Details on transfer payment programs of $5 million or more

Children’s Special Allowance payments (Statutory)

Start date

August 28, 1995^{Footnote 1}

End date

Ongoing

Type of transfer payment

Other transfer payment

Type of appropriation

Children’s Special Allowances Act (statutory authority)

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2023–24

Link to departmental result(s)

Benefits

Link to the department’s Program Inventory

Benefits

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

Tax-free monthly payments made to federal, provincial or Indigenous governing body agencies or organizations that care for and maintain children under 18 years of age who reside in Canada. Children’s Special Allowance payments are equivalent to the maximum monthly amount of the Canada child benefit payments and are governed by the Children’s Special Allowances Act, which provides that this allowance be paid out of the Consolidated Revenue Fund.

Expected results

Canadians received their rightful benefits in a timely manner.

Fiscal year of last completed evaluation

Not applicable

Decision following the results of last evaluation

Not applicable

Fiscal year of next planned evaluation

Not applicable

General targeted recipient groups

Other

Initiatives to engage applicants and recipients

Not applicable

Table 1: Financial information (dollars) for Children’s Special Allowance payments (Statutory)

Distribution of fuel charges – Canada Carbon Rebate (statutory)

Start date

June 21, 2018

End date

Ongoing

Type of transfer payment

Other transfer payment

Type of appropriation

Statutory authority provided for under the Income Tax Act. The Canada Carbon Rebate is deemed to have been paid as a rebate in respect of fuel charges levied under Part I of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2023–24

Link to departmental result(s)

Benefits

Link to the department’s Program Inventory

Benefits

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

For jurisdictions that do not meet the Canada-wide federal standard for reducing carbon pollution, the Government will return all direct proceeds from the fuel charge in the jurisdiction of origin, with the bulk of direct proceeds going to individuals and families residing in those provinces through the Canadian Carbon Rebate. Payments made to individuals and families vary by province of residence given that different levels of proceeds are generated in each affected jurisdiction, and the impacts of carbon pollution pricing on households differ. These variations are an outcome of the different types and quantities of fuels consumed in different provinces.

Expected results

Canadians received their rightful benefits in a timely manner.

Fiscal year of last completed evaluation

Not applicable

Decision following the results of last evaluation

Not applicable

Fiscal year of next planned evaluation

Not applicable

General targeted recipient groups

Individuals

Initiatives to engage applicants and recipients

Not applicable

Table 2: Financial information (dollars) for distribution of fuel charges – Canada Carbon Rebate (statutory)

Distribution of fuel charges – to farming businesses (statutory)

Start date

Section 127.42 (Return of Fuel Charge Proceeds to Farmers Tax Credit) of the Income Tax Act was added via Bill C‑8, which received Royal Assent on June 10, 2022, applicable to the 2021 and subsequent years.

End date

Ongoing

Type of transfer payment

Other transfer payment

Type of appropriation

Statutory authority established pursuant to section 127.42 of the Income Tax Act. It will return fuel charge proceeds to farmers carrying on business in involuntary backstop jurisdictions.

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2023–24

Link to departmental result(s)

Benefits

Link to the department’s Program Inventory

Benefits

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

The purpose of the credit is to assist eligible farming businesses afford the cost of fighting climate change by returning a portion of fuel charge proceeds from the price on pollution directly to them in backstop provinces, meaning provinces that have not adopted either the federal system of applying a price on pollution or rules that meet the federal government’s stringency requirements.

Expected results

Eligible farming businesses, including self-employed farmers, corporations, trusts, or partnerships actively engaged in earning income from farming, with total expenses of at least $25,000 with one or more permanent establishments located in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, or Alberta, can claim a tax credit on their T1, T2, and T3 income tax returns. Self-employed farmers or individuals who are members of partnerships can claim the credit on line 47556 of their income tax and benefit return. Trusts can claim the credit on line 64 of Form T3RET, while corporations can claim it on line 795 of the T2 return.

Note: Effective for 2023 and subsequent tax years, as announced by Environment and Climate Change Canada on November 22, 2022, the fuel charge program will expand to include Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador and Prince Edward Island, where the Return fuel charge proceeds to farming businesses will apply.

Fiscal year of last completed evaluation

Not applicable

Decision following the results of last evaluation

Not applicable

Fiscal year of next planned evaluation

Not applicable

General targeted recipient groups

Eligible Farming Businesses

Initiatives to engage applicants and recipients

Not applicable

Table 3: Financial information (dollars) for distribution of fuel charges – to farming businesses (statutory)

Distribution of fuel charges – to provinces and territories (statutory)

Start date

July 1, 2019

End date

Ongoing

Type of transfer payment

Other transfer payment

Type of appropriation

Statutory authority established pursuant to section 165(2) of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act. It provides for payments to provinces/territories as stipulated in the Act.

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2023–24

Link to departmental result(s)

Benefits

Link to the department’s Program Inventory

Benefits

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

Yukon and Nunavut are two jurisdictions that chose to adopt the federal pollution pricing system. The CRA recognizes the distribution of fuel charge amounts as transfer payments to provinces/territories.

Expected results

Ensure compliance with paragraph 165(2) of the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act.

Fiscal year of last completed evaluation

Not applicable

Decision following the results of last evaluation

Not applicable

Fiscal year of next planned evaluation

Not applicable

General targeted recipient groups

Provinces and territories

Initiatives to engage applicants and recipients

Not applicable

Table 4: Financial information (dollars) for distribution of fuel charges – to provinces and territories (statutory)

Details on transfer payment programs of less than $5 million

Community Volunteer Income Tax Program

Start date

April 1, 2021

End date

March 31, 2024

Type of transfer payment

Grant

Type of appropriation

Appropriated annually through the Estimates

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2020–21

Link to departmental result(s)

Benefits

Link to the department’s Program Inventory

Benefits

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

The Community Volunteer Income Tax Program (CVITP) is a collaboration between the CRA and community organizations which host tax preparation clinics and arrange for volunteers to prepare income tax and benefit returns for eligible individuals. The purpose of the grant is to provide direct financial support to eligible organizations to defray some of the administrative costs they incur in hosting tax preparation clinics and to encourage growth and retention among organizations.

Expected results

The grant has four expected results: (1) increase the number of organizations that participate in the CVITP annually; (2) decrease in the total number of organizations that do not return to the CVITP after two years or less participation; (3) increase in the number of volunteers annually who are associated to grant recipient organizations; and (4) increase in the number of returns annually filed by grant recipient organizations.

Fiscal year of last completed evaluation

Not applicable

Decision following the results of last evaluation

Not applicable

Fiscal year of next planned evaluation

No evaluation planned as transfer payment program is less than $5M in each year for the duration of the pilot.

General targeted recipient groups

Not-for-profit organizations and charities.

Initiatives to engage applicants and recipients

Engagement includes annual application process and public opinion research over the duration of the pilot.

Table 5: Financial information (dollars) for Community Volunteer Income Tax Program

Change in Authorities – Forecast and Planned Spending

The following table details the adjustments reflected in the CRA’s 2023–24 forecast spending from the Main Estimate authorities tabled in Parliament. It also includes planned spending for the upcoming three fiscal years.

Table 6: Change in Authorities – Forecast and Planned Spending

Gender-based Analysis Plus

GBA Plus is an analytical process that provides a means to assess how diverse groups of women, men, and gender diverse people may experience policies, programs and initiatives. The “Plus” in GBA Plus acknowledges that we all have multiple characteristics that intersect and contribute to who we are. GBA Plus considers many identity factors other than sex (biological) and gender (socio-cultural) such as race, ethnicity, religion, age, mental or physical disability, income level and geographic location, and how the interaction between these factors influences the way we might experience government policies and initiatives.

The CRA currently collects data required to administer tax and benefit programs. This data includes taxpayers’ social insurance number (SIN), date of birth, address (region), and income that could be used to conduct GBA Plus analysis. The CRA produces disaggregated data for a number of programs, including Income statistics and GST/HST statistics

In addition, the CRA currently has information-sharing agreements with other departments, such as Statistics Canada and Employment Services and Development Canada (ESDC). The CRA continues to explore ways to leverage these information-sharing agreements and data holdings of other federal departments to monitor and report on program impacts by gender and diversity, while managing taxpayers’ information appropriately, pursuant to the Income Tax Act.

The Agency also looks forward to continuing its leadership role within the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Forum on Tax Administration Gender Balance Network (GBN), where countries share experiences and best practices, and work together on important challenges, for example, in the coming year, the GBN plans to focus on the development of a gender maturity model and work around unconscious bias in tax administrations.

Highlights of GBA Plus results reporting by program

Program Name: Charities

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

The Charities Directorate collects information required to support public transparency around the activities of registered charities and its compliance activities. It does not currently have a regulatory mandate to monitor and report on the activities of registered charities by gender, diversity, and other identity factors. Should the Income Tax Act be amended to require registered charities to provide such information to the CRA and should the CRA have the authority to release this information to the public, the Charities Directorate is committed to working with the Agency’s GBA Plus Centre of Expertise to draw upon their insights and experience.

Program Name: Registered plans

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

Registered Plans is committed to make best efforts in determining how data collected by the program can be used to report on impacts by gender and diversity factors, and to try to evaluate how to use the data to determine whether unconscious bias exists.

Program Name: Policy, ruling, and interpretations

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

The Policy, Ruling and Interpretations program is committed to make best efforts in determining how data collected by the program can be used to report on impacts by gender and diversity factors, and to try to evaluate how to use the data to determine whether unconscious bias exists.

Program Name: Reporting compliance

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

Yes

Since the Compliance Programs Branch (CPB) does not collect information specific to identity factors, the branch takes advantage of the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) data holdings that are collected mostly through the various tax forms submitted by taxpayers. Using the CRA’s data holdings, the CPB is able to analyze the impact of compliance programs on diverse groups. While the CPB has access to various identity factors from this data, including gender, age, and income, there are many other identity factors that are not accessible through the information reported on tax forms, such as religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. The CPB continues to look for new ways to use the CRA’s data holdings to better understand how our programs impact different groups based on identity factors that we collect.

Scientific Research and Experimental Development Program:

• The Scientific Research and Experimental Development (SR&ED) Program will continue to conduct monthly webinar surveys for the fiscal year 2024–25, as part of its service initiatives, to measure the effectiveness of its outreach activities. The SR&ED Program provides survey respondents with the option of indicating their gender and demographic information during this process, when applicable. The results of this survey will help to improve the SR&ED Program’s services and products, and ensure they are tailored to the needs of potential claimants by employing a GBA Plus lens.

Program Name: Service Feedback

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

Yes

The Service Feedback Program (SFP) collects data to enable reporting by diversity factors.

The CRA has developed a plan to integrate GBA Plus-type data from other CRA data sources with feedback data. The goal is to integrate client demographic information, such as income level, age, gender, and language, allowing the SFP to better understand the various segments of the population that submit feedback, as well as those that are not submitting feedback. This integration of data will be used to improve service to Canadians.

A preliminary set of data has been extracted from the SFP and is being linked to other CRA data sources to obtain disaggregated demographic data. This data will then undergo a rigorous quality assurance exercise to ensure its integrity.

It is expected that the SFP will be in a position to report on its GBA Plus data findings during the next reporting period.

Program Name: Returns Compliance

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

The goal of the Returns Compliance programs is to ensure all taxpayers are treated fairly, regardless of gender or any other bias.

It is necessary that risk assessment remain neutral, and files are selected based on factors such as expected return information and reporting and filing behaviour.

Returns compliance activities are not targeted to any specific population.

The risk scoring model and other related activities do not include diversity factor elements but instead focuses on factors such as estimated tax owing, or compliance history.

No socio-demographic variables are considered when selecting files for review, nor do the programs collect such information about the files selected.

As such, there are currently no plans to collect data for GBA Plus monitoring and reporting purposes.

Program Name: Collections

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

The goal of Collections is to assist taxpayers with debt balances, regardless of demographics.

The target population is all Canadians.

The distribution of benefits for this program is broadly gender-balanced, income has no significant distributional impact, and age has no significant impact.

The Collections Program does not target a specific client base, and is not influenced by demographic characteristics, such as income levels, age, gender, and language.

There are currently no plans to collect data for GBA Plus monitoring and reporting purposes.

Program Name: Taxpayer Relief

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

The Taxpayer Relief Program does not collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus) on the population who has chosen to make a request for relief. The program reviews requests on a case-by-case basis taking into account the circumstances of taxpayers. Identity elements are not considered when determining the outcome of a request.

To address the existing limitations, the CRA is working to identify and locate Agency-wide data that can be linked to taxpayers who file relief requests. The goal is to provide the Appeals programs with the information required to be able to track and report the impacts on diverse groups of Canadians. To date, the CRA has been able to combine stored demographic data, such as gender, language, income level, geography, age, and disability, with appeals specific data and is preparing it for analytical purposes.

Program Name: Objections and Appeals

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

The Objections program does not collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus) on the population who has chosen to file an objection to dispute their income tax or commodity tax assessment, or their determination on tax credits or benefits. The program reviews objections on a case-by-case basis taking into account any new information provided by the taxpayer. Identity elements are not considered when determining the outcome of an objection.

The Appeals program does not collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus) on the population who has chosen to file an appeal to the court. The program reviews notices of an appeal on a case-by-case basis taking into account any new information provided by the taxpayer. Where settlements cannot be reached, the court makes the ultimate decision on the outcome of an appeal. Identity elements are not considered by the program when determining the outcome of an appeal.

To address the existing limitations, the CRA is working to identify and locate Agency-wide data that can be linked to taxpayers who file objections and appeals. The goal is to provide the Appeals programs with the information required to be able to track and report the impacts on diverse groups of Canadians. To date, the CRA has been able to combine stored demographic data, such as gender, language, income level, geography, age, and disability, with appeals specific data and is preparing it for analytical purposes.

Program Name: Tax Services and Processing

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

No

Business returns

• For our existing programs, Business Returns does not currently collect or keep recipient data for the purpose of conducting GBA Plus analysis and does not produce or release any GBA Plus associated reports.
• Generally, taxpayers affected by Business Returns’ tax services and processing are Canadian and non-resident businesses (ranging from sole proprietorships to multinational corporations and excluding self-employed individuals). As these taxpayers are legal entities and not individuals, GBA Plus characteristics do not apply to them. Additionally, there is limited demographic information regarding ownership of these legal entities. Business Returns programs and services are designed to be gender-neutral and GBA Plus neutral.
• CRA gives taxpayers access to accurate and timely information they need to comply with Canada’s tax laws by modernizing its services making it easier for taxpayers to meet their tax obligations. CRA registers businesses for a business number and administers T2, GST/HST, excise, and other levies programs. CRA helps businesses and individuals to voluntarily comply with Canada’s tax laws by processing their information and payments as quickly and accurately as possible and telling them the results of their assessment or reassessment.
• The CRA’s digital services seek to address the evolving needs and expectations of businesses in Canada, and ultimately provide a better service experience for all

Digital Services:

• To mitigate potential impacts on Canadians who do not have the means to access digital services, the CRA will maintain the availability of non-digital service delivery channels including phones, paper correspondence and filing, and the Community Volunteer Income Tax Program, to ensure the needs of all Canadians are met.
• The CRA will also continue to develop and implement comprehensive communications products and strategies related to digital services and will continue to raise awareness of the support and tools that are available among vulnerable groups of Canadians.

Individual Returns:

• The processes and systems that support the T1 filing season and the T1 adjustments program do not collect any information associated with gender or diversity. This information is not needed to produce a notice of assessment or reassessment.
• A uniform approach to processing and related services is the preferred approach within this context with a couple of exceptions (e.g. [GIS] recipients, Canadian with low/no income, etc.)
• Data concerning gender and diversity for individual returns is not available from the internal T1 assessing systems. They do not contain the information required to make any determination on gender or diversity. However, where a valid SIN is collected, assessing information can be cross-referenced to CRA’s IDENT database, which can be used to produce statistics based on gender/sex.

Program Name: Benefits

Does this program collect sufficient data to enable it to monitor and/or report program impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus)?

Yes (for the Disability Tax Credit)

While the dental and housing programs collected sufficient data to monitor/report on GBA Plus indicators of applicants such as gender, age, and income, the CRA administers these programs on behalf of the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation and Health Canada. Therefore, program measurement, including GBA Plus analysis, is the responsibility of those departments.

CVITP and Benefits Outreach Program:

• At this time, there are no plans to collect and report on gender and diversity specific data at our CVITP and benefits outreach activities. The programs will continue to report on the number of CVITP and outreach activities and the number of attendees by target segments.

Indigenous Services:

• Indigenous Services does not collect data that enables it to monitor impacts by gender and diversity. Indigenous Services does monitor the number of participants who attend Indigenous outreach events but does not report on the gender or diversity of the people served. Indigenous Services is looking into the possibility of collecting this type of data in the future, to monitor the impacts the Indigenous Services programs on the GBA Plus community.

Disability Tax Credit (DTC):

• Sufficient data is collected to enable the monitoring and/or reporting of the impacts by gender and diversity (GBA Plus). The DTC is a non-refundable tax credit that helps reduce the income tax that people with physical or mental impairments, or their supporting family members, may have to pay. It aims to offset some of the costs related to the impairment.