How much do I get back for donating $1,000 in Ontario?

$359, or 35.9%. The first $200 is credited at 19.05% and the rest at 40.16%, so the donation really costs you $641.

Why is the first $200 of donations worth less?

Because it is credited at the lowest tax rate rather than the high one — 14.0% federally instead of 29.0%. The threshold is deliberate: the credit is designed to reward substantial giving rather than many small gifts, which is why bunching donations into one year is worth real money.

Should I save up my donation receipts?

Usually yes, unless you are in Alberta. Unused donations carry forward 5 years, so claiming five years of $1,000 gifts together crosses the low $200 tier once instead of five times — worth $169 in Ontario. You still donate every year; you just claim the receipts together.

Can my spouse and I combine our donations?

Yes, and you should. The $200 low tier is per return, not per person. Two partners each claiming $200 get $76 between them; one claiming all $400 gets $118 — $42 more for moving a figure to the other form.

Which province gives the best donation tax credit?

Alberta, by a distance, on small donations: it credits 60.0% of the first $200, so with the federal credit an Albertan gets 74.0% of it back. Above the threshold the provinces converge, because most credit at or near their top rate.

Is the donation tax credit refundable?

No. It reduces tax you owe and stops at zero — someone with no tax to pay gets nothing from it. That is why unused amounts can be carried forward 5 years, and why the partner with more tax to pay should usually claim the receipts.

Is it better to donate shares instead of cash?

Often, and by a lot. Donating publicly traded securities in kind eliminates the capital gains tax on the accrued gain and gives the ordinary credit on the full market value; selling them first and donating the proceeds does not. That saving is not calculated here and can exceed the credit itself.

2026 · both tiers · 13 jurisdictions

Canadian donation tax credit calculator

The first $200 you donate each year is credited at the lowest tax rate and everything above it at nearly double. Which makes bunching five years of receipts into one claim worth $169 — and makes an Albertan's first $200 worth 74% back.

Written and edited by Pablo Ruiz QuinteroSources checked September 1, 2026Federal structure from Schedule 9 and provincial rates from each Form 428, read 2026-09-08

Where OntarioFirst $200 19.1%Above it 40.2%

Donations claimed this year

Your taxable income

Claimed, not given: unused donations carry forward 5 years, so this can include receipts from earlier years and a partner’s.

Province or territory

You get back

$359

35.9% of the donation · it really costs you $641

Two tiers, not one
First $200 at 19.1%	$200
Above it at 40.2%	$800
Federal credit	$260
Ontario credit	$99
Total credit	$359

Your next dollar is worth 40.2%, not 35.9% — the average hides the low first tier. And if a partner is claiming the same amount separately, moving both onto one return would be worth $42 more: the $200 tier is per return, not per person.

The credit is non-refundable: it reduces tax you owe and stops at zero. Provincial rates are from the 2025 editions of each Form 428, the most recent published.

The first $200 you donate is worth half as much as the next $200

Canada's charitable donation credit has two rates, and almost nobody knows where the line is.

The first $200 of donations in a year earns the credit at the lowest tax rate — 14.0% federally and 5.05% in Ontario, so 19.05% in total.

Everything above $200 earns it at 29.0% federally and 11.16% provincially — 40.16%. Nearly 2.1 times as much per dollar.

So a $1,000 donation in Ontario returns $359 — 35.9% — but that average hides the structure: the first $200 brought back $38 and the remaining $800 brought back $321. Your next dollar of donation is worth 40.2%, not 35.9%.

The threshold is deliberate policy: it rewards giving seriously and gives very little for scattering small amounts across many charities. Which means the two most valuable things you can do with this credit are both about timing and paperwork, not about giving more.

Donating five years at once is worth $169 more than the same money spread out

You can carry unused donation amounts forward 5 years, and you can claim donations made in earlier years on a later return. That turns the $200 threshold into something you can choose how often to cross.

Give $1,000 a year for five years and you pass through the low tier five times: $1,797 of credit in total. Hold them and claim $5,000 in one year and you pass through it once: $1,966. $169 more, for the same money to the same charities.

The charity does not have to wait — you can donate every year and simply claim the receipts together later. The carry-forward is on the *claim*, not on the gift.

And a second lever for couples: the $200 tier is per return, not per person. Two partners each claiming $200 use two low tiers and get $76. One of them claiming the whole $400 uses one, and gets $118 — $42 more, or 55% better, for moving a number from one form to another. The CRA explicitly allows either spouse to claim the couple's donations.

Alberta gives back 74.0% of the first $200. Nunavut gives 18.0%

This is the largest provincial gap in any Canadian tax credit, and it is not close.

Alberta credits 60.0% of the first $200 — six times what most provinces give. Add the federal 14.0% and an Albertan donating $200 gets $148 back: 74.0% of it. The gift costs them $52.

The same $200 in Nunavut returns $36, and in Ontario $38.

Above the threshold the provinces converge, because most of them credit at or near their top rate. Which flips the advice: in Alberta the small donation is the efficient one and there is little gained by bunching; nearly everywhere else the opposite holds.

On $1,000 at $60,000 of income, all thirteen:

1. Alberta — $548 back, 54.8%.

2. Quebec — $492 back, 49.2%.

3. Newfoundland and Labrador — $452 back, 45.2%.

4. Nova Scotia — $446 back, 44.6%.

5. Prince Edward Island — $431 back, 43.1%.

6. New Brunswick — $422 back, 42.2%.

7. Manitoba — $421 back, 42.1%.

8. British Columbia — $405 back, 40.5%.

9. Saskatchewan — $397 back, 39.7%.

10. Northwest Territories — $384 back, 38.4%.

11. Yukon — $375 back, 37.5%.

12. Nunavut — $360 back, 36.0%.

13. Ontario — $359 back, 35.9% ← this page.

And a third federal tier that only very high earners reach

Federally there is not one rate above $200 but two. Donations are credited at 33.0% to the extent your taxable income sits in the top federal bracket — above $258,482 — and at 29.0% below that.

It exists so the credit matches the rate the donor actually pays: without it, someone taxed at 33.0% would be giving away money that had borne 33.0% of tax while getting only 29.0% back.

On $20,000 of donations with $300,000 of taxable income in Ontario, the credit is $8,782 — 43.9% — against 39.9% for the same donation on $60,000. Ontario has no equivalent provincial tier, so only the federal half changes.

The credit is also capped at 75.0% of net income in a year, rising to 100% in the year of death and the year before. Above that limit the excess carries forward like any unused amount.

It reduces tax you owe. It does not send you a cheque

The donation credit is non-refundable, and the distinction matters more than the word suggests. It can take your tax to zero and no further. Somebody who owes no tax gets nothing back for donating, however much they give.

That is exactly why the 5-year carry-forward exists — a low-income year's donations can be claimed in a year with tax to offset — and it is another reason the higher-earning partner should usually claim a couple's receipts.

One thing worth more than the credit, for anyone holding appreciated investments: donating publicly traded securities in kind eliminates the capital gains tax on them entirely, on top of giving the ordinary credit for the full market value. Selling first and donating the cash does not. That difference is not calculated here and can be larger than everything on this page.

Where each rate comes from, and the year it is from

The federal structure — the $200 threshold, the 29.0% and 33.0% tiers, the 75.0% of income limit — is on Schedule 9. The first-tier rate is defined in the Act as the lowest rate of the year, which for 2026 is 14.0%; the 2025 form shows 14.5%, the blended rate for the year the federal cut took effect mid-year.

The provincial rates are from the 2025 editions of each Form 428 or its worksheet — the most recent published, since the CRA does not release 2026 personal tax forms until 2027. This is stated rather than hidden.

CRA — Schedule 9, Donations and Gifts (the $200 threshold, the 29% and 33% tiers and the 75% of net income limit) — read 2026-09-08. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years/general-income-tax-benefit-package.html

CRA — T4127 Payroll Deductions Formulas, 122nd edition (the lowest federal rate of 14% for 2026, which sets the first-tier donation credit) — read 2026-09-08. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/payroll/t4127-payroll-deductions-formulas/t4127-jan/t4127-jan-payroll-deductions-formulas-computer-programs.html

CRA — Forms 428 and their worksheets, 2025 editions, one per province and territory (the provincial donation credit rates) — read 2026-09-08. https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/forms-publications/tax-packages-years/general-income-tax-benefit-package.html

Revenu Québec — Line 395, tax credits for donations and gifts (20% on the first $200, then 24% or 25.75%) — read 2026-09-08. https://www.revenuquebec.ca/en/citizens/income-tax-return/completing-your-income-tax-return/how-to-complete-your-income-tax-return/line-by-line-help/350-to-398-1-non-refundable-tax-credits/line-395/

Province by province:

Alberta — 60.0% on the first $200, 21.0% above. Form AB428 (5009-C), 2025 edition. Alberta credits 60% of the first $200 — six times what most provinces give and the most generous first-tier donation credit in Canada by a wide margin.

British Columbia — 5.06% on the first $200, 16.8% above, 20.5% on high-bracket income. Worksheet BC428 (5010-D), 2025 edition. British Columbia raised its lowest tax rate from 5.06% to 5.60% for 2026 and its donation credit first tier tracks that rate, so this figure is expected to rise when the 2026 worksheet is published.

Manitoba — 10.8% on the first $200, 17.4% above. Form MB428 (5007-C), 2025 edition.

New Brunswick — 9.4% on the first $200, 17.95% above. Form NB428 (5004-C), 2025 edition.

Newfoundland and Labrador — 8.7% on the first $200, 21.8% above. Form NL428 (5001-C), 2025 edition.

Northwest Territories — 5.9% on the first $200, 14.05% above. Form NT428 (5012-C), 2025 edition.

Nova Scotia — 8.79% on the first $200, 21.0% above. Form NS428 (5003-C), 2025 edition.

Nunavut — 4.0% on the first $200, 11.5% above. Form NU428 (5014-C), 2025 edition. Nunavut has the lowest first-tier donation credit in the country, at 4%.

Ontario — 5.05% on the first $200, 11.16% above. Form ON428 (5006-C), 2025 edition.

Prince Edward Island — 9.5% on the first $200, 19.0% above. Form PE428 (5002-C), 2025 edition.

Quebec — 20.0% on the first $200, 24.0% above, 25.75% on high-bracket income. Revenu Québec, line 395.

Saskatchewan — 10.5% on the first $200, 14.5% above. Form SK428 (5008-C), 2025 edition.

Yukon — 6.4% on the first $200, 12.8% above. Form YT428 (5011-C), 2025 edition.

And what is not covered:

— The credit is non-refundable. It reduces tax you owe and cannot create a refund on its own, so someone with no tax to pay gets nothing from it — which is why unused amounts can be carried forward five years.

— The annual limit of 75% of net income is not applied. It only binds on very large gifts relative to income, and in the year of death the limit rises to 100%.

— Gifts of publicly traded securities in kind, ecological gifts and cultural gifts each have their own rules, including an exemption from capital gains tax on donated securities that is often worth more than the credit itself. None of that is modelled.

— The provincial high-income tier is applied against the province's own top bracket threshold, which is how the published worksheets frame it, but the exact wording differs by province.

Where to go next

Canada income tax calculatorThe tax the credit comes off — it cannot reduce it below zero.RRSP tax refund calculatorA deduction rather than a credit, and worth your marginal rate instead.Estate and inheritanceWhere the donation limit rises to 100% of income.All Canadian calculatorsIncome tax, property tax, dividends and the rest.

Questions

How much do I get back for donating $1,000 in Ontario?: $359, or 35.9%. The first $200 is credited at 19.05% and the rest at 40.16%, so the donation really costs you $641.
Why is the first $200 of donations worth less?: Because it is credited at the lowest tax rate rather than the high one — 14.0% federally instead of 29.0%. The threshold is deliberate: the credit is designed to reward substantial giving rather than many small gifts, which is why bunching donations into one year is worth real money.
Should I save up my donation receipts?: Usually yes, unless you are in Alberta. Unused donations carry forward 5 years, so claiming five years of $1,000 gifts together crosses the low $200 tier once instead of five times — worth $169 in Ontario. You still donate every year; you just claim the receipts together.
Can my spouse and I combine our donations?: Yes, and you should. The $200 low tier is per return, not per person. Two partners each claiming $200 get $76 between them; one claiming all $400 gets $118 — $42 more for moving a figure to the other form.
Which province gives the best donation tax credit?: Alberta, by a distance, on small donations: it credits 60.0% of the first $200, so with the federal credit an Albertan gets 74.0% of it back. Above the threshold the provinces converge, because most credit at or near their top rate.
Is the donation tax credit refundable?: No. It reduces tax you owe and stops at zero — someone with no tax to pay gets nothing from it. That is why unused amounts can be carried forward 5 years, and why the partner with more tax to pay should usually claim the receipts.
Is it better to donate shares instead of cash?: Often, and by a lot. Donating publicly traded securities in kind eliminates the capital gains tax on the accrued gain and gives the ordinary credit on the full market value; selling them first and donating the proceeds does not. That saving is not calculated here and can exceed the credit itself.