Philanthropic Behaviour of Quebecers

Abstract

On average, residents of Quebec give less money and volunteer less time than those residing in all other provinces. This paper empirically examines and compares the giving and volunteering behaviour of Quebecers to that of other Canadians, with the aim of addressing why this difference may exist. We employ the most recent General Social Survey - Giving Volunteering and Participation (GSS GVP 2013) data set and Tobit procedures and find that Quebecers give less money partially because their average endowments of two important determinants, religiosity and household income, are low. Once demographic and socio-economic characteristics are controlled for, Quebecers cash donations are comparable to Ontarians and those in Atlantic Canada, and exceed those of residents of British Columbia; Quebecers are similar to others when it comes to volunteering for religious organizations, but they volunteer significantly less than others for secular ones.