Mr. Speaker, with respect to my colleague’s question, what follows is the response from the Canada Revenue Agency, or CRA, as of May 3, 2024, that is, the date of question.

With regard to (a) and (b), the CRA does not collect information on the nationality of a registered charity’s agents or intermediaries.

With regard to (c), in order to be registered as a charity, an organization must be constituted exclusively for charitable purposes and devote all of its resources to activities that further those purposes. Charitable purposes fall into one or more of the following categories: the relief of poverty; the advancement of education; the advancement of religion; and other purposes beneficial to the community.

The Income Tax Act allows a registered charity to operate in the following ways: carrying on its own charitable activities through its staff and volunteers; or an intermediary, where a charity must exercise direction and control over its own resources; making qualifying disbursements through gifts to qualified donees; or grants to grantees, or non-qualified donees, where a charity must meet accountability requirements.

A registered charity’s purposes must also provide a tangible benefit to the public as a whole, or a significant section of it. In addition, purposes and activities that are illegal in Canada or contrary to Canadian public policy are prohibited, including support for terrorist and military activities.

Also, registered charities must keep adequate books and records to allow the CRA to verify donations made to the charity, to ensure the proper use of charitable resources, and that the charity's purposes and activities continue to be charitable.

As is always the case, in order to determine if a particular activity furthers a charitable purpose and meets all other registration requirements under the Income Tax Act, the CRA would need to consider all the relevant facts on a case-by-case basis. If the CRA identifies non-compliance as a result of an audit, it uses a risk-based approach where possible. By taking this approach, the CRA generally gives a charity the opportunity to correct non-compliance through education or a compliance agreement; while other interventions, such as sanctions or revocations, are reserved for cases where a charity has engaged in more serious acts of non-compliance. The facts of the charity’s case will determine which compliance approach the CRA will take.

The CRA makes its decisions around the audit of registered charities involved with “domestic and international recipients” based on the Income Tax Act and common law requirements for registered charities. The application of these requirements is applied regardless of the country in which a charity may operate, and/or the nationality of any agents and intermediaries they may choose to engage.

With regard to (d), sensitive information about the CRA’s internal processes, such as its risk assessment strategies, audit techniques, and file selection reasons, as well as any other information that a member of the public would otherwise be ineligible from accessing, cannot be disclosed. Given that this type of information could be used to undermine and potentially jeopardize the CRA's compliance efforts, the CRA does not disclose that type of information to external parties under any circumstance, even where authorization on specific taxpayer files is obtained.

Marie-Claude Bibeau

$493,948.00