The percentage of Canadians donating to charities fell by nearly 8 percentage points between 1961 and 2023, with a new report suggesting that government spending may have “crowded out” private donations to charitable organizations.
Government spending on social services grew slowly through the early 1960s, but “began to increase dramatically” in 1967, with spending increasing on a per capita basis and as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP), the recent Fraser Institute report said.
“Social benefit spending” as a percentage of GDP roughly doubled between 1961 and 2025, going from 4.8 percent to more than 9 percent. Governments’ per-capita spending also rose from $1,149 to $7,374—an increase of more than 600 percent….