Canadians opened their pocketbooks to charities to record levels in 2005, donating more than $7.9 million, Statistics Canada said today.

Overall charitable donations were nearly 14% higher in 2005 than they were the previous year, according to the annual report from StatsCan.

The greatest increase occurred in Alberta (21.1%), Nova Scotia (18.5%), and Manitoba (17.7%).

While more than 5.8 million donors gave to charities last year, it appears that those who normally give, gave more in 2005 than in previous years. There was less than a 1% increase in the overall number of donors.

In 2005, the median donation rose to $240 from $230 in 2004.

Residents of Nunavut continued to give the largest individual donations of any region in Canada, with a median donation of $400.

Broken down by city, Abbotsford, B.C., reported by far the highest median donation for the third straight year giving $560 last year — the next highest was Toronto at $350.

Only two provinces showed a decrease in the number of donors from the previous year; Saskatchewan, where the number of donors declined 0.9%, and Newfoundland and Labrador where they edged down 0.2%.