Winnipeg Harvest aims to raise $1 million each year in order to feed hungry Manitobans. With just a few days left for 2017, the charity is $200,000 short.

Kate Brenner, who has been with Winnipeg Harvest for eight years, says the shortfall surprised her, and it may be part of a worrying nationwide trend.

Manitoba remains the most generous province when it comes to giving to charity but donations are declining in every province, according to a new report.

The Generosity Index, published by the Vancouver-based Fraser Institute, looked at tax filings from across Canada and the U.S.

It found that the percentage of tax filers giving to charity dropped nationwide in Canada from 25.1 per cent in 2005 to 20.9 per cent in 2015.

The percentage of aggregate income Canadians gave to charity has fallen sharply too, from 0.77 per cent in 2005 to 0.56 per cent in 2015.

Manitoba has the highest proportion of tax filers who made donations in 2015, with 24.6 per cent giving at least something. But that’s down from 25.8 per cent in 2010 and 27.9 per cent in 2005.

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Manitoba also gives the highest percentage of aggregate income, at 0.83 per cent in 2015. But that too represents a big decline; they gave 1.26 per cent of income in 2005.

Quebec and New Brunswick are the least generous provinces, with only 19.3 per cent donating in 2015, down from 22.6 per cent and 23.2 per cent respectively in 2005, according to the report. Quebec gives the least overall and what they do give is declining, from 0.34 per cent of income in 2005 to 0.26 per cent in 2015.

The report’s authors point out that the most profound differences are not between the provinces but between Canada and the United States. In 2015, 24.5 per cent of U.S. tax filers donated to charity compared to 20.9 per cent in Canada.

With a report from CTV Winnipeg