Here are the top 5 documents to read to get an overview of the Canadian charitable and nonprofit sector. Check back here for new additions in the coming months. Browse a larger list of reports and statistics about the sector.

Canada's vital signs 2009. Community Foundations of Canada, 2009.

Caring Canadians, involved Canadians : highlights from the 2007 Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating / Michael Hall ... [et al.]. Statistics Canada, 2009.

Cornerstones of Community: Highlights of the National Survey of Nonprofit and Voluntary Organizations. September 2004

Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and Volunteering : 1997-2005. Statistics Canada, 2008.

Trends in individual donations : 1984-2004 / David Lasby. Imagine Canada, [2006].

Fast Facts

Economic Contribution of Charities and  Nonprofits:

• The nonprofit sector contributes 6.8% of the GDP or $86.9 million (greate than that retail industry, close to mining, oil and gas).
• The nonprofit sector account for 2,073,032 full time equivalent workforce or 12.1% of economicially active population (equal to the entire Canadian manufacturing industry)
• Volunteers contributed 2.1 billion hours in 2007, this adds up to 1.1 million FT jobs. At an averaged wage rate of $16/hr, this equals $33.6 billion.

Sources of Funding (data from 2003 National Survey of Nonprofit and Volutnary Organizations) 

• 49% of total revenues come from government (all levels)
• 35% from earned income
• 12% from donations, $12.8 billion (Individuals 8%, Foundations 1%, Corporate Gifts 3%)

Unsure of what search term to use? Try the following:

Search by region : British Columbia or Atlantic Provinces or Territories or National, etc.

Search by subsector : arts or sports or social services, etc.

Other Resources:

For more information about the Canada Survey of Giving, Volunteering and Participating, and to view current and past reports and factsheets from the survey, please visit the Giving and Volunteering web site.

To learn more about Imagine Canada's Research department and their resources,  visit the Imagine Canada Web site.

For additional statistics and research from the Government of Canada, visit the Statistics Canada web site.

These resources and many more are indexed in the catalogue of the Imagine Canada – John Hodgson Library. To search the entire holdings of the catalogue, click here.

For a selection of Web sites, see the Research and Statistics category in the Nonprofitscan Links Directory.