The Narwhal’s mission is to bring evidence-based news and analysis to the surface for all Canadians. In doing this work, we adhere to a set of professional journalistic principles to ensure fairness, independence and accuracy in our work.
Independence
- We serve the public interest, and put the needs of our readers at the forefront of our newsgathering decisions. This sometimes conflicts with various public and private interests.
- We do not show our completed reports to sources before they are published or broadcast, unless the practice is intended to verify facts. Doing so might invite prior restraint and challenge our independence as reporters.
- We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Our organization may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content. Read our editorial independence policy.
Accuracy
- When we make a mistake, whether in fact or in context, we correct it promptly and in a transparent manner, acknowledging the nature of the error.
Fairness
- We give people, companies or organizations that are publicly accused or criticized opportunity to respond before we publish those criticisms or accusations. We make a genuine and reasonable effort to contact them, and if they decline to comment, we say so.
Conflict of Interest
- We carefully consider our political activities and community involvements. If a journalist does choose to engage in outside political activity or espouse a particular political viewpoint, we publicly declare any real or potential conflicts.
- Personal online activity, including emails and social networking, should generally be regarded as public and not private. Such activity can impact our professional credibility. As such, we think carefully before we post, and we take special caution in declaring our political leanings online, particularly if there is a chance we will be covering the campaign, activity or group involved.
Transparency
- We normally identify sources of information. But we may use unnamed sources when there is a clear and pressing reason to protect anonymity, the material gained from the confidential source is of strong public interest, and there is no other reasonable way to obtain the information. When this happens, we explain the need for anonymity and we independently corroborate facts if we get them from a source we do not name.
We rely on our readers to hold us to these standards, so please contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
Editorial Independence Policy
The Narwhal subscribes to the following standards of editorial independence, based on those adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
The Narwhal retains full authority over editorial content to protect the best journalistic and business interests of our organization. We maintain a firewall between news coverage decisions and sources of all revenue. Acceptance of financial support does not constitute implied or actual endorsement of donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals and organizations for the general support of our activities, but our news judgments are made independently and not on the basis of donor support. Our news judgments are also made independently of our board of directors, who are not involved in day-to-day news operations.
The Narwhal may consider donations to support the coverage of particular topics, but our organization maintains editorial control of the coverage. We will cede no right of review or influence of editorial content, nor of unauthorized distribution of editorial content.
We will make public donors who give more than $5,000 in a fiscal year.
Donor Transparency Policy
The Narwhal subscribes to the following standards of donor transparency, based on those adopted by the Institute for Nonprofit News.
We are committed to transparency in every aspect of funding our organization.
Accepting financial support does not mean we endorse donors or their products, services or opinions.
We accept gifts, grants and sponsorships from individuals, organizations and foundations to help with our general operations, coverage of specific topics and special projects. We may receive funds from government programs offered to nonprofits or news organizations, such as the federal journalism labour tax credit and the Local Journalism Initiative.
Our news judgments are made independently — not based on or influenced by donors. We do not give supporters the rights to assign, review or edit content.
We will make public all donors who give more than $5,000 in a fiscal year.
As a nonprofit, we will avoid accepting donations from anonymous sources, and we will not accept donations from political parties, elected officials or candidates actively seeking public office. We will not accept donations from sources who, deemed by our board of directors, present a conflict of interest with our work or compromise our independence.
Our Funding
The Narwhal is incorporated as a non-profit society under the B.C. Societies Act. We are funded by individuals and foundations that care about independent journalism, democracy, science and the environment. We are proud to earn the financial support of more than 5,000 readers through one-time donations and monthly memberships. In addition, we are grateful to accept funding from philanthropic foundations that support our mission. Starting in September 2021, The Narwhal became a participant in the Meta Journalism Project’s News Innovation Test.
As a part of our donor transparency policy, we disclose donors who give The Narwhal more than $5,000 in a fiscal year (our fiscal year runs from Oct. 1-Sept. 30).
Our 2023 Funding
| Financial Year | Funder (Donor, Client, Partner) | Revenue Received |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Individual Donations below $5,000 | $982,812 |
| 2023 | Government of Canada (Journalism Labour Tax Credit) | $401,494 |
| 2023 | Wilburforce Foundation | $207,267 |
| 2023 | Metcalf Foundation | $125,000 |
| 2023 | McConnell Foundation | $116,300 |
| 2023 | Sitka Foundation | $106,000 |
| 2023 | Meta/Facebook | $80,862 |
| 2023 | Winnipeg Community Foundation | $75,000 |
| 2023 | MakeWay Foundation | $66,750 |
| 2023 | Trottier Foundation | $62,500 |
| 2023 | Real Estate Foundation of BC | $51,000 |
| 2023 | Echo Foundation | $50,000 |
| 2023 | Tides Foundation | $37,797 |
| 2023 | News Media Canada (Local Journalism Initiative) | $33,914 |
| 2023 | Charitable Impact Foundation | $33,333 |
| 2023 | Centre for Northern Conservation | $27,500 |
| 2023 | Nicola Wealth | $25,000 |
| 2023 | Boreal Songbird Initiative | $24,350 |
| 2023 | Sally & David Lang | $20,000 |
| 2023 | Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources | $18,432 |
| 2023 | Canada Helps | $17,775 |
| 2023 | Jason Chan | $17,000 |
| 2023 | Frank Hansen | $16,000 |
| 2023 | Willow & Grace Foundation | $15,000 |
| 2023 | Unless Consulting Ventures Inc. | $15,000 |
| 2023 | Trufflepig Travel Inc | $13,635 |
| 2023 | glasswaters foundation | $11,250 |
| 2023 | Ottawa Community Foundation | $7,500 |
| 2023 | Unit E Investments Ltd. | $7,000 |
| 2023 | Geoffrey Whitfield | $6,000 |
| 2023 | Sherrill Owen | $5,255 |
| 2023 | Other revenue less than $5,000 each | $18,022 |
| Total Received | $2,694,748 |
2022 Funding
| Financial Year | Funder (Donor, Client, Partner) | Revenue Received |
|---|---|---|
| 2022 | Reader donations under $5,000 | $812,256 |
| 2022 | Government of Canada | $210,831 |
| 2022 | McConnell Foundation | $200,000 |
| 2022 | Wilburforce Foundation | $154,498 |
| 2022 | Boreal Songbird Initiative | $97,166 |
| 2022 | Meta | $77,499 |
| 2022 | Trottier Foundation | $75,000 |
| 2022 | Metcalf Foundation | $50,000 |
| 2022 | Echo Foundation | $50,000 |
| 2022 | Edmonton Community Foundation | $45,000 |
| 2022 | Winnipeg Foundation | $43,750 |
| 2022 | Sitka Foundation | $41,667 |
| 2022 | Real Estate Foundation of BC | $33,000 |
| 2022 | Tides Foundation | $31,375 |
| 2022 | News Media Canada | $31,319 |
| 2022 | Institute for Journalism & Natural Resources | $25,594 |
| 2022 | Ivey Foundation | $25,000 |
| 2022 | MakeWay | $17,000 |
| 2022 | Unless Ventures/Marco Pimentel | $15,000 |
| 2022 | 2075740 Ontario Ltd | $11,150 |
| 2022 | Alexa Firmenich | $10,000 |
| 2022 | McConnell Foundation | $10,000 |
| 2022 | North Family Foundation | $10,000 |
| 2022 | Canada Helps | $7,772 |
| 2022 | Unit E Investments Ltd | $6,000 |
| 2022 | Reader’s Digest Foundation | $6,000 |
| 2022 | Amicus Foundation | $5,000 |
| 2022 | Valerie Tilley | $5,771 |
| 2022 | Frank Hansen | $5,000 |
| 2022 | Scotia Trust-Aquaduct Foundation | $5,000 |
| 2022 | Ottawa Community Foundation | $5,000 |
| 2022 | Vancouver Foundation | $5,000 |
| 2022 | Other revenue less than $5,000 each | $8,071 |
| Total Received | $2,135,719 |
2021 Funding
| Financial Year | Funder (Donor, Client, Partner) | Revenue Received |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | Reader donations under $5,000 | $509,168 |
| 2021 | Canadian Periodical Fund | $254,655 |
| 2021 | Wilburforce Foundation | $184,858 |
| 2021 | Boreal Songbird Initiative | $96,928 |
| 2021 | News Media Canada | $73,286 |
| 2021 | International Center for Journalists | $72,624 |
| 2021 | Metcalf Foundation | $55,000 |
| 2021 | International Center for Journalists | $25,594 |
| 2021 | Real Estate Foundation of BC | $20,000 |
| 2021 | Real Estate Foundation of BC | $10,000 |
| 2021 | MakeWay | $10,000 |
| 2021 | MakeWay | $30,000 |
| 2021 | European Climate Foundation | $25,318 |
| 2021 | Merwan Engineer | $18,508 |
| 2021 | Unless Ventures/Marco Pimentel | $15,000 |
| 2021 | Reader’s Digest Foundation | $6,000 |
| 2021 | Meta | $6,346 |
| 2021 | Other revenue less than $5,000 each | $11,330 |
| Total Received | $1,424,615 |
2020 Funding
| Financial Year | Funder (Donor, Client, Partner) | Revenue Received |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Reader donations under $5,000 | $238,160 |
| 2020 | Wilburforce Foundation | $185,653 |
| 2020 | Boreal Songbird Initiative | $98,323 |
| 2020 | Government of Canada | $78,779 |
| 2020 | International Center for Journalists | $62,784 |
| 2020 | News Media Canada | $60,932 |
| 2020 | European Climate Foundation | $51,431 |
| 2020 | McConnell Foundation | $41,800 |
| 2020 | Metcalf Foundation | $40,000 |
| 2020 | Institute for New Economics | $30,195 |
| 2020 | Make Way | $25,000 |
| 2020 | Institute for New Economics | $24,128 |
| 2020 | In-kind Support | $18,746 |
| 2020 | Royal Roads University | $12,000 |
| 2020 | F. Hansen | $10,000 |
| 2020 | Eburne Mill Fund | $10,000 |
| 2020 | Environmental Health News | $5,269 |
| 2020 | Other revenue less than $5,000 each | $6,943 |
| Total Received | $1,000,143 |
2019 Funding
| Financial Year | Funder (Donor, Client, Partner) | Revenue Received |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Reader donations under $5,000 | $174,845 |
| 2019 | Wilburforce Foundation | $164,653 |
| 2019 | Boreal Songbird Initiative | $77,782 |
| 2019 | Small Change Fund | $54,334 |
| 2019 | Tides Canada Initiatives Society | $49,442 |
| 2019 | European Climate Foundation | $59,947 |
| 2019 | Institute for New Economics | $45,750 |
| 2019 | Government of Canada | $38,125 |
| 2019 | Oak Foundation | $31,248 |
| 2019 | In-kind Support | $29,868 |
| 2019 | Tides Canada Foundation | $25,000 |
| 2019 | LUSH Cosmetics | $18,000 |
| 2019 | LUSH Cosmetics | $12,500 |
| 2019 | University of Victoria | $9,524 |
| 2019 | National Observer | $9,524 |
| 2019 | Institute for New Economics | $8,235 |
| 2019 | Institute for New Economics | $7,320 |
| 2019 | McConnell Foundation | $5,700 |
| 2019 | Other revenue less than $5,000 each | $15,742 |
| Total Received | $837,539 |
2018 Funding
| Financial Year | Funder (Donor, Client, Partner) | Revenue Received |
|---|---|---|
| 2018 | Wilburforce Foundation | $168,054 |
| 2018 | Oak Foundation | $74,995 |
| 2018 | Reader Donations Less than $5,000 | $50,920 |
| 2018 | Salal Foundation | $35,000 |
| 2018 | Private Individual | $31,500 |
| 2018 | Salal Foundation | $29,570 |
| 2018 | LUSH Cosmetics | $12,500 |
| 2018 | Other revenues less than $5,000 each | $8,875 |
| 2018 | European Climate Foundation | $5,850 |
| 2018 | Salal Foundation | $5,800 |
| Total Received | $423,065 |