Especially compared to Canada. Manitoba leads in Canadian giving by province. Dead last is, surprise, Quebec.  Wyoming is the most generous state per capita, Rhode Island is the most miserly.

Once Again Manitoba Tops the Fraser Institute’s Generosity Index
Americans Donate Twice as Much as Canadians

  Sylvia LeRoy, Policy Analyst

Release Date: December 14, 2005

Calgary, AB - Manitoba is once again Canada’s most generous province, according to Charitable Giving in Canada and the US: The 2005 Generosity Index, released today by The Fraser Institute.

“The charitable sector depends on the generosity of Canadians to finance the provision of goods and services that might not otherwise be available to some of society’s neediest citizens,” said Sylvia LeRoy, policy analyst at The Fraser Institute. “Our Generosity Index measures private charitable giving across the Canadian provinces and US states.”

Generosity in Canada

Manitoba ranks first in Canada for having the highest percentage of tax-filers donating to charity (28.3 percent), followed by Ontario (27.0 percent) and Saskatchewan (26.7 percent).

Newfoundland, Quebec, and New Brunswick are the provinces with the lowest percentage of tax-filers claiming charitable donations. (See Table 1 for the Canadian results and rankings).

Manitoba, Ontario, and Saskatchewan also top the list for donating the highest percentage of aggregate income to charity. Manitoba donated 0.99 percent of aggregate income to charity, followed by Ontario (0.87 percent) and Saskatchewan (0.83 percent). Among the provinces, Quebec donates the least with 0.33 percent of aggregate income.

While not used in the calculation of the Generosity Index, Albertans continue to have the highest average donation ($1,468), followed closely by Ontario ($1,437).

Quebec ranks last among all provinces for having the lowest average charitable donation ($532), an amount less than half the national average ($1,165).

Is Canadian generosity declining?

The extent of charitable giving has been declining in all provinces since 1997. This decline is most marked in Prince Edward Island, where the percentage of tax-filers claiming charitable donations fell 7.2 percent between 1997 and 2003.

Newfoundland experienced the smallest decline, with the percentage of tax-filers claiming charitable donations falling 1.2 percent.

The outlook is more positive when considering changes in the depth of charitable giving. The provinces that have experienced the largest increase in the percent of aggregate income donated to charity are Ontario (26.1 percent) and Manitoba (22.5 percent). Saskatchewan was the only province to see the percent of aggregate income donated to charity decline (-0.3 percent).

Comparing Canada and the US

The most striking finding of the Generosity Index is the dramatic difference in charitable giving that exists between Canada and the United States. These differences are most marked when comparing the depth of charitable giving in the two countries. In 2003, the United States donated 1.57 percent of aggregate income to charity, more than twice that of Canada (0.70 percent).

The extent of charitable giving is also lower in Canada, where 24.9 percent of all tax-filers made donations, compared to 29.4 percent of Americans.

The average donation in the US ($3,731) is over three times more than the average donation in Canada ($1,165) even before accounting for differences in the value of currencies. In Alberta, Canada’s top-ranked province, the average donation ($1,468) is only 18.6 percent of the value of the average donation for tax filers in Wyoming ($7,888), America’s top-ranked state. Even in Rhode Island, the lowest ranked US state, average donations are close to $1,000 more than in Alberta. These differences become even more pronounced when currency differences are taken into account.

If Canadians were as generous in donating a comparable percentage of aggregate income as Americans, Canada’s charities would have an additional $8.0 billion in resources.

About the Generosity Index

The Generosity Index compares monetary generosity in Canada’s 10 provinces and 3 territories and in the 50 US states and the District of Columbia by measuring people’s tendency to donate using readily available data about the size and extent of charitable donations (as recorded on personal income tax returns).

The Generosity Index is published in the December/January issue of Fraser Forum, The Fraser Institute’s magazine.
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Established in 1974, The Fraser Institute is an independent public policy
organization with offices in Vancouver, Calgary, and Toronto.

www.fraserinstitute.ca/shared/readmore.asp?sNav=nr&id=704

And Americas poorest states give more of a percentage of their income than any other states.

Mississippi tops the list, if I recall correctly.

I quess Im dragging everyone else on there down, I dont give a damn thing

Quoted: Remember this next time someone complains that "American don't give enough." -Troy

Yeah, that's the point I was going for.  Wasn't bashing Canada or anything.