In a forthcoming column, I am talking about the new Statistics Canada data on charitable giving across the country – using taxfiler data. I won’t replicate that content here but I will point out a few interesting findings in the data. It is important to realize this is one of those data sets that is open to a wide variety of analysis and interpretation. For example, I didn’t even touch the data on male versus female charitable giving because so many couple families optimize charitable giving based on income levels. If the male earns more money, he will claim the charitable giving on his taxes.
So, assuming all of this data can be sliced and diced a variety of ways, here are some interesting points:
Alberta’s economic growth and new wealth has translated into substantial increased charitable giving. Manitoba is a bit of an outlier as its was not proportional to its increase in charitable giving (in the aggregate). NB had the lowest increase in overall charitable giving from 1997 to 2010.
Calgary with 1.2M people gives more to charity than Montreal 3.8M people.
The percentage of people claiming any kind of charitable donation has been dropping – slowly – across Canada.
| Total charitable donations (dollars x 1,000) | |||
| 1997 | 2010 | % Change | |
| Canada | $4,273,085 | $8,253,210 | 93% |
| Alberta | $ 518,176 | $ 1,391,490 | 169% |
| British Columbia | $ 639,349 | $ 1,276,820 | 100% |
| Manitoba | $ 203,040 | $ 378,475 | 86% |
| Ontario | $ 1,989,245 | $ 3,653,515 | 84% |
| Quebec | $471,157 | $ 822,290 | 75% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $ 49,343 | $ 83,060 | 68% |
| Prince Edward Island | $ 18,061 | $30,340 | 68% |
| Saskatchewan | $ 171,261 | 285,875 | 67% |
| Nova Scotia | $ 107,727 | $ 171,530 | 59% |
| New Brunswick | $ 99,072 | $ 145,210 | 47% |
| 1997 | 2010 | % Change | |
| Calgary, Alberta | $ 186,036 | $577,030 | 210% |
| Edmonton, Alberta | $ 142,875 | $ 395,750 | 177% |
| Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec part, Ontario/Quebec | $ 11,713 | $ 27,585 | 136% |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | $ 343,259 | $ 741,445 | 116% |
| Toronto, Ontario | $ 883,692 | $1,843,105 | 109% |
| Winnipeg, Manitoba | $126,439 | $ 245,900 | 94% |
| Regina, Saskatchewan | $ 34,532 | $ 66,820 | 94% |
| Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part, Ontario/Quebec | $137,615 | $ 265,215 | 93% |
| St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador | $ 15,321 | $ 29,520 | 93% |
| Victoria, British Columbia | $ 57,172 | $ 109,520 | 92% |
| Montréal, Quebec | $291,632 | $ 540,695 | 85% |
| Sherbrooke, Quebec | $ 9,727 | $ 17,930 | 84% |
| Oshawa, Ontario | $ 36,401 | $ 66,815 | 84% |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia | $46,263 | $ 84,600 | 83% |
| Hamilton, Ontario | $ 115,465 | $ 205,075 | 78% |
| Québec, Quebec | $ 36,312 | $ 63,180 | 74% |
| Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario | $ 89,919 | $ 152,695 | 70% |
| Saint John, New Brunswick | $ 18,741 | $ 31,045 | 66% |
| London, Ontario | $ 78,486 | $ 129,660 | 65% |
| St. Catharines-Niagara, Ontario | $ 70,481 | $ 104,735 | 49% |
| Windsor, Ontario | $ 46,321 | $ 66,665 | 44% |
| Greater Sudbury, Ontario | $ 17,543 | $ 25,000 | 43% |
| Thunder Bay, Ontario | $ 16,075 | $ 22,030 | 37% |
| Saguenay, Quebec | $ 7,214 | $ 9,825 | 36% |
| Trois-Rivières, Quebec | $ 7,209 | $ 9,365 | 30% |
| Charitable donors (% of total tax filers) | |||
| 1997 | 2010 | Percentage point change | |
| Canada | 25.7% | 23.4% | -2.3% |
| Quebec | 23.0% | 21.9% | -1.1% |
| Alberta | 25.9% | 24.3% | -1.6% |
| British Columbia | 23.7% | 22.1% | -1.6% |
| Nova Scotia | 24.5% | 22.6% | -1.9% |
| New Brunswick | 23.5% | 21.4% | -2.1% |
| Saskatchewan | 27.9% | 25.3% | -2.6% |
| Prince Edward Island | 27.9% | 25.3% | -2.7% |
| Manitoba | 29.6% | 26.3% | -3.2% |
| Ontario | 28.1% | 24.6% | -3.5% |
| 1997 | 2010 | Percentage point change | |
| Trois-Rivières, Quebec | 20.1% | 21.0% | 0.9% |
| St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador | 21.1% | 21.2% | 0.2% |
| Saguenay, Quebec | 23.7% | 23.6% | 0.0% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | 21.3% | 21.2% | -0.1% |
| Ottawa-Gatineau, Quebec part, Ontario/Quebec | 23.7% | 23.4% | -0.2% |
| Edmonton, Alberta | 26.2% | 25.1% | -1.1% |
| Saskatoon, Saskatchewan | 28.1% | 26.8% | -1.3% |
| Sherbrooke, Quebec | 24.0% | 22.7% | -1.3% |
| Montréal, Quebec | 22.9% | 21.6% | -1.3% |
| Halifax, Nova Scotia | 26.8% | 25.1% | -1.7% |
| Vancouver, British Columbia | 24.0% | 22.1% | -1.9% |
| Québec, Quebec | 28.7% | 26.6% | -2.1% |
| Calgary, Alberta | 28.2% | 26.1% | -2.1% |
| Ottawa-Gatineau, Ontario part, Ontario/Quebec | 31.8% | 29.6% | -2.2% |
| Regina, Saskatchewan | 30.6% | 28.3% | -2.3% |
| Victoria, British Columbia | 29.7% | 27.2% | -2.6% |
| Toronto, Ontario | 25.7% | 23.0% | -2.7% |
| Saint John, New Brunswick | 26.1% | 23.3% | -2.8% |
| Winnipeg, Manitoba | 31.2% | 27.9% | -3.2% |
| Greater Sudbury, Ontario | 27.6% | 24.3% | -3.3% |
| Thunder Bay, Ontario | 30.1% | 25.8% | -4.3% |
| London, Ontario | 31.0% | 26.6% | -4.4% |
| Oshawa, Ontario | 29.1% | 24.5% | -4.6% |
| Kitchener-Cambridge-Waterloo, Ontario | 31.2% | 26.5% | -4.7% |
| Hamilton, Ontario | 30.5% | 25.4% | -5.1% |
| St. Catharines-Niagara, Ontario | 30.4% | 25.1% | -5.3% |
| Windsor, Ontario | 32.6% | 24.5% | -8.1% |
| Median contributions to religious organizations (per household reporting) | |||
| Per $1,000 of total household expenditures | |||
| 1997 | 2010 | % Change | |
| Canada | $4.80 | $6.00 | 25% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $6.10 | $6.15 | 1% |
| Prince Edward Island | $8.33 | $5.99 | -28% |
| Nova Scotia | $6.97 | $5.83 | -16% |
| New Brunswick | $7.15 | $8.63 | 21% |
| Quebec | $2.81 | $3.00 | 7% |
| Ontario | $5.57 | $8.18 | 47% |
| Manitoba | $7.55 | $8.47 | 12% |
| Saskatchewan | $7.42 | $8.23 | 11% |
| Alberta | $6.71 | $8.85 | 32% |
| British Columbia | $6.84 | $8.26 | 21% |
| Median contributions to non-religious organizations (per household reporting) | |||
| Per $1,000 of total household expenditures | |||
|
1997 |
2010 |
% Change |
|
| Canada | $2.40 | $3.43 |
43% |
| Newfoundland and Labrador | $1.52 | $2.05 |
34% |
| Prince Edward Island | $2.78 | $2.08 |
-25% |
| Nova Scotia | $1.95 | $2.14 |
10% |
| New Brunswick | $1.43 | $1.92 |
34% |
| Quebec | $1.46 | $2.00 |
37% |
| Ontario | $2.23 | $3.27 |
47% |
| Manitoba | $2.52 | $3.60 |
43% |
| Saskatchewan | $2.70 | $3.29 |
22% |
| Alberta | $2.15 | $3.40 |
58% |
| British Columbia | $2.28 | $3.30 |
45% |
Sources: Statistics Canada. Tables 203-0018 and 111-0001 to 111-0003.
Fascinating examination. Looks like your religious vs. non-religious # are the same.
Do those numbers count donations to churches?
It would be interesting to see the corporate charitable giving figures on a per province basis (and per capita, and per employee) as well.
I note that while New Brunswick is near the top in donations to religious groups, it is dead last in donations to non-religious groups.