How charitable are Canadians?
After declining in 2022, total charitable donations in Canada rose by over $1 billion in 2023, setting a new record high. Statistics Canada reports that more than 5 million Canadians—about 17% of tax filers—donated a combined $12.7 billion to charities that year. That’s an 11.8% increase from the $11.4 billion reported in 2022.
The number of donors climbed from 4,953,370 in 2022 to 5,048,780 in 2023. It’s the first time there has been an annual increase in donors since 2010. Despite the rise in total donations, the proportion of Canadians making charitable contributions remains near record lows. In 1997, one in four Canadians reported making donations to charity. That figure dropped to just under 17% in 2023.
How much do people typically give?
The average donation rose 9% to $2,531, up from $2,308 last year. The median donation increased by 2.6% to $390. The big gap between the average and median indicates that large donations affected the average. Charitable donations were driven by middle- and high-income earners. Individuals earning more than $80,000 accounted for 46% of all those who reported donating to charity. Their total donations represented 73% of all donations made to charities that year.
Men donated almost twice as much as women
While the proportion of men reporting having made donations was slightly higher than that of women (51% of men to 49% of women), the data shows a clear gender divide when it came to the amount of dollars donated. In 2023, donations by men totaled $8,157,920, representing nearly 64% of all donations. Meanwhile, women reported donating $4,624,770. The median donation for men was $420, and $350 for women.
Older Canadians tend to give more to charity
Canadians tend to donate more to charity as they age. Nearly a quarter of tax filers aged 65 and over reported donating in 2023. This group represented 35% of all donors that year. On average, they donated $3,620, more than seven times the average of those under 25, and more than double that of those aged 35-44. The group that donated the second most was aged 55-64, with an average donation of $2,600.
