Non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada, 2023

Release date: March 13, 2026
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Infographic: Non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada, 2023
Description: Non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada, 2023

In 2023, 28,892 non-profit organizations were active in rural and small town Canada, representing 21.2% of all non-profit organizations in the country.

Non-profit organizations in rural and small towns employed 449,058 people. Almost 60% of these employees were in Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.

Number of non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada and total number of employees, 2023 Table summary
The information is grouped by Province or territory (appearing as row headers), , calculated using (appearing as column headers).
Province or territory Number of non-profit organizations Number of employees
Newfoundland and Labrador 930 12,431
Prince Edward Island 407 4,276
Nova Scotia 1,747 36,210
New Brunswick 1,398 15,380
Quebec 6,928 129,162
Ontario 5,643 79,815
Manitoba 2,332 37,935
Saskatchewan 2,784 33,623
Alberta 3,543 46,702
British Columbia 2,778 49,205
Yukon 44 300
Northwest Territories 158 1,463
Nunavut 200 2,556
Most common areas of activityNote 1 of non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada Table summary
The information is grouped by Activity group (appearing as row headers), Share of all activity groups, calculated using percent units of measure (appearing as column headers).
Activity group Share of all activity groups
percent
Religion 22.8
Sports, recreation and social clubs 17.3
Social services 14.2

In 2023, non-profit organizations in rural and small towns generated $26 billion in revenue, accounting for 7.2% of the total revenue ($361 billion) of all non-profit organizations across Canada.

Non-profit organizations in health care and social assistance (48.3%) and education services (24.1%) were among those that contributed the most to the total revenue of non-profit organizations in rural and small town Canada.

Note: In this infographic, rural and small towns refer to anywhere outside a census metropolitan area or census agglomeration based on Statistics Canada’s 2021 Standard Geographical Classification.

Source: Statistics Canada, table 45-10-0108-01 - Rural Canada non-profits, estimates of active non-profit organization counts, revenues and employment by industry and table 45-10-0109-01 - Rural Canada non-profits, estimates of active non-profit organization counts, revenues and employment by activity.

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Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© His Majesty the King in Right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2026

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

Frequency: Occasional

Ottawa

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