Generosity in Canada and the United States: The 2014 Generosity Index

The Fraser Institute's annual Generosity Index measures the private monetary generosity using readily available data on the extent and depth of charitable donations, as recorded on personal tax returns in Canada and the United States. Manitoba had the highest percentage of tax filers that donated to charity among the provinces (25.4%) during the 2012 tax year, while New Brunswick had the lowest (20.3%). Manitoba also donated the highest percentage of its aggregate income to charity among the provinces (0.84%) while Quebec donated the lowest (0.31%).

The 2014 index reveals a substantial generosity gap between the US and Canada. A lower percentage of tax filers donated to charity in Canada (22.3%) than in the United States (25.9%). Similarly, Canadians (at 0.61%) gave a lower percentage of their aggregate income to charity than did Americans (at 1.43%).

US jurisdictions top the overall Generosity Index rankings. Utah places first (scoring 8.8 out of 10.0), followed by Maryland (7.4) and Connecticut (6.7). Manitoba is the highest-scoring Canadian province (3.7) but ranks only 37th overall out of 64 North American jurisdictions.