Interest in the charitable sector heightens each  year as the holiday season approaches. This  sector is actively engaged in providing social  services such as counselling, crisis prevention,  basic necessities, and education to help vulnerable people in need. Charities depend on  the generosity of thousands of ordinary citizens who give privately from their own funds to  enhance the quality of life in their communities  and beyond.

The Fraser Institute’s annual Generosity Index  measures this private monetary generosity using readily available data on the extent  and depth of charitable donations, as recorded  on personal income tax returns in Canada.1  In  contrast to previous years, comparable United States data was not available at the time of  writing for the 2022 index.