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Tax-Reported Charitable Giving in Canada, 1987–2018

Ross Hickey et al.

Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques2025https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2024-050article
AJG 1ABDC B
Weight
0.37

Abstract

We explore trends in charitable giving in Canada since the late 1980s. We find that the real average donation rose through the 1990s and has been flat since the mid-2000s. The stabilization of donations occurs alongside a fall in the share of income donated and a steady decline in the share of filers who donate any amount. When focusing on top incomes, giving among the top 1.0 percent and top 0.1 percent grew over the entire time period. Over the life cycle, giving grows rapidly in early adulthood and peaks around age 50 years. Finally, we find that people tend to give often rather than saving up donations and donating every few years.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2024-050

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@article{ross2025,
  title        = {{Tax-Reported Charitable Giving in Canada, 1987–2018}},
  author       = {Ross Hickey et al.},
  journal      = {Canadian Public Policy / Analyse de Politiques},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.3138/cpp.2024-050},
}

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Tax-Reported Charitable Giving in Canada, 1987–2018

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Evidence weight

0.37

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.16 × 0.4 = 0.06
M · momentum0.53 × 0.15 = 0.08
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.