Endowments

An endowment is the creation of a legal relationship, known as a charitable purpose trust, in which funds are held by the Board of Governors of the university as trustee and not in its own right. Endowments are restricted based on terms agreed to and approved by the donor or government agency and the University.

An endowment has two components; a capital (fund 5) portion and an expendable (fund 4) portion. The capital portion of the endowment is held in perpetuity to generate income and cannot be spent. The capital is invested in accordance with University policy found in the Manual of Administrative Policies & Procedures (MAPP) MAPP 2.26 Statement of Investment Objectives, Policies and Governance.

In May of each year, an allocation for spending is done from the capital portion to the expendable portion of the endowment in accordance with University policy found in the Manual of Administrative Policies & Procedures (MAPP) MAPP 2.11 Investment Payout Policy.

The university is entrusted with the responsibility to ensure that funds are used in accordance with the terms set out in the donor agreements or terms of reference. In order to provide accountability and reporting to our donors, government agencies and auditors, spending is done directly from the expendable portion of the endowment and cannot be transferred to another project or fund unless specified in the agreement.

New endowment projects can be established after review in Financial Services of the completed: