Western Provinces Dominate the Generosity Index

The Maritimes and Quebec at the Bottom

Contact:

Jason Clemens, Policy Analyst
The Fraser Institute, (604) 714-4544 Email: jasonc@fraserinstitute.ca

Release Date: 19 November 1998

VANCOUVER, BC>>>  According to an article published in November’s Fraser Forum (The Fraser Institute’s monthly magazine), a comprehensive measure of provincial generosity has ranked Saskatchewan as the most generous province, followed by Alberta, Manitoba, and British Columbia.

The Maritimes are comparatively less generous, occupying positions six through nine (with PEI at number six, then New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and finally Newfoundland). Ontario performed relatively well, tying British Columbia for fourth spot. Quebec lingers at tenth spot on the list.

In the article, Ranking Private Generosity, authors Jason Clemens and Johanna Francis have constructed a provincial generosity index that measures three aspects of generosity: the proportion of taxpayers who donate to charities, the relative size of those donations, and the amount of volunteer time donated to charities. These variables combine to provide a picture of how private donations and volunteering differ across provinces.

Jason Clemens, Policy Analyst at The Fraser Institute, stressed that, "The index measures particular aspects of generosity using data that is readily available. It doesn’t represent a definitive measure of generosity but allows us to better understand the differences between the provinces, and between communities, in terms of their ability to voluntarily provide public goods such as arts societies, health agencies, and sports clubs."

The index measured three variables:

Donors to Taxpayers

The first of the three variables measured indicates the extent of generosity in each province by measuring the proportion of taxpayers who donate to charities. Manitoba received the highest score with 31.8 percent of taxpayers donating to charity while Newfoundland ranked last with just 22.4 percent of taxpayers making donations.

Relative Size of Donations

The second component of the index includes two measures of the relative size of donations: the average nominal value of donations and the percentage of income donated to charities. The first component measures the nominal value of money taxpayers donated. Alberta received the highest score with an average donation of $797 while Quebec received the lowest score with an average donation of just $339. Clemens commented that, "There is a definite relationship between per capita income and the nominal value of donations as the four western provinces and Ontario occupy the top five positions while the so-called "lesser" or "have-not" provinces occupy the last five positions."

The second aspect of this variable calculated the nominal size of donations relative to income. Saskatchewan received the highest score with 0.96 percent of average income being donated to charity while Quebec received the lowest score with only 0.36 percent of average income being donated to charity.

Clemens explains that, "There is an interesting interaction between the two components since one indicates the size of donations charities would receive and use in their operations, namely average nominal donations, while the other measures the generosity of the individual taxpayer. Obviously the best situation is to have high per capita income, which allows for higher nominal donations, complimented by a high portion of income being donated to charity as is the case in a province like Saskatchewan."

Volunteer Time

The final variable of the index is the number of per capita hours of volunteer time donated to charities. Again, Saskatchewan received the top score with 12.1 hours of volunteer time donated per year, per person, while Prince Edward Island received the lowest score with just 3.7 hours of volunteer time.

Conclusion

The overall rankings of the Provincial Generosity Index indicate that per capita income and geographic location influence provincial generosity as measured by the index. The dominance of the western and ‘have’ provinces clearly indicates a strong relationship between the amount of income available to individuals and the level of generosity observed in each province.

"The tremendous diversity in the results indicates that we should not take a generic view of the role of charity and volunteerism in society. We should celebrate the differences we notice across provinces and use them to best further the welfare of each individual province," says Johanna Francis, the article’s co-author.

Established in 1974, The Fraser Institute is an independent public policy organization based in Vancouver.

For further information:

Suzanne Walters, Director of Communications,

The Fraser Institute, (604) 714-4582,
Email suzannew@fraserinstitute.ca

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