Frequently Asked Questions
Who is WaterCan?
WaterCan is a leading Canadian charity dedicated to fighting global poverty by helping the world’s poorest people gain access to clean water, basic sanitation and hygiene education.
Since 1987, WaterCan’s programs have reached over 1.2 million children, women and men in the world’s poorest regions, breaking the cycle of poverty and disease and increasing opportunities for health, education, gender equality, and economic growth.
Working in partnership with indigenous organizations in eastern African, WaterCan supports small scale, community driven projects that:
•are long term, sustainable development initiatives
•use low-cost, locally appropriate technologies
•integrate water supply, sanitation and hygiene education activities
•emphasize community ownership of planning and management
•emphasize self-help and community participation
•benefit and involve women
WaterCan attaches great importance to making the Canadian public aware of worldwide water and sanitation issues. This effort helps to ensure that provision of clean water and sanitation services to the world’s poor remains an important priority for Canadians and other members of the international community.
Is WaterCan a reistered charity?
Yes. WaterCan is recognized by Revenue Canada as a charitable organization. The Charity Registration Number is: 119288934 RR0001 . For residents of Canada, donations of $25 or more are eligible for tax credits. Receipts for income tax purposes will be issued at the end of the calendar year.
How much does a well cost?
WaterCan’s emphasis on supporting water and sanitation projects that cater to the unique needs of each individual community means that determining an exact cost to be applied in all cases is difficult. Many factors that affect cost fluctuate from one community to the next, including: size and location of the community, type of water and sanitation facilities deemed appropriate, technology used, labor costs, availability of materials and transportation etc.
While wells are indeed a common feature of WaterCan projects, we focus on selecting locally appropriate water systems that might include other solutions such as protected springs, rainwater catchment tanks or perhaps the expansion of piped systems in slum areas.
It’s also important to remember that WaterCan’s projects do not focus merely on water systems, but rather incorporate three inter-related elements—water supply, basic sanitation and hygiene education—which together have an even further reaching impact.
Rather than focusing on the cost of a project or a particular water system, WaterCan believes that cost per beneficiary is a more useful figure to consider. Based on our extensive experience working overseas, on average it costs $25 to provide one person with basic water, sanitation and hygiene education services for life.
How does WaterCan ensure that donated funds are properly used overseas?
In order to carry out our mandate, WaterCan needs to ensure that all funds entrusted to our charity are used in the most efficient, effective and transparent manner possible. There is no room for fraud and corruption, which divert resources elsewhere from their intended use.
All local African partner organizations, service providers, and individuals working with WaterCan must subscribe to WaterCan’s "zero-tolerance" anti-corruption policy. If it has been determined, through an investigation performed by WaterCan personnel or its representatives, that fraudulent, corrupt, collusive or coercive actions have occurred in projects financed through our grants, we shall enforce a range of sanctions in accordance with applicable WaterCan rules, regulations and legal instruments.
How can I help?
Contact us at [email protected] if you have questions about how you can give and make this event as successful as possible.