Shopify – Federal Court indicates that it would pare back a CRA unnamed-person requirement (if not already invalid for vagueness) because it would require 8 person-years to respond

The Minister issued a requirement to Shopify pursuant to s. 231.2 for information identifying listed particulars for all Canadian-resident merchant customers of Shopify. The requested particulars were more extensive than in the companion 2025 FC 968 case (re a treaty-based request). The Ministers sought judicial authorization of such requirement pursuant to s. 231.2(3).

Régimbald J found that although the target group would have been “ascertainable” if the requirement had been restricted to Canadian "merchants," it was unclear (due to contradictory CRA wording) whether the requirement also extended to persons, whether individual or business entities, associated with Shopify accounts. This had the effect of "rendering the target group unduly vague and diffuse, and leaving Shopify in a conundrum as to what to provide in response to the [requirement]”.

Although the request for authorization thus failed on s. 231.2(3)(a) grounds, for completeness, Régimbald J. went on to consider (i) s. 231.2(3)(b) (re verifying compliance under the ITA) and (ii) whether it would have been appropriate for him to exercise his residual discretion to restrict or deny the request for authorization.

Regarding (i), the potential inclusion in the requirement of persons associated with Shopify accounts (described above) violated s. 231.2(3)(b) because the Minister's evidence did not identify any intent to verify the compliance of those additional individuals and business entities with any duty or obligation under the ITA.

Regarding (ii), Shopify had brought uncontradicted evidence that complying with the requirement would take eight person-years of work. Accordingly, the proposed requirement was "disproportional," and he indicated that he would have been inclined to authorize a more limited requirement in similar terms to what was proposed in the companion case, i.e., limited to the total sales revenues and a limited list of identifying particulars.

Neal Armstrong. Summary of Canada (National Revenue) v. Shopify Inc., 2025 FC 969 under s. 231.2(3).