Charitable donors

1997

Fewer Canadians gave money to charities in 1997, but those that did gave more. Just under 5.3 million taxfilers reported charitable deductions on their 1997 personal income tax returns, down 3.1% from the year before. However, these individuals gave $4.3 billion, up 6.0% from 1996.

The decline in the number of donors was the largest this decade, while the increase in donations was the second largest. Part of the increase in donations could be due to the new, higher maximum deduction limit (75% of net income, compared with the previous limit of 50%) allowed by Revenue Canada as of the 1997 tax year.

For most of the decade, both the number of donors and their donations have remained fairly stable. The number of donors has tended to stay around 5.4 million and donations were consistently around $3.5 billion until 1996 when there was an 11% increase to just over $4 billion. All figures in this release have been adjusted for inflation as measured by the Consumer Price Index.

Fewer donors, but donations increased

Compared with 1996, the number of taxfilers who reported charitable donations in 1997 increased in only Alberta and the Yukon. On the other hand, the amount of donations increased in six provinces: Nova Scotia, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.

In Quebec, the number of donors declined 8.0% to just under 1.2 million, the largest decrease among the provinces. Donations in Quebec fell 3.3% to $471.2 million.

Ontario recorded a 1.6% decline in donors to just under 2.2 million. However, despite this decline, donations rose 9.9% in Ontario to almost $2.0 billion, the largest increase among the provinces.

About 3 of every 10 taxfilers in Manitoba (29.6%) reported donations to charity in 1997, the largest proportion of any province.

Newfoundlanders had highest median donation

The median donation in Canada, the point at which half of the donations are above and half below, was $170 in 1997.

Charitable donors in Newfoundland again reported the highest median donation ($270), despite having the lowest median total income ($27,900). Quebec taxfilers had the lowest median donation ($100) with a median total income of donors of $34,900.

Note to readers

The charitable donors databank provides information on taxfilers who claimed charitable donations on their 1997 tax returns. Only donations made to approved organizations and for which official tax receipts were provided were allowed as deductions in the tax system.

It is possible to carry donations forward for up to five years after the year in which they were made. Therefore, the 1997 databank may contain donations that were made in the past five years and were only claimed for tax purposes in 1997.

Also, tax laws allow taxfilers to combine their charitable donations with those of their spouse to get the maximum tax benefit. Consequently, the number of individuals who give to charity may be higher than those that report donations.

Table: Median total income of charitable donors and median donation
1997
______________________________________________________________________________
                            Median total           Median    
                                  income         donation    
______________________________________________________________________________

                                         $                   
                           ______________________________    
                                                             
Canada                            36,000              170    
                                                             
Newfoundland                      27,900              270    
Prince Edward Island              28,700              260    
Nova Scotia                       32,300              230    
New Brunswick                     31,200              260    
Quebec                            34,900              100    
Ontario                           38,100              200    
Manitoba                          31,800              210    
Saskatchewan                      31,100              250    
Alberta                           36,700              190    
British Columbia                  36,700              200    
Yukon                             46,700              160    
Northwest Territories             53,700              180    

______________________________________________________________________________

People who donate to charitable organizations tend to do so later in life. About 37% of individuals aged 65 and over reported charitable donations in 1997 compared with only 18.8% of those aged 25 to 34.

As individuals get older, the tendency to donate money to charity increases as does the amount they give. In total, taxfilers in the age group 65 and over gave more than $1.4 billion compared with $310.1 million donated by those aged 25 to 34.

Table: Donations by age group
1997
______________________________________________________________________________
                               Number of       Proportion            Total    
                                  donors     of taxfilers        donations    
______________________________________________________________________________

                                                                    $ '000    
                                                                              
Less than 25                     148,670              5.6           42,815    
25-34                            759,310             18.8          310,097    
35-44                          1,248,580             26.7          842,673    
45-54                          1,142,620             32.0          953,985    
55-64                            753,050             33.0          707,635    
65 and over                    1,233,330             37.0        1,415,880    
                                                                              
Total                          5,285,560             25.7        4,273,085    

______________________________________________________________________________

Databanks for Charitable donors (13C0014) are available for Canada, the provinces and territories, cities, towns, census metropolitan areas, census divisions, as well as areas as small as forward sortation areas (the first three characters of the postal code) and letter carrier routes.

For further information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Client Services (613-951-9720; fax: 613-951-4745; saadinfo@statcan.gc.ca ), Small Area and Administrative Data Division.

Table: Donors and donations
1997
______________________________________________________________________________
                                               Donors                         
                           _______________________________________________    
                               Taxfilers            Count     1996 to 1997    
______________________________________________________________________________

                                       %                          % change    
                                                                              
Canada                              25.7        5,285,560             -3.1    
                                                                              
Newfoundland                        21.2           80,310             -5.4    
Prince Edward Island                27.8           26,160             -5.8    
Nova Scotia                         24.5          154,850             -5.3    
New Brunswick                       23.5          123,320             -5.7    
Quebec                              23.0        1,183,330             -8.0    
Ontario                             28.1        2,154,150             -1.6    
Manitoba                            29.6          231,870             -1.5    
Saskatchewan                        27.9          190,420             -1.8    
Alberta                             25.9          501,550              0.4    
British Columbia                    20.0          630,840             -0.2    
Yukon                               19.3            3,660              1.7    
Northwest Territories               14.2            5,120             -3.8    

______________________________________________________________________________


                                     Donations               
                           ______________________________    
                                  Amount     1996 to 1997    
______________________________________________________________________________

                                 $ 000's         % change    
                                                             
Canada                         4,273,085              6.0    
                                                             
Newfoundland                      49,343             -3.8    
Prince Edward Island              18,061             -0.6    
Nova Scotia                      107,727              2.6    
New Brunswick                     99,072             -0.3    
Quebec                           471,157             -3.3    
Ontario                        1,989,245              9.9    
Manitoba                         203,040              5.0    
Saskatchewan                     171,261              3.6    
Alberta                          518,176              5.7    
British Columbia                 639,349              5.5    
Yukon                              2,704             -2.3    
Northwest Territories              3,950             -7.8    

______________________________________________________________________________

Portrait of official language communities

1996 Census

A CD-ROM, released today, profiles the demographic, cultural, linguistic and socio-economic characteristics of English and French communities in almost 6,000 towns, villages and cities, as well as Canada and the provinces and territories.

For the first time, a profile of both official language groups is available covering a wide range of characteristics in the geographic areas mentioned. These characteristics include age groups, home language, knowledge of languages, marital status, ethnic origin, period of immigration, mobility status, citizenship, highest level of schooling, labour force activity, occupation, industry and income distribution.

The data in this profile allow analysis based on all of these characteristics to be done at local levels, as well as at the national, provincial or territorial level, for either official language group by sex. The information is based on 1996 Census data. The language groups are defined according to one of two criteria: mother tongue or first official language spoken.

For example, looking at age groups, in 1996 the proportion of francophones (those whose mother tongue was French) aged 65 and over was higher in all provinces than the proportion of francophones aged less than 15, except in New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. In Ontario, the difference between the proportions of these two age groups was only one percentage point. The gap was much wider in Saskatchewan, where francophones aged 65 and over accounted for 27.1% of the total population, while those aged less than 15 represented only 6.5%. Conversely, the proportion of anglophones (those whose mother tongue was English) aged less than 15 was higher in every province and territory than the proportion of anglophones aged 65 and over.

Analysis can also be done on the education levels of francophones and anglophones. In Quebec, in 1996, 18% of francophones aged 15 and over had less than Grade 9 education, compared with 10% of anglophones. In Ontario, this proportion was 15% of francophones, compared with 6% of anglophones. However, in both provinces, the proportion of university degree holders was comparable for both language groups.

The CD-ROM Profile of official language communities (94F0010XCB, $60) is now available. To order, contact your nearest Statistics Canada Regional Reference Centre.

For more information, or to enquire about the methods, concepts or data quality of this release, contact Jean-Pierre Corbeil (613-951-2315; corbjea@statcan.gc.ca), Demography Division.

Steel primary forms

Week ending November 28, 1998 (preliminary)

Steel primary forms production for the week ending November 28, 1998, totalled 292 333 metric tonnes, up by 6.2% from the week-earlier 275 197 tonnes and down 0.5% from the year-earlier 293 865 tonnes. The cumulative total at the end of the week was 14 482 555 tonnes, a 3.4% increase compared to 14 011 002 metric tonnes for the same period in 1997.

For further information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods and data quality of this release, contact Greg Milsom (613-951-7093; milsomg@statcan.gc.ca), Manufacturing, Construction and Energy Division.

Coal and coke statistics

September 1998

Lower demand from export markets and production problems in Nova Scotia led to a sizeable decline in coal production in September. Coal production totalled 6 068 kilotonnes, down 12.9% from September 1997. This was the largest year-over-year decline in coal production since January 1993. The year-to-date production figure stood at 56 487 kilotonnes, down 3.1%.

Exports in September decreased 5.2% from September 1997 to 2 975 kilotonnes. This occurred despite a 42.9% increase in exports to Japan (the largest consumer of Canadian coal) to 1 804 kilotonnes during the same period. Year-to-date figures show total exports of 26 461 kilotonnes, 3.6% below last year's level.

Imports of coal rose 14.7 to 5 472 kilotonnes during the third quarter of 1998. This increase is mainly due to increased demand from Ontario electric power generating stations. Year-to-date figures show imports of 12 992 kilotonnes, up 41.3% from last year's level.

Coke production in September decreased to 277 kilotonnes, down 0.8% from September 1997.

Available on CANSIM: matrix 9.

The September 1998 issue of Coal and coke statistics (45-002-XPB, $12/$114) will be available in early December 1998. See How to order publications.

For further information, or to enquire about the methods, concepts and data quality of this release, contact André Lefebvre (613-951-3560; alefeba@statcan.gc.ca), Energy Section, Manufacturing, Construction and Energy Division.