Canadians' charitable giving has dropped sharply over the past decade, with only 16.8% of tax filers donating to charity in 2023 compared to 21.9% in 2013, according to the Fraser Institute's 2025 Generosity Index. That translates to a stunning reality: 1.5 million fewer Canadians donated to charity in 2023 than would have if giving had remained at 2013 levels, resulting in $755.5 million less in donations. The problem isn't just that fewer people are giving—those who do donate are giving less. The total amount donated dropped to 0.52% of Canadians' aggregate income in 2023, down from 0.55% in 2013. Manitoba led the provinces with 18.7% of taxpayers donating, while New Brunswick came in last at just 14.4%. This decline comes at exactly the wrong time: one in five Canadians was using charitable services to meet essential needs in 2023, putting charities in an impossible squeeze between shrinking resources and exploding demand.

The numbers tell a troubling story about what's driving Canadians away from giving. The decline in donations has coincided with the rise in the cost of living in recent years, and affordability is the top reason Canadians hold back from donating, cited by 67% of non-donors. But affordability can't explain everything—the decline has been happening for over two decades, through good economic times and bad. The percentage of Canadians donating has dropped from 82% to 54% over the past decade according to Statistics Canada's survey data. Donations to religious organizations fell 22%, or $1.4 billion, from 2018 to 2023, coinciding with an overall decrease in participation in religious activities from 45% in 2018 to 37% in 2023. The research from CanadaHelps points to another culprit: social isolation. The number of Canadians with six or more close friends declined by 40% from 2013 to 2022, and 84% of those with many close friends donate while just 53% of those with very few close friends donate.

The mechanics of charitable giving reveal why these trends matter so much. Canada has more than 80,000 registered charities that depend on private donations to deliver services government programs don't cover—everything from food banks to domestic violence shelters to mental health counselling. When both the number of donors and the percentage of income donated decline simultaneously, it creates what experts call a "charity gap": the difference between what organizations receive and what communities actually need. Canadians donated $11.4 billion to charity in 2022, but if they had donated at the same rate as two decades prior, charitable giving would have reached $13.8 billion—$2.4 billion more that could have supported vulnerable Canadians. The generosity gap extends beyond money too. The share of Canadians who volunteered fell by 8% from 2018 to 2023, and total volunteer hours fell by 18% over that same period—the equivalent of roughly 451,000 full-time jobs disappearing from the charitable sector.

This decline limits what charities can accomplish at precisely the moment their services are most needed. More than half of charities are unable to meet current levels of demand, and approximately one in five Canadians have skipped paying a bill over the past year to buy groceries, meaning more people must seek out food banks, shelters and other charitable organizations to meet their basic necessities. There's a silver lining, though: the share of aggregate income donated to charity increased from 0.50% in 2022 to 0.52% in 2023, which represented $255.7 million in additional donations. And monthly giving increased by 11%, likely as a result of Canadians budgeting for planned giving amid affordability concerns. The question is whether these small gains can reverse a two-decade trend—or whether Canada's charitable sector will continue shrinking just as communities need it most.