After a banner year in 2021, Canadian giving ‘normalizes’ in 2022 — and four other findings from new federal donation data

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After a pandemic-influenced all-time giving high in 2021, donations dropped modestly in 2022, according to new data from Statistics Canada. 

In 2021, Canada saw a massive increase in giving due to COVID-19, said fundraising consultant Elizabeth Gomery. 

“By 2022, Canadians were starting to feel that the situation had normalized a little bit and that the needs were less pressing.” 

In 2021, Canadians claimed $11.8 billion in tax-receipted donations — a 12 per cent increase from the prior year — and the fifth straight jump from one year to the next. 

The following year, Canadians donated $11.4 billion, a three per cent decline from 2021 but still $1.1 billion more than was claimed in pre-pandemic 2019. 

Given inflation and the increases many have experienced in the cost of living, “I’m surprised that the numbers aren’t more dramatic,” said Gomery. 

Significant gifts drop in 2022

The decline in overall giving was driven by a continued decrease in donors claiming a tax-receipted donation. 

In 2022, 4.9 million Canadians claimed a tax-receipted gift — a 25-year low, according to Statistics Canada data. 

The drop in donations was also fuelled by a decline in substantial gifts from affluent Canadians — a donor category that has for many years propelled the total amount of tax-receipted donations up despite the declining number of donors. 

After rising by 34 per cent in 2021, donations of $100,000 or more dropped by 12 per cent in 2022. 

This decline may have been driven by unstable financial markets in 2022, said Gomery. 

Compared to their lower-income peers, affluent Canadians give a larger share of gifts of registered securities, such as stocks or mutual funds. 

When markets are down, donors sometimes delay gifts of securities because they aren’t worth as much to the charity nor the donor for tax credit purposes, Gomery said. 

Some donors may have also just decided to take the year off giving in 2022 after significant donations in 2021, she added. 

Housing prices may have contributed to the donation drop

Rising housing prices may have also influenced the decline in donations in 2022, said charity researcher Steven Ayer. 

In 2022, donors in B.C. and Ontario — the two provinces with some of the most significant increases in housing prices — cut back their giving most compared to the year prior. 

Tax-receipted donations by B.C. residents decreased by 12 per cent in 2022. Donors in Ontario decreased tax-receipted gifts by six per cent. 

By contrast, donors in two provinces where housing price increases have been more modest — Alberta and Quebec — saw donation rate increases (eight per cent and seven per cent, respectively). 

Drawing a conclusive trend isn’t possible without more data, but initial indicators suggest housing costs and donations are linked, Ayer said. 

Medium-sized donations up in 2022

Not all giving was down in 2022, however. 

The third pandemic year saw a six per cent increase in the median donation size to $380 and a one per cent increase in the number of mid-size gifts (between $500 and $25,000). 

These increases are modest but could indicate a phenomenon long-known to fundraisers — that donors tend to give a little more the year after they’ve made a stretch gift, said Gomery. 

“Canadians really responded to a call of need in 2021, and they understood that they could actually give a little bit more than they had been giving in previous years,” she said. 

Gender-based findings may be misleading

Statistics Canada also found men were more likely to have claimed a charitable tax credit than women in 2022. 

That year, 18 per cent of men claimed a donation, compared to 16 per cent of women. 

Donations by men also accounted for about two-thirds of all tax-receipted donations. 

But Gomery said these statistics may be misleading about who gives the most. 

When married couples file a joint return, they can assign the donation tax credits made by either spouse to the partner with the higher income for the maximum tax benefit, she said. 

“If I may, I call [BS].”

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