Canadian Charitable Donation Tax Credit Calculator
What your donations earn back in federal and provincial credit, and what the gift really costs
Your donations
Used for the 33% federal tier and the 75% annual limit.
All receipted gifts to registered Canadian charities, added together.
How the credit is built
Federal credit
Provincial credit
Summary
Who pays for the gift
Credit at different donation amounts
| Donation | Federal | Provincial | Total credit | Your cost | Credit rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $100 | $14.00 | $5.05 | $19.05 | $80.95 | 19.05% |
| $200 | $28.00 | $10.10 | $38.10 | $161.90 | 19.05% |
| $500 | $115.00 | $43.58 | $158.58 | $341.42 | 31.72% |
| $1,000 | $260.00 | $99.38 | $359.38 | $640.62 | 35.94% |
| $2,500 | $695.00 | $266.78 | $961.78 | $1,538.22 | 38.47% |
| $5,000 | $1,420.00 | $545.78 | $1,965.78 | $3,034.22 | 39.32% |
| $10,000 | $2,870.00 | $1,103.78 | $3,973.78 | $6,026.22 | 39.74% |
How the charitable donation tax credit works
Canada gives charitable relief as a non-refundable tax credit, not a deduction. The benefit does not depend on your bracket the way an RRSP contribution does, with one exception at the very top.
The three federal tiers
The federal credit is tiered. The first $200 of total donations in the year earns the lowest federal rate, which is 14% for 2026. Everything above $200 earns 29%, with one exception: the portion of donations above $200 that matches taxable income sitting in the top federal bracket earns 33% instead. That top tier is capped by how much income you actually have taxed at 33%. If $20,000 of your income sits above the top threshold, then at most $20,000 of your donations can earn the 33% rate, and the rest falls back to 29%. The first-$200 rate is worth noting because it is no longer 15%. It tracks the lowest federal personal rate, so the 2025 rate cut moved it to 14.5% for 2025 and 14% for 2026. Any guide still quoting 15% is out of date.
The provincial half
Every province adds its own two-tier credit on top: its own rate on the first $200 and a higher rate above that. These are legislated separately from the tax brackets, so they are not simply the province's lowest and highest rates. Alberta is the outlier: 60% on the first $200, which is by far the most generous first-tier rate in the country and means a small Alberta donation earns a strikingly high combined rate. Ontario's above-$200 rate is 11.16%, not the 13.16% top bracket rate. Quebec runs 20% and 24%. Combined, a $1,000 donation in Ontario at a middle income earns about 36% back. The same donation in Alberta earns about 55%, almost entirely because of that first $200.
Two things worth doing
Because the first $200 earns a much lower rate than everything above it, splitting your giving across two people or two years wastes money: you pay the low-rate tier twice. One spouse should claim the household's donations. The CRA explicitly allows either spouse to claim gifts made by the other. For the same reason, small annual donations can be pooled. Receipts can be carried forward for up to five years, so donating $400 a year for five years and claiming all $2,000 at once puts $1,800 in the high tier instead of $1,000. Donating appreciated publicly traded securities in kind is more efficient again: the capital gain is not taxed at all, and you still get a receipt for the full market value. That is outside this calculator, but it is usually the single biggest lever a donor with a taxable portfolio has.
Limits and carry-forward
You can claim donations against at most 75% of your net income in any one year. Anything above that is not lost: unclaimed receipts carry forward for up to five years. Only gifts to registered Canadian charities and other qualified donees earn the credit. A receipt from a foreign charity, a political party, a GoFundMe or a crowdfunding page generally does not, though political contributions have their own separate credit. The credit is non-refundable. It reduces tax you owe to zero but never generates a refund on its own, so a donor with no tax payable gets nothing back this year and should carry the receipt forward.
Assumptions
The calculator uses your taxable income to size the 33% federal tier and the 75% limit, and applies the province's legislated donation credit rates for the year you pick. It assumes every donation is an ordinary cash gift to a registered charity, with no gifts in kind, no ecological or cultural property, and no first-time donor super credit, which ended after 2017 and no longer exists. Provincial surtaxes are not applied to the credit. In Ontario the donation credit also reduces the base the surtax is calculated on, so a high-income Ontario donor's real benefit is slightly larger than shown.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Last updated: July 2026
It depends on your province and how much you gave. The federal credit is 14% on the first $200 in 2026 and 29% above that, plus a provincial credit on top. In Ontario at a middle income, a $1,000 donation earns about $359 back, so the gift costs you roughly $641. The same $1,000 in Alberta earns about $548 back, almost entirely because Alberta gives 60% on the first $200.
Not any more. The first-$200 rate tracks the lowest federal personal income tax rate, so the 2025 rate cut moved it off 15%. It is 14.5% for the 2025 tax year and 14% for 2026. Any guide still quoting 15% is out of date, and the difference on a small donation is real if minor.
Reviewed by Alexandre Bernier, CFP®, CIM®
Educational tool - estimates only. Not individualized financial, investment, tax, or legal advice. Using it does not create an advisor-client relationship. Rules and figures change; verify against current CRA sources and consult a qualified professional. Editorial policy →