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Charities Regulatory Reform: Working with Federal, Provincial and Territorial Governments

April 2004

The 2004 federal budget allocated $12 million annually to improve the regulation of charities. Some of this funding will go towards improving collaboration among federal, provincial and territorial governments. These activities are part of a larger 5-year charities regulatory reform initiative.

As determined constitutionally, provinces have jurisdiction to regulate all charities. However, when a charity becomes registered, it must meet the requirements of the Income Tax Act, which is enforced by the federal government. There are a number of benefits of becoming a registered charity including becoming tax-exempt and the ability to issue official donation receipts.

Over the next five years, the CRA will be working with provincial and territorial governments on the regulation of charities to build ongoing cooperative relationships. Activities may include creating joint education and public awareness programs and sharing information for enforcement purposes. Increased cooperation among jurisdictions will:

• provide opportunities for a more rigorous and client-centred response to the concerns of Canadians about charity regulation;
• provide opportunities to reduce duplication of effort;
• reduce confusion; and
• better address deceptive fundraising practices.

Additional Information

For further information about charities regulatory reform, please see www.cra.gc.ca/charities.

This document is also available for download in PDF format.

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Date modified:

2014-12-03