Does philanthropy look different in Western Canada?

There are regional differences to philanthropy in Canada – including within Western Canada. Here are some, from the perspectives of people who work in the sector in the West.

Ah, the West.

We do it differently out here. Big skies, wide-open spaces, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps. Or so the stereotypes go. Western Canada has seen huge changes in recent years, characterized in large part by demographic shifts and changing industries. But the way many in Western Canada see themselves has remained the same.

University of Calgary researcher Jared Wesley has investigated this and found that, in Alberta at least, conceptions of Prairies identity have held true despite changes. As part of his research, Wesley asked Albertans to draw themselves – literally. “An overwhelming majority conjured up one of three personas: a cowboy, a farmer or a roughneck,” he wrote of his findings. “Remarkably, this mental image held true across the board. Young people, progressives, newcomers and city dwellers were every bit as likely to draw a male, blue-collar worker as conservative folks who have lived in rural Alberta all of their lives.”

“The stereotypical Albertan is often seen as a middle-aged, white male from a rural area, and many refer to him as ‘Joe,’” Wesley wrote. “These cultural caricatures play a role in forging collective identities, fostering pride, preserving traditions and setting a common understanding of community membership.”

That idea, however stereotypical of rural identity it may be, is pervasive in much of Western Canada, and as Wesley noted, it affects feelings of community, which has obvious implications for the charitable and philanthropic sector. So The Philanthropist Journal set out to ask people working in the sector some common questions: What defines philanthropy in Western Canada? And what, if anything, sets it apart from the rest of Canada? We spoke with ten people working in and around the philanthropic sector about this idea – what is unique about the people and places that make up the West. Each was keen to point out the caveat that they are speaking from their own experiences alone and that generalization can be difficult or even problematic – and that there’s little research to lean on.

“This place is not really well codified in literature. It doesn’t really show up,” says Michele Fugiel Gartner, the Calgary-based lead researcher with Philanthropic Foundations Canada. And that means there are more questions than answers.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t some key takeaways that indicate some defining traits.

Canada is not monolithic in its approach to philanthropy.

Vincent Duckworth, ViTreo

The difference between philanthropy in Western and Eastern Canada when it comes to the philanthropic sector is something Eden Fineday, the publisher of journalism outlet IndigiNews and co-founder of tâpwêwin media, an Indigenous media non-profit, noticed only when she started spending more time outside of the West. “I’ve learned over the last few years that there’s just more of everything in the East. There’s just more money there,” she says. “Western Canada is a little bit isolated from those corridors of power and wealth.” And that, she says, influences how philanthropic work is carried out.

“Canada is not monolithic in its approach to philanthropy,” says Vincent Duckworth, the president and CEO of ViTreo, a non-profit leadership and development agency, and the chair of the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP) Foundation for Philanthropy – Canada. “Its underpinnings are the same as it is worldwide, but its approaches in different sort of regions can be a little bit different,” he says.

Here’s how, from the perspectives of people who work in the sector in the West.

‘We’re not Toronto’

Before we start talking about the defining characteristics of the place that is Western Canada, it’s important to decide what Western Canada actually is. Which varies, depending on who you ask. For many, it’s the West – but not the West Coast. Is it the Prairies? Some suggest that the shared values extend across the border into the US Midwest. It definitely does not include West Coast cities like San Francisco or Vancouver. For others, it’s anywhere west of Toronto. And others are quick to point out that Manitoba is the true centre of Canada (not Ontario), so why would we call it Western Canada?

For the purposes of this article, we’ll assume Western Canada encompasses the Prairie provinces – yes, including Manitoba – as well as British Columbia. Vancouver and Vancouver Island are also included, with some hesitation. “What we have in common is probably that we’re not Toronto,” says Zahra Esmail, the Vancouver-based CEO of Vantage Point.

What we have in common is probably that we’re not Toronto.

Zahra Esmail, Vantage Point

Fineday questions the very idea of a specific Western Canada kinship. Fineday, a nêhiyaw iskwêw (Cree woman) from Sweetgrass First Nation near North Battleford, Saskatchewan, who grew up in Vancouver, says she never felt particularly aligned with other parts of Canada. “Canada was founded on the Hudson’s Bay Company fur trade, and now we’re just a bunch of, like, mining and logging, wrapped in a trench coat that is administratively Canada,” she says.

But no matter the definition, it’s crucial to note there’s no one broad brush stroke that applies to the whole region. “The West is not a monolith,” Calgary-based Duckworth says. “Alberta is no monolith.”

Self-reliance in the West is key

We may not be a monolith, but the majority of people The Philanthropist Journal spoke to are clear that there is something unique about the philanthropic sector in the West. It’s pinpointing it that’s complex. “By and large, yeah, is there a difference? For sure, there is,” says Alan Goddard, the CEO of Abundance Canada. But any conversation about Western differences requires a delicate dance. No one interviewed for this article espoused a desire for Alberta separation, for example. But being part of a whole doesn’t mean all the parts are identical – and interviewees were clear that a sense of place is key to philanthropic and charitable work.

“We’re still all Canadian,” says Kathy Arney, founder and CEO (chief encouragement officer, according to the website) of KEA Canada, but adding that the sector does “require a different approach to Western Canada.” Part of the difference in the West, she says, relates to a feeling of self-reliance. “This idea is we support each other. There’s a sensitivity about money going elsewhere,” she says. “There’s a nuance about supporting each other. Maybe that’s a little stronger than other places in the country.”

Goddard has felt that firsthand, both as a child in Alberta and as an adult working in Winnipeg. “Growing up in Alberta, I was surrounded by individuals who very much felt alienated from the political centre of power that was Ottawa,” he says. “No matter how much of a foothold we would get, no matter who was prime minister and where they came from, there was always this sense that the true decision-making power, the allocations of resources, especially at the federal level, were always centralized out east, and because of that, the Western provinces – and specifically the communities therein – were forced to create their own sustainability, their own independence,” he adds, noting that this feels true in parts of Manitoba, as well as Saskatchewan, Alberta, and even BC.

When you live rural . . . you have to depend on your neighbours.

Eden Fineday, IndigiNews

That’s a sentiment echoed by Fineday. “When you live rural . . . you have to depend on your neighbours. If a blizzard hits, your whole life could depend on your neighbours. All of your systems in rural areas are more fragile, and you don’t have the municipal infrastructure, so you need your neighbours more,” she says. “I could see also how that would mean a focus on more communal wealth, a communal sharing, rather than an individual or an individual family sort of hoarding.”

That’s something Justin Wiebe of the Mastercard Foundation has seen in his home province, too. “Saskatchewan, both from an Indigenous perspective but also from the history of the province, does have really deep philanthropic history and commitment,” says Wiebe, who now lives and works in Toronto but was born and raised in Saskatchewan and is a member of the Métis Nation–Saskatchewan. “Credit unions and co-ops emerged [in Saskatchewan] because farmers couldn’t get a loan, so they couldn’t grow anything. It really emerged out of necessity, out of survival, at a time where the province was not having a lot, and that people looked to their neighbours and their peers to set up structures that would enable them to survive together and thrive.”

From that, sector leaders say, has emerged a robust charitable sector with a strong ethos of caring for one another. There’s a feeling that if you don’t do it yourself, it won’t be done for you, or at least not for sure. “You grow up without those types of guaranteed supports, without those types of guaranteed programs, without those consistent corporate investments, and it creates a desire to be self-sufficient,” Goddard says.

And with that comes grit, says Hanan Chebib, founder of the Social Studies Lab, noting that it’s exemplified in her hometown of Calgary. “Calgarians like to just start things, and they feel confident that they can go ahead and build it if it doesn’t exist yet.”

Wealth is newer in the West – and more concentrated in the East

Many of the people The Philanthropist Journal spoke to talked about how another defining characteristic of Western philanthropy is that wealth in Western Canada is generally newer and different than that of the eastern part of the country – and how that has clear implications for philanthropy. There is a clear perception that so-called old money or family dynasties, and the approaches and attitudes that may come with them, are a thing of the East. “The West is newer. The money in general, but not all, is newer,” Duckworth says.

And it is also true that while there is much wealth in some parts of the West – Vancouver or parts of Alberta, for example – wealth remains concentrated in Ontario and Quebec. According to a recent report from Canadians for Tax Fairness, there are an estimated 86 billionaire families in Canada. Three-quarters of them – 65 – live in Ontario and Quebec. Just 17 live in BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba combined.

It’s clear the wealthiest Canadians control a vastly disproportionate share of wealth in the country. According to the Parliamentary Budget Office, 1% of families in Canada hold 24% of the country’s total net wealth, and the top 20% hold 69% of total net wealth.

“With the extreme concentration of wealth comes the extreme concentration of political power,” the Canadians for Tax Fairness report concludes. “This is because wealth doesn’t just buy personal affluence; it comes with control over jobs and investment, and greater influence on politicians and policy.”

And, of course, philanthropy. A key difference, according to sector thinkers? Newer wealth brings closer proximity to the origin story of that wealth. “What defines philanthropy in Western Canada is the fact that we still have a collective memory of how wealth was created,” says Gena Rotstein, the Calgary-based cofounder of Karma & Cents. “I have the privilege of working with wealth creators who were born during the Great Depression and come at their philanthropy with an understanding that we all have to take care of each other. Because if it wasn’t for us taking care of each other, we wouldn’t have survived the Great Depression. So there’s that collective memory that is still sitting at the decision-making table.”

What defines philanthropy in Western Canada is the fact that we still have a collective memory of how wealth was created.

Gena Rotstein, Karma & Cents

“When I work with families out east, the wealth creators, for the most part, are no longer at the table,” Rotstein says, “and their memory may be there in the form of documentation, but it’s not there in the form of voice, and so the idea of dynasty or dynastic families in the West is very different than dynastic families in the East.”

Fugiel Gartner, the Philanthropic Foundations Canada researcher, agrees. “We see a lot of newer wealth. So we’re talking generations one, two, threes. We’re not talking generations seven, eight, nines,” she says. “And so that quality of wealth means that you still have the initial philanthropists. They are still alive. They have created the community. They have given much in the community. They have created that culture of giving.”

That, she says, heavily influences the culture of philanthropy in the West. “Founders are alive, they’ve set up these businesses, they’ve done it together,” she adds, with the caveat that we’re in the midst of a massive intergenerational transfer of wealth.

But that proximity to founders is different, some say, from old-money families who are many generations removed from when wealth first came to the family. “They’ve grown up with philanthropy being a central part of their just being,” Duckworth says of old-money families that seem to be more concentrated in the East.

“What I’ve noticed with older money is a confidence and a civic responsibility to keep giving, and a confidence in their money to be there,” says Goddard, noting that he speaks only from his own experiences working in the sector. “With new money, because it’s often tied to people who haven’t had money before, there is generally a level of insecurity around it,” he says. “Old money, because it’s generational, and because between those generations there is that sense of continuity . . . and what I notice is generally longer-term commitments to bigger projects. I also find with new money, it’s generally what they’re giving to is causes, not institutions.”

Not only that: newly wealthy families and individuals approach philanthropy differently – and more like the business that got them the money in the first place. “The first thing they do is they think that it’s a business,” Duckworth says of the newly wealthy approaching philanthropy for the first time. “The second thing they think, that it should be business-like, and the third thing is they go, ‘If it’s neither of those things, can we make it that way?’”

There’s definitely an interest in doing things differently, and I think partially driven by the way in which the wealth has been accumulated.

Justin Wiebe, Mastercard Foundation

It’s something Wiebe of the Mastercard Foundation has noticed, too: “At least in Alberta and maybe a bit Saskatchewan, there’s definitely an interest in doing things differently, and I think partially driven by the way in which the wealth has been accumulated.”

And finally, some say philanthropic causes are much more likely to be closer to home in the West – nearer and dearer to the founders’ hearts. “Western wealth is very frontier wealth. It was created here; it didn’t come from away and then get grown here,” Rotstein says. And it’s more likely to stay here.

Newer wealth means less guilt

“Another thing that is very different from Western and Eastern Canada is the idea of the power of guilt,” Rotstein says. “I think right now, Western philanthropists don’t have the same guilt factor associated with how their wealth was created as those out east.” Families who have been wealthy for many years, Rotstein says, are more likely to feel guilt around how their wealth was created and its implications. “The further you remove yourself from the founder’s story, the more today’s social and cultural mores will play on how you look at past generations’ decisions, because you don’t have an ability to ask them, ‘Why did you make that decision the way you made it?’”

“The guilt factor out west, it hasn’t hit yet,” she says. Western philanthropists, she says, are less likely to be advocating for, say, a wealth tax, and more likely to be going out and trying to give money to causes they support directly.

Boom-and-bust cycles create need – and communities step up

Alberta, in particular, has had a long history of a boom-and-bust economy. Take 2014 as an example. The price of oil fell by nearly half. It was a shock – but not really a surprise. That sort of whipsawing in fortunes is part of what’s been dubbed “Alberta’s resource revenue rollercoaster.” And the repercussions were also all too familiar: the following year was the worst year for Alberta job losses since 1982, according to a 2018 report about booms and busts from the Parkland Institute and the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives. Twenty-thousand jobs were cut across the Canadian oil and gas sector.

It was a jarring time, but the charitable sector was ready, according to sector experts. “They ready themselves for resilience and agility through those times,” Fugiel Gartner says.

“Maybe it has to do with the boom-and-bust cycle, that when the busts happen and it really impacts the charitable sector, people step up here,” Rotstein says.

The lessons learned through those booms and busts were really where a lot of the focus on endowments came from.

Alan Goddard, Abundance Canada

And others say that living with booms and busts has helped shaped the culture of philanthropy on the Prairies. “The lessons learned through those booms and busts were really where a lot of the focus on endowments came from,” Goddard says. “It’s this idea of creating some kind of sustainable element, so that in the bad years there was something to support community.”

Fugiel Gartner says there are lingering questions that could be addressed with future research. “Canada has a very strong social welfare system,” she says. “Maybe Alberta is a good example of where philanthropy feels it has traditionally complemented government, and does it feel like it needs to substitute it now? . . . Some of the qualities of the boom-and-bust cycle that I am curious about is, is it all just complementing government still, or is philanthropy actually taking a different role sometimes?”

(In)visibility with national offices

According to an analysis from Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC), Ontario is home to the greatest number, by far, of foundations. Next is Quebec, followed by BC and then Alberta. PFC’s data shows 4,683 foundations based in Ontario – more than BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba combined. To be fair, Ontario is also home to a higher population. But that concentration of philanthropic resources is a fact well known to many, and felt acutely in the West. “A BC-based organization like ours, we’re not going to make ourselves relevant to Ontario,” Esmail says. “Even if it’s a national organization, if their head office is there, we simply can’t get that visibility,” she says. “We don’t have the population size, and so if you’re a national funder, we’re not in the centre of any conversations really, and it’s hard for us to get relationships going.”

“Let’s not mince words about this,” Winnipeg-based Goddard says. “The vast majority of my peers are definitely not in Western Canada. They’re in Toronto.”

I don’t think people out west dislike national organizations. They dislike invisibility.

Kathy Arney, KEA Canada

Arney agrees – and points out how that feeds feelings in the West. “I don’t think people out west dislike national organizations,” Arney says. “They dislike invisibility.” And sometimes, Arney says, that can lead to resentment if relationships aren’t respected. “If you’re talking about big philanthropy or head office coming out, I think that you get used to people showing up when they want money, as opposed to relationship-building.”

Rural roots and shifting demographics

The Prairie provinces, in particular, have a rural reputation. And while both Manitoba and Saskatchewan have nearly half as many rural residents as urban ones, Alberta’s urban population outnumbers its rural population by a factor of more than five, according to 2025 data from Statistics Canada. But for many, both inside and outside the region, that urban reality hasn’t changed perceptions – as illustrated by Wesley’s “draw an Albertan” research.

“When I think of Alberta, I like to think that there’s a different side,” Chebib says. “There’s many different sides of who we are, and maybe we don’t necessarily get to express it as widely as maybe some of the stereotypes of who an Albertan is.”

There’s many different sides of who [Albertans] are.

Hanan Chebib, Social Studies Lab

“I think we think of ourselves as rural,” Arney says.

“Does your culture inform your philanthropy? And my answer over 30 years is it absolutely does,” Duckworth says.

But that culture is changing, with an increasingly vibrant diversity. While racialized groups make up a smaller share of the population in the Prairies than they do in Ontario or BC, they are ahead of the Atlantic provinces and the territories. Alberta has the highest share in the Prairies and ranked third in Canada, at 26% racialized people, in 2021. In Alberta, 82.7% of the racialized population lived in Edmonton and Calgary, according to 2021 census data from Statistics Canada, and the province currently leads the country in migration, in terms of international immigration and movement from other provinces.

Indeed, many traditions and cultures in the West still reflect rural history – the Calgary Stampede, for example. And that has implications for philanthropy. But while overemphasizing rural roots can create feelings of community and support, it can also easily wash away the vast diversity of experiences in the West – and leave out marginalized groups.

“That idea of self-sustaining, of being independent, of coming together as a community and building, you know, the hockey arena or the community centre or the church is just something they do because they don’t have alternatives,” Goddard says of rural communities. “That’s not a bad thing. Where it does become problematic is when it’s viewed as the only way to view philanthropy – that it has to be, you know, kind of that rural, small-community mentality or philosophy. And it misses the diversity of Canadian identity that we now have.”

Goddard says many in the sector in the West are still adapting to changing realities. “You can see it in the makeups of the people who give to the more institutional charities, but you also see it in some of the attitudes of fundraisers and development officers and donor stewards,” he says. “I’m not in any way implying a racist tone or discriminatory tone. It’s just more of ‘This is the way it’s been, and this is what’s comfortable, and this is what we’re used to.’”

The essential elements of land and people – and relationships

Many of the factors brought up by people working in and around Western philanthropy are cultural or economic, but as Afshan Paarlberg, a researcher and lawyer whose policy-driven work includes non-profits and philanthropy, points out, the place itself can also have a big influence on philanthropy. Paarlberg points to the Rocky Mountains, islands on the West Coast, and the sometimes isolating effect of being a small community on a vast-seeming landscape. “I think it’s helpful to think a little bit about geography,” she says. “The philanthropic activities that we observe and see here, in part, feel grounded and shaped by these conditions,” she adds. “Connectedness to the land, I think, translates a lot into climate consciousness and awareness. So, the focus areas – I think it translates into perhaps different focus areas that are a bit distinctive in a way.”

The philanthropic activities that we observe and see here, in part, feel grounded and shaped by [geography].

Afshan Paarlberg, researcher

Paarlberg notes that a case could be made that proximity to nature – and resources – shapes the causes that are the focus of philanthropy. “There’s lots of rich natural resources, which I seem to find translates into just an overall either consciousness or subconsciousness of the awareness of natural resources around us through water, minerals, mountains.” That in itself can influence philanthropy, she says.

And the land here has been shepherded by Indigenous Peoples since time immemorial, a fact increasingly recognized in philanthropic circles. “There’s been philanthropy here for, you know, 10,000 years,” Fugiel Gartner says. “We have the traditions of Indigenous philanthropy, which we are hearing more about” in the sector, she says. “We are seeing philanthropists make connections together out in the West – and across Canada – about ‘What are the qualities of Indigenous giving? How do we partner together?’”

There’s been philanthropy here for, you know, 10,000 years.

Michele Fugiel Gartner, Philanthropic Foundations Canada

Much of the West is also defined by the Treaties signed with First Nations. Some are currently marking anniversaries, leading to reflection on the spirit they brought with them. This year was the 150th anniversary of Treaty 6, which stretches from western Alberta into Winnipeg; 2027 will be the 150th anniversary of Treaty 7, which covers southern Alberta. They and others have undoubtedly shaped the West.

Niigaan Sinclair recently spoke at the centre of the Oodena Celebration Circle at The Forks in Winnipeg (“oodena” is Ojibwe for “heart of the community”). “This is the land of ‘and,’” he told a crowd gathered for the Philanthropic Foundations Canada conference. “And,” that is, not “or.”For Sinclair, the harsh winters and realities of life in Winnipeg mean that people necessarily have to come together. It’s a place of coming together, not excluding – historically, that literally meant for reasons of life and death – and that’s woven into the very culture of the region.

‘People out here are really generous’

Across the people who spoke with The Journal for this article, it’s clear there’s a sense of pride in philanthropy in the West. Sector leaders were quick to point to data on Western generosity. “People out here are really generous,” Arney says.

Goddard agrees. “When you look at philanthropic supports, when you look at generosity, when you look at donations, Western Canada hits it out of the park,” he says.

According to the Generosity Index, published annually by the Fraser Institute, Manitoba consistently ranks as the most generous province (followed by Alberta and BC) when it comes to the average percentage of income donated to charity. Manitoba also tops the list when it comes to the percentage of tax filers who donate to charity. And the most generous community in Canada? That distinction is also claimed by a Manitoba community: Steinbach.

But all told, the pride in Western philanthropy is not just about the money given. It’s also about the more intangible qualities of the culture of the place. A feeling of rootedness in place, of self-reliance, and of warmth. “Deals are still done on the backs of napkins and with a handshake,” Rotstein says. “Here’s how I look at it: in Vancouver, it’s what events have you been to that legitimizes who you are. In Alberta and Saskatchewan, it’s what boards do you sit on that legitimize who you are. Same thing for most of Manitoba. In Ontario and Quebec, it’s who’s your family and what firms do you work for?”

For Rotstein, there’s a different feeling to philanthropic relationships in different parts of Canada. And she can feel it. “I think it’s quite refreshing that I can go to a meeting with a family in the West and we end the meetings with a hug. In the East, we end meetings with a handshake.”

And as Wiebe puts it, “things happening and functioning differently isn’t better or worse. It’s just different. But what’s important is that people spend time connecting and learning from each other.”