'Everybody is struggling': B.C. food banks say donations down heading into holiday season

The shelves are barer than usual at the Mustard Seed Food Bank in Victoria, where donations are down.

“Everybody is struggling right now,” said Treska Watson, the director of operations at Mustard Seed

In fact, the decline in donations is part of a larger trend experienced across the country over the past two decades, according to a report released Tuesday by the Fraser Institute.

“The percentage of taxpayers making donations hit the lowest point since the year 2001, and we’re also seeing a general decline in the share of income being donated as well,” said Jack Foss with the Fraser Institute.

The report is based on the most recent available tax filings, from 2021.

Fewer than one in five Canadians, on average, claimed donations to charities that year, according to the findings. That’s down from a peak of one in four Canadians in 2001.

About 17 per cent of B.C. taxpayers donated to charity in 2021, putting the province in the middle of the pack nationwide.

Manitoba was at the top of the ranking, with nearly 20 per cent of residents donating. 

According to the report, although fewer British Columbians donate to charities than the national average, those who do are relatively generous – donating an average of $3,318 per person, more than from any other province or territory.

Watson says with soaring inflation since 2021, the true snapshot of charitable giving is likely even more bleak.

“Over the course of the last couple years, things are even harder for donors as well,” she said Tuesday. “There’s no question, things are changing for us daily here.”

For example, they had to buy all the milk for the 1,200 Christmas hampers this year, since it wasn’t donated. There's also no butter for the mashed potatoes.

“Butter, even at the wholesale cost, is $4.92 a pound and when you think about that for 1,200 hampers – that's just not something we’re able to give,” said Watson.