New report reveals dramatic rise in crowdfunding for living expenses
A growing number of Canadians have been resorting to GoFundMe to seek financial assistance for basic living expenses, signalling a distressing trend amidst the nation’s growing affordability challenges.
A new report released by the crowdfunding platform Monday has found a massive upswing in fundraisers initiated by Canadians with the objective of covering costs associated with cost-of-living expenses.
According to GoFundMe’s findings, there has been a 274% increase in such campaigns since 2020. The uptick was attributed to the dual pressures of record-high inflation rates and a critical shortage of affordable housing.
Canadians also launched approximately 214,912 fundraising campaigns related to living expenses from 2020 to 2023, raising about $480 million in donations.
Additionally, Toronto, Calgary, and Vancouver emerged as the epicentres for these cost-of-living fundraisers.
The report went on to divide Canadians’ financial aid requests into two primary categories. A total of 55,997 campaigns were specifically aimed at soliciting help with food expenses, while 139,447 fundraisers were created to assist individuals struggling to manage their housing costs.
GoFundMe is commonly utilized for funding medical bills, educational fees, and other personal or community projects.
Along with its latest findings, the platform published a webpage that compiles cost-of-living resources and related campaigns. One of the campaigns featured on this webpage raised $8,371 for a man in Ontario who was forced to live in his car due to housing costs.
In January, TransUnion shared findings from a consumer survey indicating that Canadians are becoming increasingly concerned about their household finances.
According to this survey, 43% of Canadians believe their financial situations are worse than anticipated, while 57% said they’ve cut back on their spending ahead of a potential recession.
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