Canadians Donating More Than Before

The number of Canadians donating to charities has gone down, but the dollar amount donated has increased, according to Statistics Canada. In 2013, 44 per cent of Canadians volunteered their time and almost twice as many, 82 per cent gave their money to a charitable or non-profit organization.

The average annual amount per donor in 2013 was $531, up $61 from 2010. Albeit, the percentage of Canadians donating to charitable or non-profit organizations declined over the last three years, falling from 84 per cent to 82 per cent.

From a broad perspective, Canadians donnated $12.8 billion to charitable or non-profit organizations in 2013, 14 per cent higher than 2010.

In contrast, the number of Canadians volunteering their time declined by three per cent between 2010 to 2013, yet the number of hours volunteered virtually remained the same. In 2013, volunteers devoted almost two billion hours to their volunteer activities, which is the equivalent of about one million full-time jobs. On average, Canadians volunteered for 154 hours in 2013.

Despite the range in donation amount and time, a number of charitable and non-profit organizations still benefit from Canadian donations.

Of the total donated in 2013, 41 per cent or $5.2 billion was donated to religion organizations, 13 per cent or $1.7 billion went to health sector organizations, and 12 per cent or $1.6 billion was given to social services.

The rate of volunteerism and donation varies across Canada. In 2013, the volunteer rate was highest in both Saskatchewan at 56 per cent and Manitoba at 52 per cent. The lowest province to see donations and volunteer work was Quebec with 32 per cent. British Columbia made the highest financial donation across the country along with Newfoundland and Labrador.