebased, trauma-informed, and committed to systemic change.
CONTINUED LEADERSHIP IN THE EVOLUTION OF SHELTER-BASED CARE
As we expand access to community-based services, Toronto Humane Society will continue to provide exceptional shelter care for animals with nowhere else to go. Our sheltering programs remain essential for those in need of safe temporary placement, and opportunities for new beginnings. Over the next five years, we will continue to lead best practice and evolve our sheltering model. This includes shorter lengths of stay, enriched environments, increased use of fosterbased transitions, and more robust behaviour support programming. Our goal is not just to house animals—but to help them heal, grow, and find lasting homes. Our Shelter will also serve as a place to learn, contributing to improved outcomes across the sector. In this way, the shelter becomes more than a destination, it exists as a care provider and launch point for systems change.
BUILDING FINANCIAL RESILIENCE
To sustain impact at scale, Toronto Humane Society must operate with financial discipline, diversified revenue streams, and the ability to weather change. Over the next five years, we will continue our focus on maintaining breakeven operations strengthening, and diversifying, our revenue streams, enhancing our donor engagement, build our networks of volunteers, laying the foundation for a major donor led, transformational capital campaign. This work includes exploring and evaluating our governance systems and structures, in order to best achieve our mission, manage our assets, and preserving the legacy of animal welfare in Toronto. We will also formalize financial reserve policies, protect against volatility, and ensure continued alignment of our investment portfolio with our values.
INVESTING IN PEOPLE AND CULTURE
Our mission depends on the strength and passion of our people.
To lead sector transformation, we must be a destination for both staff and volunteers, while simultaneously growing our student training partnerships with academic institutions, expanding placements across shelter medicine, primary care, and community outreach. We will create an inclusive environment that empowers staff and leverages diverse ideas to achieve operational excellence.
EXECUTION WITH INTEGRITY. GROWTH WITH CARE.
How we’ll get there
Toronto Humane Society’s plan is bold—and built on a solid foundation of experience, strong operations, and proven results.
To bring this vision to life, Toronto Humane Society will use a phased, integrated approach across planning, budgeting, governance, and evaluation. Execution will be embedded into our annual business cycle and supported by a living scorecard that tracks progress, flags risk and supports real-time learning.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT SCALE
The magnitude of transformation ahead—from a single-site operation to a distributed network model— requires intentional, well-resourced change leadership. Our approach requires strong Change Management Planning, Project Management Infrastructure, and Engaging Internal/External Communications Strategies.
GOVERNANCE AND LEADERSHIP
Our Board of Directors will remain central to the delivery of this plan, providing governance oversight of:
• Strategic direction and mission alignment
• Risk management and capital planning
• Financial health, reserves, and audit
• Evaluation of performance against stated goals
Governance structures may be refined to align with the scale of transformation.
ANNUAL PLANNING & PERFORMANCE CYCLES
Each year of the 2025–2030 period will include:
• A refreshed annual operating plan, aligned with strategic objectives
• A rolling scorecard drawing from our Mission Advancement framework
• An annual impact report made public to ensure transparency and accountability
These cycles are not just administrative—they are cultural. They allow our organization to stay grounded in reality, responsive to change, and accountable to the animals, people, and communities we serve.
CAPACITY AND READINESS
To deliver on this plan, we are also investing in ourselves:
• Strengthening executive and staff leadership, and building succession across all levels
• Enhancing internal systems for donor management, client experience, and impact measurement
• Expanding our volunteer base to support both service delivery and community connection
• Protecting staff wellbeing through workload planning and trauma-informed practice
Our approach is clear: Build the capacity to grow responsibly—and never lose sight of the individuals, both human and animal, at the centre of our work.
MEASURES OF SUCCESS
MISSION DRIVEN, DATA GROUNDED
To ensure transparency and impact, Toronto Humane Society will monitor, evaluate, and report on our progress using a strategic performance framework. This framework draws directly from our Mission Advancement Scorecard, a tool that aligns financial sustainability, access to care, staff engagement, and animal outcomes into one coherent system.
Our metrics reflect not only organizational health—but community benefit as well.
OUR IMPACT FRAMEWORK
Each of our five Priority Areas will be measured by a defined set of indicators, reviewed quarterly, published annually, and measured through a rolling scorecard. Including things like:
Expanding and Protecting Access to Care
Continued Leadership in the Evolution of Shelter-Based Care
Leading Through Integration and Research
Building Financial Resilience
Investing in People and Culture
• 300% increase in animals served (+50,000)
• 3 new service facilities opened
• Expansion in scope of services
• Increased geographic reach of services across high-need areas
• Maintain and ensure excellence in sheltering programs
• Decrease and maintain a minimal length of stay (14 days)
• Increase foster placement to 50% of animals in care
• Maintain a live release rate of 90+ %
• Establish 10+ interdisciplinary partnerships (e.g. social service, academic, policy)
• Contribute to 50+ research outputs (presentations, publications, curriculum influences)
• Establish Toronto as a global hub of animal welfare science
• Continued annual breakeven operating performance
• 10x increase in major donor giving
• Implement and maintain a 4 to 6 month operating reserve
• Decrease bequest use in annual operating budget to $1.5 million or less
• 80th percentile scoring on employee and volunteer engagement
• 80%+ retention rates in key clinical and leadership roles
• Establish 5+ formal relationships with academic institutions that cement a humane standard of care and the value of the human animal bond in curricula
• Champion equity, diversity and inclusion in our practices and across the animal welfare sector
JOIN THE MOVEMENT
VISION BEYOND 2030
While this plan takes us to 2030, our aspiration extends further. The investments we make today—in infrastructure, systems, people, and partnerships—are designed not just to meet this moment, but to reshape the landscape of animal welfare in Toronto for the next generation.
The future of animal welfare won’t be built by any one organization. It will be built by all of us — by every staff member driving change, every donor who invests in possibility, every partner who believes in shared care, every volunteer who gives time, and every policymaker who sees the human-animal bond as part of the public good.
Toronto Humane Society is ready to lead. We’ve made the hard decisions, restructured our model, and built a foundation for the future. Now, we are scaling a system that delivers on what we’ve always believed:
That all animals should have access to care. That families belong together. That animal welfare is social justice.
We’re not asking for support to maintain what exists.
We’re inviting you to help build what’s never been built before.
Whether you are a donor, a legislator, a practitioner, or a concerned citizen—there is a place for you in this work.
WAYS TO GET INVOLVED
• Donate: Support our network expansion, capital projects, and accessible care programs.
• Partner: Collaborate with us to co-design services, curricula, or community-based care.
• Advocate: Advance legislation and policy that protects animals and supports the humananimal bond.
• Share: Help amplify the message that every pet—and every person who loves them— deserves support.
LET’S BUILD A MORE HUMANE CITY—TOGETHER
By 2030, we will look back at this moment not as the beginning of a plan—but as the beginning of a movement. Thank you for standing with us.
Thank you for believing in what’s possible. Let’s build the future of animal welfare—together.
