Manitoba continues to be among most generous in country

When it comes to charitable donations, the community of Blumenort holds the title once again for being the most generous in the southeast.

Statistics Canada has just released data from the 2015 tax year. Francois Page is Manager within the Income Statistics Division. He says in 2015, 21.0% of Canadians made a charitable donation and the median amount was $300. In Manitoba that same year, 24.6% of tax filers claimed a donation worth a median amount of $420.

According to Page, in both Manitoba and Canada, the percentage of tax filers claiming a donation is dropping each year, yet the total amount being donated continues to climb. And in fact, for the 11th consecutive year, Manitoba had the highest percentage of tax filers claiming a donation. Back in 2005, 28.4% of Manitobans made a donation compared to the national average of 25.0%.

Page says when you break down the numbers for southeastern Manitoba, it is clear to see that this corner of the province has a higher percentage of tax filers claiming a donation than other parts of Manitoba. There were nine communities in the southeast that all boasted percentages higher than the provincial average: Blumenort (32.8%), Kleefeld (32.7%), Steinbach (31.1%), Landmark (31.0%), Niverville (30.7%), St.Pierre (28.2%), Grunthal (27.8%), Lorette (24.9%) and St.Malo (24.8%).

When it comes to the community with the largest median donation, Blumenort once again tops that list in the southeast. Blumenort's average median donation in 2015 was $3,740, followed by Landmark ($2,490), Kleefeld ($2,260), Steinbach ($1,900), New Bothwell ($1,500), Grunthal ($1,400), Niverville ($1,320), Ste.Anne ($590), St.Pierre ($550), La Broquerie ($500), St.Malo ($390) and Lorette ($350).

According to Statistics Canada, total donations by Canadian tax filers rose to $9.1 billion in 2015, up 3.8% over 2014. The largest increases were in the Northwest Territories (+8.1%), British Columbia (+7.1%) and Manitoba (+5.7%). Nunavut had the largest decrease in donations in 2015 at -5.0%.

Among census metropolitan areas, donors in Abbotsford-Mission, British Columbia had the highest median charitable donation at $720. This was the 14th consecutive year leading the country.