# The Mustard Seed

> The Mustard Seed is a Calgary-founded Christian charity that combines emergency shelter, meals and clothing with health care, employment help, spiritual care and permanent supportive housing. Founded in 1984 and now active in seven Western Canadian cities, it has evolved from a street church into a roughly C$46 million-a-year service network. Its most useful idea is also its least flashy: assign shelter staff to the housing outcome, then measure whether guests actually reach stable homes.

- **Founded:** 1984
- **Headquarters:** Calgary, Canada
- **Founders:** Pat Nixon (Founder)
- **Team size:** Approximately 660 employees in supplied company data; LinkedIn lists 501-1,000 employees.
- **Products:** Basic needs and emergency shelter, Housing and housing-focused shelter work, Health and wellness, Employment services, Community Impact Centres
- **Notable:** Expanded from Calgary to seven cities across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan., Reported 1,374 clients housed in the 2025 impact report, up from 1,269 in the prior report., Reported 915,207 meals served and 94,105 Red Deer school lunches in the 2025 impact report.

## Products & services

- **Basic needs and emergency shelter** — Emergency beds, meals, clothing, showers, hygiene supplies and immediate support in multiple cities.
- **Housing and housing-focused shelter work** — Permanent supportive housing, affordable housing and shelter casework aimed at moving guests into stable homes.
- **Health and wellness** — Nurse-led care, counselling, mental-health support, advocacy and referrals delivered at shelters and wellness centres.
- **Employment services** — Coaching, job search assistance, training connections and income-support navigation.
- **Community Impact Centres** — Neighbourhood hubs offering meals, programs, advocacy, connection and practical supports before a crisis becomes homelessness.
- **Spiritual care** — Optional Christian pastoral support, prayer and community alongside physical and emotional services.
- **SEEDschool and community education** — Experiential learning about poverty and homelessness for students, teachers, churches and workplaces.
- **School lunch and food programs** — Prepared meals, food hampers, community dining and a Red Deer school lunch program.

## Achievements

- Expanded from Calgary to seven cities across Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan.
- Reported 1,374 clients housed in the 2025 impact report, up from 1,269 in the prior report.
- Reported 915,207 meals served and 94,105 Red Deer school lunches in the 2025 impact report.
- Mobilized 16,609 volunteers who contributed 95,308 hours in the 2025 impact report.
- Opened supportive housing in Saskatoon in 2024 and a temporary 40-bed overnight shelter in spring 2025.
- The housing-focused shelter-worker model helped 1,269 guests find permanent homes in 2024, nearly double the prior year's total according to the CEO's report.

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — The Mustard Seed prepared for the 2026 Coldest Night of the Year fundraising walk across participating communities.
- **2025-10** — A Red Deer turkey-hamper campaign raised more than C$18,000 for the school lunch program.
- **2025-08** — The Edmonton thrift store partnered with FIND and Bissell Thrift Shop for a National Thrift Shop Day event.
- **2025-04** — A temporary 40-bed overnight shelter opened at 210 Pacific Avenue in Saskatoon with a housing-focused model.
- **2025-01** — Brian's Cafe opened inside Calgary's Ogden Hub:29 family-housing building as a social-enterprise cafe.
- **2024-12** — The organization began managing supportive housing at the former Lighthouse property in downtown Saskatoon.
- **2024-01** — A 50-resident supportive-housing building opened in Grande Prairie.

## Links

- Website: https://theseed.ca
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/mustardseedcan
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/mustardseedyyc
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/themustardseed1
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/themustardseedyyc/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mustardseedcan/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/the-mustard-seed
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-23