Places of worship are more than just places where people gather on weekends. They are also economic generators.
That’s the view of Lisa Richmond, vice-president of research for Cardus, a Canadian think-tank.
Using Cardus’ Halo Calculator, which estimates the economic impact of places of worship, Richmond said Canadian churches, mosques, synagogues, gurdwaras and temples generate about $18 billion of economic value for the country each year.
“That’s the impact of thousands of places of worship,” said Richmond. “This isn’t something most people are aware of.”
Cardus arrived at that figure through research that found every dollar spent by a place of worship resulted in $3.39 of economic value to a community. The impact was even higher in rural areas, at $5.02.
That value — something Cardus calls “the halo effect” — arises from direct spending by places of worship, but also through hosting food banks and daycares, sponsoring refugees and offering free space to addiction counseling and other support programs and low or no-cost space to performers.
It also comes from what they call the “magnet effect”: places of worship attract people from outside the neighbourhood for services, funerals or weddings who then might spend money in the area.
The impact is higher in rural areas, Richmond said, because there are fewer places of worship that provide more services.
The figures are based on the very first Halo study conducted in the United States in 2016 by Partners for Sacred Places and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Social Policy and Practice.
Cardus used the same methodology in Canada, also in 2016. They examined 41 variables, grouped into areas such as space for community recreational use, direct spending, educational programs, the magnet effect, helping individuals such as refugees, community development programs and social capital. Their goal was to count things that benefit people in the surrounding community, including things like meal programs or food banks.
For Richmond, one result of the Halo Project’s findings should be to dispel the idea that places of worship should be taxed more.
“All we have to do is imagine what communities would be like if all those services and programs disappeared,” she said, noting communities get more back in economic value than they would from additional taxes. “I think society would be much worse off.”
Mark Lee teaches strategic management at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C. He thinks the Halo Project has merit, but he wonders about the multiplier effect.
It is likely that people live close to the places of worship they attend, he said. As a result, “it would be difficult to say how much of the multiplier is church related versus normal spending and consumption by the church members.”
“I have no doubt there is a multiplier effect, but I’m leery about such definitive numbers without more supporting data,” he added.
Bruno Dyck, who teaches business at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg, sees parallels between the Halo Project and the multiplier effect.
“I see parts of the positive benefits the Halo Project identifies in this light, since money spent locally helps the local economy,” he said.
He also sees positive impacts when places of worship support people in times of crisis, helping to ease distress that would otherwise lead to mental health costs.
But he wonders if the Halo Project adequately considers some of the negative effects of religion and religious organizations, such as the “judgmentalism exhibited by some religious people” toward the LGBTQ+ community, or if groups protest things such as pipelines that provide jobs for people in a community.
In November, Cardus will release a new study showing why religion should continue to be seen as a charitable cause in the Canadian tax code.
To learn more about the Halo Project, visit https://haloproject.ca
