Fraser Institute study finds Canadians less generous than Americans

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — The Fraser Institute is out with another timely study for the holiday season as the focus is on charitable giving, and it indicates Canadians — as in previous years — are much less generous than Americans.

Entitled ‘Generosity in Canada and the United States,’ the study measures donations to registered charities claimed on personal income tax returns.

In 2013, it shows 25 per cent of American tax filers donated to charity as compared to 21.8 per cent of Canadians.

On the overall generosity index there were 64 North American jurisdictions, and at the top of the list was the state of Utah.

The best Canadian performance went to Manitoba and it was only in 38th place, with BC trailing all the provinces west of Quebec and only 53rd overall.

In terms of the average dollar value of donations, it is Alberta which tops all the provinces, with Quebec at the bottom on the pack.

If you’re curious about the reasons behind these numbers, it turns out this is not the study which will give you any of the answers:

So, detestable as he is, until we improve our performance, British Columbians will just have to accept the fact that on this studies generosity Index — collectively at least — we’re very close to being a bunch of Ebenezer Scrooges.