Thank you, Michael.
At the heart of our research is a focus on the fact that a civic core of Canadians--approximately 29% of them--provide over 80% of the charitable giving, volunteering, and participating in the various organizations that make up society. This is based on StatsCan data. We have been actively working on this data, and in January or February we will be coming out with a follow-up report that looks at incidences of giving.
There we will see that we've moved from about $1.4 billion in 2000 to over $3 billion today, which is coming from just 15% of donors. Perhaps to put the numbers a little more starkly, in 2007 the average donation those 15% made was $961, compared to $227 for donors who are not part of this core group. It's very clear that a small group of Canadians are providing the bulk of the support that our charitable sector needs to continue.
It's estimated that due to various factors--I've outlined some of them in the brief, and there is some other research--that group is declining by about 1% to 2% per year. Project that forward over a decade and it's quite clear that if we lose 10% to 20% of the capacity of our civic core, it will pose significant challenges to the way of life we have been taking for granted.
The charitable sector needs to be sustained. In 2008 charitable receipts declined by 5.3%. This comes at a time when demographics, immigration, and urbanization combined are putting upward pressure on the demands of the charitable sector.
Our suggestion is that the most immediate way to address this problem in the short term is through direct incentives to those who are already giving. Research has shown that the small proportion of donors whose giving is planned, recurring, and in significant amounts are most likely to respond to incentives.
Our proposal before you this morning is a straightforward one, that we add a category to the charitable tax credit to provide for donations over $450 receiving a 42% tax credit. We believe this is the most effective way to provide relief to charities, as the benefits will go to those who are already giving, those who research shows are most likely to give some more. The proposal is easy to understand and easy to communicate, given the current structure for charitable giving.
The estimated costs are $300 million to $400 million. Last year, you may recall, we proposed replacing the 29% with 42%. We received a lot of support from various quarters. The objection was the costs. By proposing the $450 threshold, we more than halve the costs, and I would remind you that the costs are directly focused on those who give.
That's the essence of it. We look forward to your questions.
Thank you.