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

2024–25

Link to departmental result(s)

Canadians receive their rightful 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 receive 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 for individuals (statutory)

Start date

June 21, 2018

End date

The Government of Canada has made regulations that cease the application of the federal fuel charge, effective April 1, 2025.

Type of transfer payment

Other transfer payment

Type of appropriation

Statutory authority provided for under the Income Tax Act. The Canada Carbon Rebate (CCR) 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

2024–25

Link to departmental result(s)

Canadians receive their rightful 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 CCR. 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 receive 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 for individuals (statutory)

Distribution of fuel charges – Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses (statutory)

Start date

December 2024

End date

The Government of Canada has made regulations that cease the application of the federal fuel charge, effective April 1, 2025.

Type of transfer payment

Other transfer payment

Type of appropriation

Statutory authority is established pursuant to section 127.421 of the Income Tax Act. It provides a refundable tax credit to small and medium-sized businesses in designated provinces by returning a portion of fuel charge proceeds from the province.

Fiscal year for terms and conditions

2024–25

Link to departmental result(s)

Canadians receive their rightful benefits.

Link to the department’s Program Inventory

Benefits

Purpose and objectives of transfer payment program

The CCR for Small Businesses is a refundable tax credit which will return a portion of federal fuel charge proceeds directly to eligible Canadian-controlled private corporations (CCPC).

Expected results

Only CCPCs, including Indigenous CCPCs, are eligible for this rebate. The rebate amount is determined for each fuel charge year, to correspond with the federal fuel charge. A fuel charge year runs from April 1 to March 31. To receive the rebate that covers the 2019–20 to 2023–24 fuel charge years for the tax year ending in 2024, the business must have been a CCPC at all times, and must have filed the T2 income tax return no later than July 15, 2024.

Based on most recent data, it is anticipated that approximately $2.5 billion will be distributed to about 584,000 eligible CCPCs.

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 small businesses

Initiatives to engage applicants and recipients

Not applicable

Table 3: Financial information (dollars) for distribution of fuel charges – Canada Carbon Rebate for Small Businesses (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 in June 2022, applicable to the 2021 and subsequent years.

End date

The Government of Canada has made regulations that cease the application of the federal fuel charge, effective April 1, 2025.

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

2024–25

Link to departmental result(s)

Canadians receive their rightful 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 entities include eligible individuals (self-employed farmers), corporations, trusts, and partnerships (individuals who are members in one or more partnerships), which operate a farming business through one or more permanent establishments in Alberta, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island or Saskatchewan.

Self-employed farmers and individuals who are members in one or more partnerships operating a farming business can claim the credit on line 47556 – Return of fuel charge proceeds to farmers tax credit of their T1 income tax and benefit return. Self-employed farmers must have first completed Form T2042, Statement of Farming Activities. Trusts can claim the credit on line 64 of Form T3RET, while corporations can claim it on line 795 of the T2 return. Corporations have to file a completed Schedule 63, Return of Fuel Charge Proceeds to Farmers Tax Credit, with the T2 return for the year.

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 4: 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

The Government of Canada has made regulations that cease the application of the federal fuel charge, effective April 1, 2025.

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

2024–25

Link to departmental result(s)

Canadians receive their rightful 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 Canada Revenue Agency (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 5: 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, 2026

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)

Canadians receive their rightful 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

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 6: 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 2024–25 forecast spending from the Main Estimate authorities tabled in Parliament. It also includes planned spending for the upcoming three fiscal years.

Table 7: Change in Authorities – Forecast and Planned Spending

Gender-based Analysis Plus (GBA Plus)

Section 1: Institutional GBA Plus governance and capacity

Governance

Undertaking GBA Plus analysis ensures that equity remains a fundamental consideration in CRA decision-making and in the delivery of high-quality tax and benefit programs and services to Canadians. To support this commitment, the CRA developed a three-year Action Plan aimed at strengthening GBA Plus capacity across the CRA and enhancing the rigour and quality of our GBA Plus assessments. With work well underway to develop data collection plans for external-facing CRA programs, the CRA is looking to further refine its GBA Plus Performance Measurement Framework and establish an internal network.

Capacity

In the coming years, the CRA will continue to coordinate activities and workshops to promote GBA Plus and strengthen the CRA-wide GBA Plus Network. As well, the CRA anticipates exploring the incorporation of disaggregated data plans into program monitoring and evaluation and further engaging with internal stakeholders to gain a better understanding of the GBA Plus impacts of algorithms through various business lines.

Human resources (full-time equivalents) dedicated to GBA Plus

The CRA will dedicate four full-time equivalents and one Champion to work on GBA Plus during the 2025-26 fiscal year.

Section 2: Gender and diversity impacts, by program

Core responsibility: Tax

Programs

• Charities
• Collections
• Objections and Appeals
• Policy, Ruling, and Interpretations
• Registered Plans
• Reporting Compliance
• Returns Compliance
• Service Feedback
• Taxpayer Relief
• Tax Services and Processing

Program Name: Charities

Program Goals

The Charities Directorate ensures the integrity of the charitable sector in Canada by promoting compliance with the income tax legislation and regulations through consistency; education; quality service; and responsible enforcement.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Charities Directorate collects information about registered charities that is required to support its compliance activities and public transparency. The Charities Directorate is committed to making use of CRA’s existing data holdings and working with the CRA’s GBA Plus Centre of Expertise to draw upon their insights and experience.

Program Name: Collections

Program Goals

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

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Collections Program collects and utilizes some of the available GBA Plus data to monitor and/or report program impacts from a GBA Plus lens. The Program is currently at the early stages of developing a data collection plan that will expand its capacity to report on gender and diversity and include some of its external-facing programs.

The Collections Program prioritizes assisting taxpayers, while ensuring all taxpayers are treated fairly. This means it is important to understand our taxpayer populations and assess who is being affected by our Program. For the Program to be fair and accurate it must be evidence-informed and apply a GBA Plus approach which will help the CRA remain data-driven and ensure that no taxpayer is being left behind. Findings and business intelligence gained from our GBA Plus work can then be used to enhance the Program.

Program Name: Objections and Appeals

Program Goals

The Objections and Appeals Program conducts a formal and impartial review of any objections received related to an assessment, determination, or decision. When any type of objection is filed, the CRA reviews all the information before making its decision.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

No

The Objection and Appeals Program is currently analyzing the data sources that exist that may enable us to perform GBA Plus analysis. During this exploratory phase, we will investigate the feasibility of conducting a post-decision analysis of files.

Program Name: Policy, ruling, and interpretations

Program Goals

The Policy, Ruling, and Interpretations program serves as the authority for interpreting the Income Tax Act, GST/HST, Underused Housing Tax legislation, Excise and specialty taxes, and related statutes for the CRA.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Policy, Rulings, and Interpretations Program is working with the CRA’s GBA Plus Centre of Expertise to determine how the diversity impacts of the program can be accurately measured.

Program Name: Registered plans

Program Goals

The Registered Plans program ensures the integrity of the deferred income and savings plans sector in Canada by promoting compliance with the income tax legislation and regulations through consistency; education; quality service; and responsible enforcement.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Registered Plans Program is working with the CRA’s GBA Plus Centre of Expertise to determine how the diversity impacts of the program can be accurately measured.

Program Name: Reporting Compliance

Program Goals

The Reporting Compliance program seeks to protect the integrity of Canada’s voluntary compliance system by identifying and addressing the small segment of the population that does not report the correct amounts. The CRA’s compliance interventions follow a progressive approach that moves from influencing compliance to enforcing it.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Reporting Compliance Program makes use of CRA’s existing data holdings to analyze the impact of compliance programs on diverse groups. These data holdings include data on various identity factors, including gender, age and income. However, data on other taxpayer identity factors, such as religion, ethnicity and sexual orientation are not collected through taxpayer forms or other administrative processes and thus not used by the Reporting Compliance Program. The Reporting Compliance Program will continue to explore how existing CRA data can be used to monitor and report on program impacts.

Program Name: Returns Compliance

Program Goals

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.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Returns Compliance Program collects and utilizes some of the available GBA Plus data to monitor or report program impacts from a GBA Plus lens. The Returns Compliance Program is currently at the early stages of developing a data collection plan that will expand its capacity to report on gender and diversity, and include some of its external-facing programs.

The Returns Compliance Program prioritizes assisting taxpayers, while ensuring all taxpayers are treated fairly. This means it is important to understand our taxpayer population and assess who is being affected by our program. For our program to be fair and accurate, it must be evidence-informed and apply a GBA Plus approach which will help the CRA remain data-driven and ensure that no taxpayer is being left behind. Findings and business intelligence gained from our GBA Plus work can then be used to enhance the program.

Program Name: Service Feedback

Program Goals

The Service Feedback Programs administer the Service Complaints and Problem Resolution workloads, which receive and respond to service-related feedback from Canadians, and process requests from Members of Parliament and works with other CRA branches to resolve the issues raised.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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) does not directly collect GBA Plus data on the population who has chosen to provide service-related feedback (complaints, suggestions or compliments). When taxpayers file service feedback, the CRA responds on a case-by-case basis, responding to the specific service-related issue.

To bridge this gap, the CRA integrates GBA Plus data from other CRA data sources with feedback data including demographic information such as, income level, age, gender, and language, allowing the SFP to better understand the segment of the population that submits feedback. This integration of data will be used to inform areas for service improvements to Canadians.

Each quarter, data is extracted from the SFP and is linked to other information within CRA data sources to obtain the disaggregated data. This data then goes under a rigorous quality assurance exercise to ensure its integrity.

As the SFP continues to report on GBA Plus data it will continue to explore other possibilities to integrate more data for future reporting periods.

Program Name: Taxpayer Relief

Program Goals

The Taxpayer Relief Program accepts and reviews relief requests from taxpayers to determine if relief of penalty or interest is warranted when a taxpayer was unable to comply with their tax obligations for reasons outside of their control.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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 continues its GBA Plus analysis of the Taxpayer Relief Program by performing demographic analysis on taxpayer relief data, identifying trends and correlations between various GBA Plus measures.

Program Name: Tax Services and Processing

Program Goals

CRA gives taxpayers access to accurate and timely information they need to comply with Canada's tax laws by modernizing our services, including expanding our digital services and enhancing our telephone platform, making it easier for taxpayers to meet their tax obligations. In addition to the individual returns program, we register businesses for a business number and administer T2, T3, GST/HST, excise, and other levies programs. We help 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.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Tax Services and Processing program does not independently collect disaggregated data for the expressed purpose of GBA Plus analysis. The CRA, as an organization, does collect and publish disaggregated data on the program, which is publicly available.

Individual Returns

• The CRA collects and publishes a range of disaggregated gender and diversity data. For individual returns, data is broken down by gender, age, geographic location, marital status, income level and major source of income, all of which is published on Canada.ca: Selected T1 Statistics 2023 edition (for the 2022 tax year) - Canada.ca.
• Individual filing rates are also calculated by province/territory, employment status, age, gender, marital status, income range and more, also published on Canada.ca: T1 filing compliance 2024 edition (2022 tax year) - Canada.ca.
• For businesses, CRA collects and publishes data on business jurisdiction, business size, and business income level, all of which can be used for data analysis and is publicly available on Canada.ca: Corporate Statistical Tables (2016 to 2021 tax years) - Canada.ca.

Business Returns

• The Business Returns program 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.
• The CRA, as an organization, collects and publishes data on business location, size, and other tax-related information. This information is published on Canada.ca: Corporate Statistical Tables (2016 to 2021 tax years) - Canada.ca.

Contact Centres

• Currently, there is no identifiable client information attached to the contact centre program data (calls or chats). However, the CRA can access demographics information for accounts viewed by agents via the Taxpayer Services Agent Desktop – Individuals can use that as proxy for account-specific calls. This is not a perfect representation of callers, as it makes the assumption that accounts are viewed only on calls, and only once per call. Callers who have general questions will not be captured, and if the caller is a representative calling on behalf of a taxpayer, we will not be able to account for that but can give some information about the use of contact centre services by different groups.
• At the end of October 2024, the CRA will have launched an Authenticated Online Chat service. GBA Plus monitoring and reporting will have been established for account-specific calls from individuals based on agent-assessed accounts, as well as the Authenticated chat service. The program is monitoring and reporting indicators accessible via CRA data holdings, such as age, gender, marital status, date of immigration, and more.

Digital Services

• Digital Services is working on modernizing the Portal Exit Survey questionnaires to gather more GBA Plus targeted data. They will also continue to perform GBA Plus analysis on digital services and keep the GBA Plus Digital Services Report current.

Core responsibility: Benefits

Programs

• Benefits

Program Name: Benefits

Program Goals

The CRA delivers a range of ongoing benefits, credits, and one-time payment programs that support the economic and social well-being of Canadians. Through processing activities, the Benefits program ensures that Canadians receive their rightful benefits in a timely manner by offering benefit recipients timely and accessible information on their entitlements and obligations through call centres and securely online. This helps Canadians become more aware of the benefits they are entitled to and how to receive them.

Target Population

All Canadians

GBA Plus Data Collection Plan

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

Yes

The Benefits program does not independently collect disaggregated data for the expressed purpose of GBA Plus analysis. The CRA, as an organization, does collect and publish disaggregated data on the program, which is publicly available.

• The CRA will continue to collect and publish a range of disaggregated data that can be used for gender and diversity purposes related to the administration and delivery of benefit payments.
• For the CVITP, data is disaggregated by gender, age, income range, geographic location, and claimed disability on the T1 form. Canada Child Benefit information is also disaggregated by gender, marital status, family income, number of dependent children and geographic location. The Disability Tax Credit reports disaggregated data by province/territory, age, duration, gender, marital status, restrictions in basic activities of daily living, determinations and net income range.
• In further support of improving access to benefits, the CRA will continue to collaborate with other organizations and conduct research on the participation of hard-to-reach and vulnerable populations in the tax and benefit systems. The research will inform CRA programs’ outreach efforts, communication campaigns, and service improvement initiatives.