Fast Facts on Canadian Charities
There are about 80,000 charities registered with the Canada Revenue Agency
Nearly half of all donors to charities hold at least one university degree or post-secondary diploma/certificate
Almost half of all dollars donated goes to religious organizations, yet the largest number of donations is given to health care organizations
Canadian taxfilers reported making charitable donations totalling $8.5 billion in 2006, up 8.3% from 2005, while the number of donors decreased 1.4% to 5.8 million
Canada’s charities employ about 2 million people, which includes 884,129 part-time employees
22.2 million Canadians (85% of the population aged 15 and over) made a financial donation in 2004, while 86% made an in-kind donation
Donors with annual household incomes less than $20,000 gave a greater percentage of their household income than others
The donor rate varies from a high of 93% in Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island to a low of 63% in Nunavut
Volunteers contributed almost 2 billion volunteer hours to organizations – the equivalent of 1 million full-time jobs
In Canada as a whole, there are approximately 508 organizations per 100,000 people. The highest prevalence of organizations is in the territories (825) and the lowest is in Ontario (369)
Registered charities represent 56% of incorporated non-profit organizations, account for 63% of all revenues reported and typically have larger than average total revenues than do organizations that are not registered as charities
Learn More About Canadian Charities
In the first three and a half days after the 2004 Tsunami, Canadians donated $20 million to the Canadian Red Cross, CARE Canada, Oxfam Canada, UNICEF Canada and World Vision. Of that amount, $12 million (60%) came in over the Internet
Of the 81,601 registered charities in Canada, 90% are charitable organizations and 10% are public and private foundations. Nearly 80% of registered charities are located in Ontario (35%), Quebec (20%), British Columbia (14%), and Alberta (11%), with the remaining charities distributed among the other provinces and territories. The 72,926 charitable organizations are comprised of, in descending order, Religion (31,757), Welfare (12,620), Benefit to Community (12,404), Education (11,801), and Health (4,340)
Each year, approximately 2,000 charities are de-registered because they do not file their returns and close to 40% of these re-apply for charitable status
Nunavut has led the provinces and territories since 2000 in terms of median donation. This trend continued in 2005, with a median donation of $400, by far the largest median of all the provinces and territories
What do we know about the scope of the charitable sector in Canada? Over 40% of charities have no staff at all and 37% have 1 – 5 employees. Almost half have annual revenues of less than $50,000 and 64% of charities operate in communities with a local mandate. The majority of Canadian charities are small, grassroots organizations that are governed by volunteers and, in may cases, run by volunteers. The majority of charities are required to file their returns by either September 30th, June 30th, or December 31st. Because of their funding bases, many charitable organizations follow the common government fiscal year of April/March, others follow the calendar year, and some have their fiscal years beginning July 1st
In 2003, there were approximately 161,000 incorporated nonprofit and voluntary organizations operating in Canada. They are classified into 15 categories based on their work: 21% are involved with sports and recreation, 19% are religious organizations, 12% work in social services, 10% are involved in grant-making, fundraising and voluntarism promotion, 9% are arts and culture organizations, and 8% are focused on development and housing. The remaining categories comprise 5% or less of all incorporated nonprofit and voluntary organizations
It is estimated that Canada’s 161,000 incorporated nonprofit and voluntary organizations spent $112 billion in 2003. Of those organizations, about 1% have annual revenues of $10 million or more and account for 59% of all revenues. In contrast, 42% of organizations have annual revenues of less than $30,000 and account for just 1% of all revenues. Less than 3% of organizations report having no revenue at all
More than one quarter (27%) of Canadians over the age of 15 volunteer for a charitable or nonprofit organization. Together, they volunteered 1.05 billion hours, a decline of approximately 5% since 1997. However, the average annual contribution increased from 149 hours in 1997 to 162 hours in 2000, according to results from the National Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating. As with giving, the largest number of volunteer hours are contributed by a fairly small percentage of the population. Nearly three quarters (73%) of volunteer hours are put in by just 25% of the volunteer population
Governments provide 49% of the funds that organizations receive; 35% of revenue is earned income from non-government sources, generated by memberships and sales of goods and services. Thirteen percent of all revenue is received in the form of gifts and donations from individuals, corporations and other organizations. Excluding Hospitals and Universities and Colleges, 36% of revenues come from government, 43% from earned income from non-government sources, 17% from gifts and donations, and the remaining 4% from other sources