Charitable donations in Sask. drop 30 per cent in a decade: Fraser Institute

Charitable donations in Saskatchewan have fallen consistently over the past decade, according to a new report.

The 2022 Generosity Index released by the Fraser Institute on Thursday indicates that every jurisdiction across the country saw a decrease in charitable giving based on tax records.

Across Canada, the percentage of tax filers donating to charity has fallen from 25.5 per cent in 2000 to 19.1 per cent in 2020, according to the institute.

In Saskatchewan, there was a 30 per cent drop, which was considered “the most profound” according to the report.

Giving dropped in Alberta by 27.2 per cent and in PEI by 26.8 per cent.

Not only did the number of those giving drop in the province, but also how much people give.

“All Canadian jurisdictions saw declines in the percentage of aggregate income donated to charity in 2020 relative to 2010,” the report said.

Statistics show that Saskatchewan saw the second-largest drop, behind Newfoundland & Labrador. The amount of income donated over the decade dropped by 26.7 per cent, according to the report.

However, Saskatchewan charities say that is not what they’ve been seeing.

“In the last decade there have definitely been years where we're concerned about the level of donations, but that holiday season, when folks are thinking about their friends and neighbours who might be struggling, is when we see the biggest response,” Laurie O’Conner with the Saskatoon Food Bank told CTV News.

“Definitely over the last few years, during COVID, we were concerned about both food and financial contributions to our organization and had to sort of shift and pivot the way that we do some of the work. But we still saw really lovely support from the community. I think that donors in Saskatchewan and in Saskatoon are really giving,”

Ronald MacDonald House Charities CEO Tammy Forrester said they’ve seen support across the province rebound from the pandemic.

“Third-party community events are definitely strong again,” she said.

“The last couple of years, 2020 right through fiscal year-end last year, donations were definitely lower than they had been pre-COVID. We were on a pretty strong trajectory right through 2016, 17, 18 and 19. (They) were pretty strong years for the charity. And then the hit definitely happened in 2020.”

O’Conner said she believed communication was key to keeping donations strong for her organization.

“We have the ability to make an immediate call for action,” she said.

“So if we're low on baby formula, we can put that call out on all of our social media channels and then folks know how they can support.”