Southern Alberta Council on Public Affairs (SACPA)

Since 1986, National Philanthropy Day has been celebrated on November 15 in the US following the signing of a proclamation by President Ronald Reagan. In 2013, the Canadian government signed into law a similar proclamation to celebrate November 15 as National Philanthropy Day in Canada. Donating and volunteering of course does not begin nor stop on that day, but it does serve the purpose of drawing attention to the importance of “giving back” to the many causes that increasingly rely on philanthropic assistance. Almost half of Canada’s population over 15 years of age volunteer an average of 150 hours per year or nearly 2 billion hours in total donated. Yearly monetary donations to Canadian charitable and non-profit organizations amount to approx. $15 billion. Of that total, two-thirds of the donations were made by the most generous 10 percent of the donors. Around 40 percent of all financial donations went to religious organizations while health and social service groups received nearly 25 percent of the t