A growing number of Canadians have created online fundraising campaigns to help with monthly bills and essential needs, says major crowdfunding platform GoFundMe.

It’s a trend that experts say underlines the affordability crisis and weaknesses in the country’s social support system, as many Canadians struggle with rising expenses and high inflation.

For the essential needs category, almost 12,000 fundraisers have been started to date from January through April in 2026, a seven per cent increase year-over-year, GoFundMe spokesperson Aisha Vernon said in an email to CTVNews.ca this week.