VANCOUVER (CCN) — After a record-breaking year for Project Advance, the Archdiocese of Vancouver is increasing this year’s campaign goal as Catholic donations in Canada resist a national decline in charitable giving.
The 2026 campaign, with its theme “Stronger Together,” follows a year in which donor participation rose, with the campaign reaching its $3.1 million target while parishes collectively raised a record $8 million through Project Advance initiatives. More than $4.54 million will be returned directly to parishes through the rebate program to support local initiatives.
In a message launching the new campaign, with its target of $3.2 million, Archbishop Richard Smith thanked Catholics for supporting parishes and the Church’s mission across the Lower Mainland.
“Each year, your support of Project Advance strengthens the life of your parish,” Archbishop Smith said. “Your generosity helps sustain ministries, outreach and pastoral care, while also supporting the wider mission of the Church throughout the Lower Mainland.”
The campaign video accompanying this year’s launch highlights parish life across the Archdiocese, including families, newcomers, youth, schools, outreach ministries, and community initiatives.
Each parish receives its own fundraising goal, with donations exceeding that target returned directly to the parish to support local priorities and projects.
Last year, more than half of all Project Advance donations were returned to parishes. Parish rebate funds have supported projects ranging from roof repairs and accessibility upgrades to livestreaming equipment, day care improvements, stained-glass restoration, parking lot resurfacing, and ministry initiatives.
The strong local response comes as a Fraser Institute report shows Canadian charitable giving falling to its lowest level in two decades. The report, Generosity in Canada: The 2025 Generosity Index, said 16.8 per cent of Canadian tax filers reported donating to charity in 2023.
The report also found that the share of income Canadians donate has continued to decline, with tax filers giving 0.52 per cent of aggregate income in 2023, down from 0.55 per cent in 2013 and well below levels seen in the early 2000s, when charitable donations often exceeded 0.7 per cent.
The Fraser Institute said the decline “undoubtedly limits” the ability of charities to improve quality of life in their communities, but Catholic organizations across Canada say they continue to see strong support from donors.
The Archdiocese of Vancouver’s Catholic Charities saw donations to the Men’s Shelter more than double to $711,101, compared to $312,497 the year before.
Matthew Furtado, director of communications for the Archdiocese of Vancouver, said support has remained strong despite growing economic pressures.
“I think in general that people have been really generous and have met the needs that they have been seeing,” he said. “People of faith especially see that there’s a great need out there, and it’s a need that is actually getting worse as our economic times get worse. They have gone the other way, having been even more generous because of this.”
Elsewhere in Canada, similar patterns are evident.
Agnes Thomas, executive director of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto, said the decline in national giving may reflect changing patterns of charitable giving rather than a collapse in generosity.
“In my view, (the Fraser report) is not a sign that generosity in Canada is declining, but rather evidence of a shift that has been underway for some time,” Thomas said. “Canadians continue to care deeply about the common good, but how they choose to contribute is evolving, with more people looking beyond writing a cheque to offer their time, advocacy and community involvement.”
She said economic pressures and changing donor expectations are reshaping charitable giving.
“Changing demographics and expectations mean donors want clearer, more accessible information about the impact of their contributions,” Thomas said. “These shifts are also shaped by ongoing economic pressure and market volatility, which influence how people think about giving, even when their commitment to generosity remains strong.”
ShareLife’s Arthur Peters told The Catholic Register that Toronto Catholics continue responding strongly to visible local needs.
“We are very aware that families are under financial pressure and that this affects charitable giving, and we take that context seriously,” Peters said. “That said, what we are seeing at ShareLife does not necessarily reflect a broad pullback in engagement.”
He said food security has become one of the strongest areas of donor response, prompting ShareLife to increase food-security grants to $800,000 in partnership with Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Toronto and anonymous donors.
“The Catholic community responds because hunger is visible in their parishes and neighbourhoods,” Peters said, “and they understand that giving through ShareLife is a way of responding to the needs of our brothers and sisters.”
Some Catholic organizations in the Prairie provinces also appear to be countering the Fraser findings. The Diocese of Saskatoon Catholic Foundation reported donations rising to more than $5.6 million in 2025, up from $2.2 million the previous year, while Catholic Social Services Alberta in Edmonton reported modest increases in private grants and donations.
Stained glass windows are among the most beautiful and recognizable features of Catholic churches, and among the most expensive to preserve. As parishes across the Archdiocese of Vancouver launch this year’s Project Advance campaign, several are undertaking restoration and preservation projects to protect that artistic heritage.
Corpus Christi in Vancouver is aiming at raising $150,000 above its diocesan goal in part to install protective glass for its stained-glass windows, while Star of the Sea in White Rock says Project Advance funds will help upgrade church windows.
At St. Augustine’s in Vancouver, the 2025 campaign focused on the urgent restoration of deteriorating stained-glass windows, with repairs estimated at $30,000 per panel, along with repairs to the parish pipe organ. The parish described the windows and organ as treasures “central to our faith experience.”
In 2026, Project Advance is helping to fund the continued restoration of the church’s historic windows, many of which are suffering from age, weather, structural stress, and deterioration.
“Stained glass windows have long adorned churches, adding beauty, symbolism, and spiritual significance,” a parish backgrounder says. “These windows are not just decorative artifacts, they filter light in a way that creates a mystical and ethereal atmosphere.”
Built in 1932 and designated an “A-listed” heritage building by the City of Vancouver, St. Augustine’s has 53 stained-glass windows, including six large full-colour windows, eight heraldic windows, and dozens of smaller neutral-glass windows. Many are now showing the effects of time.
The sheer weight of the glass and lead can cause windows to buckle over time, according to the parish. Steel supports rust and ultraviolet light dulls colours, especially on sun-exposed walls. Heavy rain and weather that fluctuates between freezing winters and hot summers also contribute to deterioration.
“Many of our windows would be virtually irreplaceable if damaged,” the parish wrote in a fundraising appeal.
Last spring, the parish completed the first major restoration of the transept windows, but additional restoration work is still needed.
Window restoration is a challenge facing many older Catholic churches, where stained glass is both an artistic treasure and an ongoing maintenance responsibility. It can mean re-leading panels, repairing cracked glass, reinforcing support structures, improving weather sealing, and installing protective exterior glazing. At St. Augustine’s, older acrylic protective coverings installed decades ago have themselves discoloured and now require replacement with modern laminated glass.
It’s all part of the spiritual and historical role of the church building itself, says the parish.
“For more than a century, St. Augustine’s Church has been a place of prayer, worship, and community in the heart of Kitsilano,” the parish wrote in its 2026 Project Advance materials. “These projects are not simply about maintaining a structure. They are about preserving a sacred space where generations gather to pray, celebrate the sacraments, find comfort, and encounter Christ.”
