Catholic Missions withstands tough times

Resilient is as good a word as any to describe Catholic Missions In Canada's (CMIC) first 10 months of 2026.

Longtime Stewardship Officer Joe Gennaro shared that while “things stand pretty well at Catholic Missions In Canada as a charity,” he emphasized that “we always have to stay on the ball because it is a difficult slog.” He elaborated that fundraising is “especially difficult” right now as the “current environment has people cautious about what they do in terms of philanthropy.”  

The seven-person staff for CMIC continue determinedly onward amid these headwinds, propelled by their mission to keep the Catholic faith alive and thriving in Canada’s remotest regions. 

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Their most significant contribution toward this goal is directly sustaining missionaries working across 24 dioceses. Funds dispersed by CMIC cover these missionaries’ food, health care, travel costs, insurance, clothing, housing and more.         

Gennaro said CMIC keeps administrative costs under eight per cent, thus maximizing the impact of a donor’s charitable and legacy giving dollars. 

The 118-year-old organization — originally known as the Catholic Church Extension Society of Canada — also supports seminarians, repairing and maintaining mission churches and sustaining religious education and lay formation programs.

“We also promote that all the money raised by Catholic Missions stays in Canada,” he said. 

Regarding planned giving, the CMIC website (cmic.info) outlines many different avenues. One of the most embraced of the non-profit’s estate planning options is charitable gift annuities.

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Anyone aged 70 years or older may sign up with a minimum amount of $10,000. This program is described as a lasting gift that also gives back. A contributor bestows an enduring gift to a charitable organization and, in return, receives income payments and tax reductions going forward. 

“Annuities have been very popular with us the past couple of years because of the fact your giving creates a revenue for you,” said Gennaro. “In this economy, it’s appealing there’s another (source) of guaranteed income for the rest of a person’s life."

Annuitants may also receive a one-time charitable donation receipt for 20 per cent or more of their initial gift, and joint annuities are available with their spouse or with other family members. There are Canadians still earning interest on CMIC charitable gift annuities that date back to the early 1990s.

One could also include CMIC in their planned giving through his or her will, life insurance policy or through a gift in kind, such as publicly traded securities, real estate and other tangible assets.

About the gifts in kind, Gennaro remarked to the Register in 2025 that “it is something we have given more focus to because of the advantages to both the donor and us. (The advantage) to the donor, of course, is that they could donate, not subject to capital gains tax, and get full-value receipts for the total donation. And for us, of course, is because it's not subject to capital gains tax, the donor can give us more money.”

Gennaro said CMIC has been “very fortunate with the estate planning,” but he is aware that this source of charitable giving has become more pronounced due to “the fact of an aging population.”

“Although we are doing well in terms of receiving funds from the estates, we are also concerned with what is going to happen after those people are no longer and we have a population backfilling that is less philanthropic,” he said.

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The Fraser Institute public policy think tank found last December that from 2013-2023, “the share of tax-filers who reported donations to charity fell from 21.9 per cent to 16.8 per cent,” representing the lowest portion of Canadians donating since 2003.

Younger faith-filled Canadians are called to buck this trend and actively partake in the destiny of propagating the Gospel message by supporting groups like the CMIC that work every day to keep Catholicism flourishing across the nation for generations to come.

(Amundson is an associate editor and writer for The Catholic Register.)

A version of this article appeared in the November 08, 2026 issue of The Catholic Register with the headline "Catholic Missions withstands tough times".