Generosity in Canada has reached its lowest point in 20 years while the government rakes more into its coffers.
That’s according to a new study by the Fraser Institute.
The Fraser Institute created the Generosity Index to measure how much Canadians are giving to charity. The index measures two metrics: the percentage of tax filers who donate to charity shows the overall extent of Canadian generosity, while the percentage of aggregate personal income donated to charity shows the depth of charitable giving in Canada.
The index itself looks at generosity in all 13 of Canada’s provinces and territories. The most recent data comes from 2023, and the paper makes comparisons between Canadians’ generosity in that year and Canadians’ generosity 10 years prior.
In 2023, the percentage of Canadians giving to charity ranged from a high of 18.7 per cent in Manitoba to a low of 5.1 per cent in Nunavut. In terms of aggregate income donated to charity, percentages ranged from a high of 0.71 per cent to a low of 0.15 per cent, with Manitoba once again representing a national high and Nunavut a national low.
What the authors of the report find the most striking, however, is that the generosity of Canadians declined across the country between 2013 and 2023.
As the authors note, “What is the most striking about these trends is that the extent of charitable giving fell in every Canadian jurisdiction. From 2013 to 2023, all of the provinces and territories saw a drop in the percentage of tax filers donating to charity.”
At the same time, the percentage of aggregate income Canadians donated to charity also fell in nearly every province and territory.
The total percentage of Canadians donating to charity dropped from 21.9 per cent in 2013 to 16.8 per cent in 2023, while the percentage of aggregate income donated dropped from 0.55 per cent in 2013 to 0.52 per cent in 2023.
The Fraser Institute also presents data that shows that Americans are far more generous than their Canadian counterparts.
For example, in 2022 Americans gave 1.03 per cent of their aggregate income to charity, virtually double the generosity of Canadians. And, had Canadians donated at the same levels as their American counterparts, there would have been nearly $12 billion more in charitable donations in Canada.
Why is generosity in Canada declining? And why are Canadians so much less generous than Americans?
For one thing, Americans are taxed far less than Canadians.
For example, a recent study found that the typical Canadian pays 70 per cent more in income taxes than the typical American.
With so much more disposable income, it’s little wonder Americans are able to be more generous.
For Canadians, with taxes at highs not seen in many years and the cost of essentials like housing, food, and clothing also reaching new heights, there’s just not that much left over at the end of the year for Canadians to give to charitable causes.
Tax Freedom Day – the day in which Canadians stop working for the government and start working for themselves – was celebrated on June 19 in 2023. Compare that to June 10 in 2013. Those extra nine days Canadians were working for the government meant they had fewer days to work for themselves – and therefore less time to earn to give.
In fact, with 50 per cent of Canadians now saying they’re $200 away from not being able to pay their bills, it’s little wonder there’s not much left over for Canadians to give to good causes.
What, then, might be the key to unlocking more generosity among Canadians? Letting Canadians keep more of what they earn, so they can be more generous to those good causes they identify with.
More government comes at a cost – including a cost in taxpayers’ ability to be generous.
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center
Jay Goldberg is the Canadian Affairs Manager at the Consumer Choice Center. He previously served as the Ontario Director at the Canadian Taxpayers Federation and a policy fellow at the Munk School of Public Policy and Global Affairs. Jay holds a Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Toronto.
