globeandmail.com: We are not a stingy lot

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We are not a stingy lot

GEORGINA STEINSKY-SCHWARTZ

Special to Globe and Mail Update

Margaret Wente, in her column The Charitable and the Cheap: Which One Are You?, raised the question of whether Canadians are less generous than Americans — and arrived at an emphatic 'yes.' Are we really such a stingy lot?

As a national charity engaged in research into Canada's charitable and non-profit sector, our organization, Imagine Canada, tells us that Canadians are most definitely involved in community life. In 2004, 22 million Canadians — 85 per cent of the population — made a financial contribution to a charity or non-profit organization, and 45 per cent gave their time. Data from income tax filings for the 2005 tax year showed more than 5.8 million donors contributing a record $7.9-billion."