Thursday, November 23, 2006

Charitable donors

Canadian taxfilers opened their pocketbooks even wider to charities in 2005, with more than 5.8 million donors contributing a record high $7.9 billion.

The total donations were 13.8% higher than in 2004. The amount increased in all provinces and territories. The highest increases occurred in Alberta (+21.1%), Nova Scotia (+18.5%) and Manitoba (+17.7%).

The number of donors in Canada rose by 0.9% in 2005. Only two provinces showed a decrease in the number of donors from the previous year; Saskatchewan, where the number of donors declined 0.9%, and Newfoundland and Labrador where they edged down 0.2%.

For the second consecutive year, the fastest rate of growth in the number of donors occurred in the Yukon, where they rose 8.8%.

Nationally, 25% of all taxfilers claimed charitable donations, roughly the same proportion as in the past. Leading the way again was Manitoba, where 28% of taxfilers declared a donation. Ontario followed next with 27%. These two provinces have shown the highest and second highest percentage of taxfilers claiming charitable donations for the past seven consecutive years.

For taxfilers reporting donations, the median donation has increased each year since 1999. In 2005, the median donation was $240, up from $230 in 2004. In other words, among those reporting charitable donations, half gave more than $240 and half gave less.

Nunavut has led the provinces and territories in terms of median donation since 2000. This trend continued in 2005, with a median donation of $400, by far the largest median of all the provinces and territories.

Nunavut's median was followed by Prince Edward Island with $340 and by Newfoundland and Labrador with $320. The only decrease occurred in the Yukon, where the median donation declined from $240 in 2004 to $220 in 2005.

Among census metropolitan areas, taxfilers in Abbotsford, British Columbia reported by far the highest median donation at $560. Toronto was next with a median of $350, slightly ahead of Saskatoon, Vancouver and Saint John at $310 in each of these three census metropolitan areas. It was the third year in a row that Abbotsford, Toronto, and Saskatoon reported the highest median donations.

Note: The databank on charitable donors provides information on taxfilers who claimed a tax credit for charitable donations on their income tax return for 2005. Only amounts given to charities and approved organizations for which official tax receipts were provided can be deducted. It is possible to carry donations forward for up to five years after the year in which they were made. Therefore, donations reported for the 2005 taxation year could include donations that were made in any of the five previous years. According to tax laws, taxfilers are permitted to claim both their donations and those made by their spouses to get better tax benefits. Consequently, the number of persons who made charitable donations may be higher than the number who claimed tax credits.

Available on CANSIM: tables 111-0001 to 111-0003.

Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 4106.

The databank Charitable Donors (13C0014, variable price) is now available for Canada, the provinces and territories, cities, towns, census metropolitan areas, census divisions, federal electoral districts, forward sortation areas (the first three characters of the postal code) and letter carrier routes.

For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-866-652-8443; 613-951-9720; fax: 1-866-652-8444 or 613-951-4745; saadinfo@statcan.ca), Small Area and Administrative Data Division.

Charitable donations, 2005
	Donors		Donations			Total taxfilers claiming a donation
	Number	2004 to 2005	Amount	2004 to 2005	Median	2005
		% change	$ thousands	% change	$	%
Canada	5,833,930	0.9	7,879,588	13.8	240	25
Newfoundland and Labrador	83,420	-0.2	69,933	6.9	320	21
Prince Edward Island	27,030	1.3	26,256	7.7	340	26
Nova Scotia	162,830	1.2	184,297	18.5	280	24
New Brunswick	130,620	0.1	148,430	11.0	280	23
Quebec	1,290,340	0.3	738,774	8.6	120	22
Ontario	2,389,140	0.4	3,869,951	13.0	300	27
Manitoba	236,620	0.4	376,491	17.7	300	28
Saskatchewan	185,660	-0.9	235,751	10.5	300	26
Alberta	601,180	4.5	1,116,053	21.1	290	25
British Columbia	715,940	1.5	1,101,549	13.1	300	24
Yukon	4,680	8.8	4,595	11.9	220	22
Northwest Territories	4,760	1.9	5,216	7.3	210	18
Nunavut	1,710	1.2	2,292	3.6	400	11

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