This is one in a series of articles in our special report, “The Changing Face of Philanthropy in Canada.” To see other articles in the series, click here.
Few Canadians are as qualified to discuss the changing face of philanthropy as Bruce MacDonald. For more than a decade, MacDonald has served as president and CEO of Imagine Canada, a national charitable organization that supports charities and nonprofits across the country.
In our first video sit-down interview of 2025, Canadian Family Offices’ Ashley Redmond talks to MacDonald about the trends he’s seeing in the space, including the charitable sector’s increasing reliance on wealthy donors and how newcomers to Canada are changing the face of giving.
Here is the full video:
Transcript:
Ashley Redmond: Hi. My name is Ashley Redmond for Canadian Family Offices. And I’m here with Bruce McDonald, the CEO of Imagine Canada. Bruce, thanks so much for joining me.
Bruce MacDonald: I’m really pleased to be here.
Ashley Redmond: Recently, the Canadian government changed the charity donation deadline from 2024 to February 28th, 2025 due to the recent postal strike. Have you noticed any meaningful difference with the extension?
Bruce MacDonald: Well, it’s honestly, it’s a little too early to tell right now, but we are very pleased with this change for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, it’ll help organizations on the ground who maybe were missing out on those direct mail campaigns throughout the holiday season.
Second, it was a great coming together of the sector in terms of rallying together to make this change in third. We were really pleased to see that government and elected officials listened, understanding that they didn’t do something like this. It would negatively affect programs and services in communities right across the country.
Ashley Redmond: Bruce, given your role in the Canadian film Tropic World, I’m curious about the societal changes that you’re seeing in terms of demographics and technology impact you on the philanthropy side of things?
Bruce MacDonald: Well, there’s lots of changes coming. I think it’s a great question. Whether we like them or not. And to your point about demographics, there is a huge change coming as it relates to the way social good has been supported for about the last 50 years.
And really, just a couple of data points right now, 0.8% less than 1% of donors represent 38% of all giving. If you tie the next category together, it’s less than 9% of donors represent 71% of all gifts that are being contributed to organizations. Combine that with the fact that in 2022, out of the $12 billion given by Canadians, half came from people who were over the age of 60, and half of that came from people who were over the age of 70.
So this huge reliance on older, more affluent donors, the demographics are telling us that things are going to change. And when we combine that with changes in the way society functions, 52% of Canadians saying they feel lonely once a week. An erosion of the very institutions that helped create generosity and empathy. Places of regular church attendance, service clubs, even rural Canada, which has always been the most generous.
It’s shrinking. And so these changes are coming and we as a sector need to prepare for them.
Ashley Redmond: Now I’m curious, what are some of the longer term positive trends and changes that you’re seeing?
Bruce MacDonald: Yeah, I mean it’s funny because the numbers can be a bit challenging at times. And there are things that are happening. Some work that we’ve done in looking at newcomers to Canada, it’s a story of hope and optimism, of people who are coming to this country. And our immigration numbers have been large over the last number of years, who are clearly demonstrating both a desire and interest to engage here in Canada. But as well be citizens of the world and support people back home as more and more communities are fundamentally changing in Canada.
It’s incumbent upon organizations to ensure that they’re authentic and deeply connected to newcomer communities. I would also say that technology, while it provides challenges, there’s enormous opportunity for organizations as they can be more effective in terms of really understanding and refining their messages and potentially be more efficient, which is small organizations who are embracing the opportunity of AI because they don’t have the staff to do some of the things that the new AI tools might be able to support them to do.
So lots of opportunities within this macro change that we’re seeing now. It’s how do we help charities and nonprofits think about how to embrace those opportunities that are coming forward.
Ashley Redmond: Thanks so much, Bruce. For more on the Canadian Family office ecosystem in Canada, go to our website Canadian Family offices.com.
Join Canadian Family Offices on February 21 for our online panel discussion about the state of giving in Canada. Register here.
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