A study supported by the Mental Health Commission of Canada estimates that the ratio of charitable giving to government funding of nonprofit mental health care in Canada is about .55 percent (that is, $35 million to $6.3 billion CAD).
The study looked at the sources of revenue of nonprofit mental health and addictions organizations in Canada that are used to augment government funding. The authors developed a list of nonprofit, service-providing organizations in Canada and analyzed their financial returns to the Canada Revenue Agency in 2007 in aggregate.
The study also found that although nonprofit mental health organizations play a substantial role in the delivery of services, charitable giving as a percentage of government expenditures is relatively small. The authors believe that given that the nonprofit sector is so important to service delivery, its role in bringing new funds into the mental health system is not sufficient enough to offset the low level of government expenditures on mental health in Canada.
See “Sources of Revenue for Nonprofit Mental Health and Addictions Organizations in Canada,” Psychiatric Services (October 2010; 61[10]: 1032-1034), available at psychservices.psychiatryonline.org.