CCCC Responds to Troubling Recommendations on Charitable Status

Last week, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (Committee) released Report 21, Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the 2025 Budget.

Buried in the 300-page report are two deeply troubling recommendations about charitable status. Namely, that the government:

• No longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations (#429);
• Amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of charity which would remove the privileged status of “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose.

CCCC and others have already written to express concern and shock that the Committee would make such recommendations. And that the Committee would make the recommendations without consulting religious charities and without giving any rationale or reason.

With the political instability in our current federal government, it is uncertain whether any legislation will move forward, let alone a 2025 budget bill. Even so, it is essential to speak out about these recommendations.

Almost 40% of Canada’s registered charities advance religion. Religious congregations have a net-positive socio-economic contribution of $16.5 billion. Religion creates tangible community benefits for the public at large, develops and activates prosocial attitudes and behaviours (see “The Impact of the ‘Advancing Religion’ Charitable Sub-Sector in Canada“) . Religious communities are an essential part of a truly diverse, multicultural, and pluralistic society.

We highlight these attributes of religious charities and note key concerns with the Recommendations in our letter, below. We will keep advocating for our sector and representing faith-based charities. Your positive contributions to Canadians and the world are essential and we will work to maintain a positive legal environment in which your work can flourish.