A recent study indicates that charitable donations among New Brunswick's tax filers have fallen to their lowest level in twenty years.
Charity Chills in NB
The Fraser Institute study, which highlights trends in generosity across Canada, revealed that only 14.7% of tax filers in New Brunswick made charitable contributions in the 2022 tax year, marking the lowest rate among all provinces.
Jake Fuss, the Director of Fiscal Studies at the Fraser Institute and co-author of the report “Generosity in Canada: The 2024 Generosity Index," expressed concern over the findings. ""The holiday season is a time to reflect on charitable giving, and the data shows Canadians are consistently less charitable every year, which means charities face greater challenges to secure resources to help those in need," Fuss said.
The study tracks a downward trend in charitable giving across Canada, with the national average of tax filers donating just 17.1% in 2022, a significant drop from the peak of 25.4% in 2004. Overall, Canadians have also been donating a smaller percentage of their income, decreasing from 0.61% in 2002 to 0.50% in 2022.
While Manitoba led the provinces in both the percentage of tax filers donating and the percentage of income given to charity, New Brunswick's donations accounted for only 0.42% of its aggregate income, placing it at the lower end of the national spectrum.
Grady Munro, a policy analyst and co-author of the study, highlighted the broader implications of the findings."This decline in generosity in Canada undoubtedly limits the ability of Canadian charities to improve the quality of life in their communities and beyond," Munro said.
The Fraser Institute, a non-partisan Canadian public policy think-tank, conducted the study to draw attention to the importance of charitable giving and its role in enhancing community welfare. The organization, which operates across multiple Canadian cities and maintains a global network of think-tanks, emphasizes the value of competitive markets and minimal government intervention in promoting individual welfare.
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