Ottawa charities welcome donations on Giving Tuesday as demand rises and resources shrink

Ottawa charities are welcoming donations on Giving Tuesday as the need for their services grows, and resources shrink. CTV’s Katelyn Wilson reports.

After Black Friday and Cyber Monday comes Giving Tuesday, a day to turn savings into support, and for local charities many say the need is growing as their resources shrink.

At BGC Ottawa, Ahmed Aden says it’s like a second home. Today, he works at the clubhouse that once supported him, elping run programs for youth in some of the city’s most vulnerable neighbourhoods.

“I don’t know what I would be doing without the Boys and Girls Club. It was actually like my whole childhood,” he said.

He sees first-hand how important fundraising is, especially on a day centred around giving back.

“The more support we get, the better off we’re going to be able to offer programming to really wrap the end of this year and also go into next year in a positive way,” said BGC Ottawa’s CEO, Adam Joiner.

Joiner says BGC Ottawa has been forced to scale back in recent years. A couple of years ago, the organization shut down one of its locations and has since reduced services city-wide by 26 per cent, strained by rising costs and shrinking support.

“Overall, grants are down in general, not just for us, but for a lot of organizations in our city so there’s an increased pressure,” he said. “So, it’s two-fold—the pressure from grants being down and then the pressure of the cost of living and everything going up at the same time.”

The pressure on local charities reflects a broader national trend. CanadaHelps, an online platform for both donors and charities, says organizations are facing fewer donors and tighter budgets.

“Giving Tuesday is like our Super Bowl or Grey Cup or Stanley Cup. This is the biggest day for giving to charities in the year. There are over 85,000 charities in Canada, all are on our website, you can browse them, drop them in your shopping cart like you’re shopping on Amazon, check out and get a tax receipt,” said Duke Chang, CEO of CanadaHelps.

“I really want Canadians to think about those small and local organizations in their communities. Every cent, every dollar counts for them. The impact you can create locally is great.”

At Daybreak Housing, Giving Tuesday comes at a pivotal moment. The organization hopes to purchase a seventh home, expanding supportive housing for people transitioning out of homelessness.

“We’re seeing huge demand. The housing crisis in Ottawa continues with over 3,000 people nightly homeless and so we receive anywhere from five to six calls a week seeing if we have any vacancies,” said CEO Alison Telford.

“We just had a significant foundation repair at one of our houses, so all those collective donations go right back into the homes and then hopefully a little bit left over for a new purchase one day.”

Kind Space, an organization providing resources and a safe space for Ottawa’s LGBTQ2S+ community, is also facing urgent financial pressure.

The centre needs $60,000 by the end of 2026 and $5,000 by the end of this month to keep its drop-in service open.

“We’ve seen a significant increase, about seven per cent already this year. That $5,000 is really critical to fill the gap between when funding comes in and when the money we currently have runs out,” said executive director Carling Miller.

“The most at-risk service is the drop-in, in terms of being able to be open the three days a week it’s open now. So, anything that people donate actually makes like a real tangible difference to us being able to function properly without interruption, especially in the coming New Year.”

At BGC Ottawa donations are being matched up to $25,000, doubling the impact on a day that reminds us that it’s better to give than receive.

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