CRA Proposes Charity Revocations

Summary#

The Canada Revenue Agency published notices under the Income Tax Act on October 19, 2024 proposing to revoke the registered status of a number of charities. Some revocations were at the charities’ own request and others were because the charities failed to meet filing requirements.

What it does#

• Announces that the CRA has sent notices proposing to end the registration of specific charities under the Income Tax Act.
• Lists two specific, named items where the charity requested revocation:
  • FEDERATION OF CANADIAN MUSIC FESTIVALS (Somerville, N.B.).
  • WORLD DWARF GAMES 2017 (Erin, Ont.) as a registered Canadian amateur athletic association.
• Publishes long lists of charities for which the CRA proposed revocation because they “have not met the filing requirements.”
• Publishes additional lists of charities that asked for their own registration to be revoked.
• The notices state that the revocations are effective on the date the notice appears in the Canada Gazette (the Gazette publication date is October 19, 2024).

Who's affected#

• The many charities named in the notices. Examples named in the Gazette include FEDERATION OF CANADIAN MUSIC FESTIVALS and WORLD DWARF GAMES 2017; the full document lists dozens more from across provinces and territories.
• People and communities served by those charities, including local arts groups, religious parishes, volunteer associations and youth organizations shown in the lists.
• Donors and funders who give to the listed organizations, since a charity’s registration status relates to its recognized status under federal tax rules.

Why it matters#

• Ending a charity’s registration changes its official status under the Income Tax Act. That change affects what the organization can call itself and how it appears to funders and the public.
• For communities, it can alter the local services, events or programs that the listed charities run.
• For donors, it can change whether donations receive the tax-related recognition that is tied to registered charity status (the Gazette notice itself does not spell out those tax consequences in detail).
• The Gazette notice is an administrative step: it publicly records which charities the CRA is proposing to revoke, and gives the official publication date when those revocations take effect for the cases listed as requested by the charities.