Are We Still a Giving People? Rethinking the Spirit of Service

By Muneeb Nasir

In a recent broadcast of CBC’s The Current, host Matt Galloway posed a question that should stop every non-profit leader in their tracks: Are Canadians becoming less generous? 

The segment painted a sobering picture of our national landscape. 

For the first time in over twenty years, the number of people donating to charity has hit a record low, and the hours we spend volunteering are in a freefall.

As I listened to the experts—Megan Conway from Volunteer Canada and Bruce MacDonald from Imagine Canada—I couldn't help but reflect on what this means for our local institutions. 

From the faith institutions and community centres we frequent to the non-profits we are seeing the same trend - the bonds that hold our social fabric together are weakening

The Economics of Exhaustion

The decline isn't happening in a vacuum. 

The broadcast highlighted that the economy and the lingering shadows of the pandemic are primary culprits. 

When people are struggling to pay rent or put food on the table, the luxury of "free time" disappears. 

Volunteering, once seen as a standard part of a weekend, has become a high-cost commitment for many.

However, the conversation went deeper than just dollars and cents. 

The experts spoke of a loss of "shared values." 

We are becoming a society of individuals, retreated into our digital silos, losing the habit of participation. 

In our own community, we see this in the struggle to find young board members or the difficulty in recruiting volunteers to run programs.

Service as a Sacred Duty

In the Islamic tradition, service to others—or khidma—is not an optional "extra" to be performed only when we have spare time and money. 

It is a fundamental expression of faith. 

Our faith tradition emphasizes that our humanity is tied to how we treat the most vulnerable among us. 

When we volunteer, we are fulfilling a covenant with our Creator to care for His creation.

The Peril of the "Macro" Shift

One of the most poignant points made on The Current was the shift toward "macro" solutions. 

When local volunteerism fails, we look to the government to fill every gap. 

Government programs—while essential—cannot replace the warmth of a neighbour. 

A bureaucracy can provide a meal, but it cannot provide the sense of belonging that comes when a volunteer looks a stranger in the eye and says, "I am here because I care about you."

If we lose the "small" acts—the person who organizes the community fridge, the volunteer who mentors a youth, the neighbor who checks on the house next door—we lose the very things that make a neighbourhood a community.

A Call for a "Volunteer Renaissance" in 2026

So, where do we go from here?

We cannot simply wait for the economy to improve before we start helping again. 

In fact, it is during these lean times that our service is most needed.

1. Redefine Volunteering: It doesn't always have to be a long term commitment. It can be fifteen minutes of mentoring or helping a local non-profit with a social media post.
2. Invest in the "Waqf" Model: At the Olive Tree Foundation, we promote the idea of the Waqf (endowment)—creating sustainable systems of giving that last for generations. Volunteering is a "human waqf." We are investing our time today to build a legacy for tomorrow.
3. Build New Habits: We need to teach our children that service is a muscle. If we don't exercise it, it withers.

The segment on The Current was a "reality check," as one listener put it. 

But it should also be a spark. 

True strength doesn’t come from the grand gestures of the powerful or privileged, but from the constant support we give each other.

Let us make 2026 the year we reclaim our place as a "coalition of the willing" in our own backyards.

Here is the link to the video recording of the specific segment from The Current that addresses the decline in Canadian volunteerism and charitable giving, featuring interviews with sector leaders: