Canadians open their wallets to charity

Last week we heard that Canadians were leaving billions in RRSP contribution room untouched, but there’s word out today that they are finding other ways to reduce their tax-bill.

According to StatsCan, Canadian tax-filers made almost $8.3 billion in charitable donations in the 2010 tax year, up 6.5% from 2009.

These donations were made by more than 5.7 million donors, an increase of 2.2%. That accounts for 23.4% of all tax-filers, nationwide. Manitobans were the most likely to make a donation, and 26.3% did so. That province was followed by Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan, at 25.3% each.

Donors were rarer in the north, as only 9.5% of Nunavut tax-filers claimed a charitable donation, while 16.5% of tax-filers in the Northwest Territories and 20.7% of those in Yukon did so.

But the people of Nunavut made the largest median donation, at $470, followed by Alberta and PEI, each with a median donation of $390. The national median donation was $260, with only Quebec falling below that mark, with a median donation of $130.

For the ninth year in a row, residents of Abbotsford–Mission, British Columbia claimed the highest median donation, at $620. Calgary and Victoria were the next highest, with $390 each.

Every jurisdiction saw an increase in the percentage of tax-filers making donations. All but Nova Scotia posted a percentage increase in the total dollar value donated.

Read more on charitable planning in ’Tis the season for charitable planning.

Staff

The staff of Advisor.ca have been covering news for financial advisors since 1998.