Prince George shares lows of Fraser Institute charity report

PRINCE GEORGE – The amount Canadians are donating to charity has hit a 20-year low, according to a report published by the Fraser Institute.

Donations to charity – as a percentage of Canadians income claimed on their taxes – sits at just 0.54 per cent of income. That number is based on 2017 tax return data, the most recent year of available information. That’s the lowest it’s been since at least 2000. Over that period, Canadians’ generosity peaked in 2006 with 0.78 per cent of income being donated.

Here in Prince George, major charity organizations are feeling the pinch.

“Things are getting tighter in everybody’s pocketbook,” said Roy Law, Director of the Prince George Salvation Army. “The needs and the associations that are out there are growing for service providers and the pool for that money is the same for all of us going after that pool. We need to be more strategic in doing that. The Salvation Army here in Prince George has been really watching that for the last year or two and moving forward with that.”