Nearly 136,000 active non-profit organizations (NPOs) were operating across Canada in 2022. Over 29,000 NPOs were active in rural and small town areas, accounting for just over one-fifth (21.3%) of the total number of NPOs nationwide. By contrast, about 107,000 NPOs (78.7%) were active in functional urban areas.
Fewer active non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada
The number of active NPOs in rural and small town Canada decreased 1.9% year over year to 29,010 in 2022. Rural and small town areas in British Columbia (-6.6%), Nova Scotia (-3.3%) and Manitoba (-3.0%) saw the largest decreases of NPOs over this period, while those in the territories (+1.5%) and Newfoundland and Labrador (+1.0%) experienced modest increases.
Combined, Quebec (24.4%), Ontario (19.5%), Alberta (12.1%), Saskatchewan (9.6%) and British Columbia (9.5%) accounted for three-quarters (75.1%) of the total number of NPOs in rural and small town Canada in 2022.
In functional urban areas, the number of active NPOs increased 0.9% from a year earlier to 106,956 in 2022. Alberta led this growth (+2.0%), followed by Ontario (+1.1%), Quebec (+1.0%), Nova Scotia (+1.0%) and British Columbia (+0.9%). Collectively, Ontario (38.3%), Quebec (23.3%), British Columbia (15.3%) and Alberta (10.6%) accounted for 87.5% of the total number of urban NPOs.
Contact information
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