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Charities Regulatory Reform: Improving Services for Charities and the Public

April 2004

The 2004 federal budget allocated $12 million annually to improve the regulation of charities. Some of this funding will go towards improving services the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) offers to registered charities and to the Canadian public. These activities are part of a larger 5-year charities regulatory reform initiative.

Under the regulatory reform initiative, the CRA will be increasing the type and amount of information made publicly available, making it easier for charities to submit required information, and enhancing the communications methods which charities and the public use to access this information.

Providing More Information About Charities

Canadians currently have access to a variety of useful information on registered charities. This includes portions of a charity's annual tax return, the names of directors and the periods during which they were directors, registration letters and any letters outlining the reasons for revoking charitable status. To help Canadians make more informed decisions, the CRA will be increasing the amount of information made available about charities. This information will be listed on the CRA's Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/tax/charities. Examples of such information include:

• charities that have been sanctioned under the new system;
• financial statements that are filed with annual information returns; and
• letters relating to the grounds for the annulment of a charity's registration.

Providing More Information About CRA Decisions

Current income tax rules prevent the CRA's Charities Directorate from disclosing the reasons for its decisions. This restricts the ability of the Directorate to communicate openly with charities and the public. It also limits the opportunity for registered charities to learn from previous regulatory decisions. Once amendments are made to the Income Tax Act, the CRA will be publishing on its Web site the reasons for all charity registration and revocation decisions, research used for decision-making, and will continue to add to the policies and procedures already available. In addition, the CRA will make available information about special permissions or exemptions granted to individual charities. In providing this new information, the CRA will not be compromising existing safeguards that are in place to protect the privacy of individuals.

Expanded Electronic Services

Over the next several years, charities will be able to access the following services on-line:

• e-filing of annual information returns;
• applications for registered status; and
• real-time interaction with CRA charities staff on issues including status inquiries, change of address and information sessions. Additional e-service opportunities will be explored to assist charities in meeting their regulatory obligations.

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