A recent official statement released by the Government of Canada in November 2025 has provided clear reassurance regarding charitable status for religious organizations. The statement confirms that charitable status for religious organizations is not under review and that no policy or legislative changes have been proposed that would alter or remove churches' charitable status.
In addition to this public statement, the CRC office in Canada connected with Karina Gould, Member of Parliament for Burlington and chair of the Standing Committee on Finance, in October 2025 for information.
Her office provided the following statement: “Charitable status for religious organizations is not under review, and this government has no plans to change that. Any suggestion otherwise is false. We respect the role faith-based organizations play in communities across the county, and religious organizations continue to enjoy charitable status under the same rules that apply to all charities in Canada. There have been no policy or legislative changes proposed that would revoke charitable status from religious groups including churches.”
MP Gould’s office also clarified the context of Recommendation 430:
- It was produced under the previous Parliament and previous government.
- It was part of a very large list of non-binding suggestions.
- MP Gould was not involved in the development of the recommendation, as she was not a member of the Standing Committee on Finance at that time.
They emphasized that the Government recognizes “the important role many churches play in providing crucial services to their communities and will continue to protect their ability to do so.”
Background: Committee Recommendations from 2024
On December 13, 2024, the House of Commons Finance Committee tabled its pre-budget consultation report. Among its 462 recommendations were two that attracted significant attention:
- Recommendation 429: To no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations.
- Recommendation 430: To amend the Income Tax Act to redefine “charity” in a way that would remove the “advancement of religion” as an explicit charitable purpose.
It is important to note that committee recommendations are not binding, do not automatically become law, and are not necessarily adopted by the Minister of Finance. Each year, hundreds of recommendations are submitted, and many are never implemented.
At the time, organizations such as the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) noted that approximately 40% of Canadian charities advance religion, highlighting the potential significance of any proposal that might affect religious charitable status.
What This Means Now
While the original committee recommendations sparked understandable concern, several factors show that there is no current political or legislative effort aimed at removing charitable status from churches or other religious organizations:
- The recommendations were committee-level proposals only, not legislation.
- They were directed to a previous Minister of Finance and have not been taken up by the current Minister.
- The Government of Canada has now provided explicit assurance (publicly, and directly to the CRC) that charitable status for religious organizations is not under review.
Continuing to Monitor
The CRC Canadian office will continue to monitor these recommendations for future updates. Canadians who wish to express their concern are encouraged to engage with their elected officials by contacting their Members of Parliament to express their views. Resources and guidance on how to do so are available from organizations like the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (of which the CRC is a member) and are linked below.
Resources from the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada:
- November 2025 News Update
- March 2025 Ask your Member of Parliament to support advancing religion as a charitable purpose
- December 2024 Summary of News
- December 2024 Letter to the Minister of Finance
Additional Resources from the Canadian Centre for Christian Charities
Comments
I think another important part to highlight in this response (and I get this information from a Conservative Party Member and advocate as well as a Christian Charity source) is that "the report is being shared as a partisan report when the committee is Bi-Partisan and co-chaired by a Liberal and Conservative representative". This is not a partisan issue per se and should not be construed as such.
"These reports are regularly produced by non-partisan committees to inform budget considerations. Good and bad ideas are discussed, and ideas are not meant to lead directly to policy change (although some eventually can). They are for information to guide decision-making. The committee in question's mandate is to hear from Canadians and report back to the government what they have heard".
So I feel that the information and how it is being presented on social media is meant to bring fear against particular parties and is very misleading. We should watch the "temperature" out there on these issues as it highlights important viewpoints out in the public sphere for us both as charities and religious institutions and we should advocate to the appropriate places for the good work we do and the positive we impact we have as institutions of faith...but this is not an issue to be attributed to a particular party for this election.
When asked, the Office of Karina Gould, Member of Parliament for Burlington, provided some additional clarity on the charitable status of churches.
Please see the content of their recent email below:
We reached out to the Department of Finance on your behalf - please see the Department’s comment on this matter below:
“Charitable status for religious organizations is not under review, and this government has no plans to change that. Any suggestion otherwise is false. We respect the role faith-based organizations play in communities across the county, and religious organizations continue to enjoy charitable status under the same rules that apply to all charities in Canada. There have been no policy or legislative changes proposed that would revoke charitable status from religious groups including churches.”
Recommendation 430 of the previous Committee on Finance’s pre-budget 2025 consultations suggested the following:
“Amend the Income Tax Act to provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose"
This recommendation, alongside the 461 others suggested in the consultations, was made in 2024 during the previous session of Parliament, under the previous Government and prior to MP Gould being a member of the Standing Committee on Finance. As such, MP Gould was not involved in its development.
The recommendations laid out by the committee are suggestions for the Government and are not always reflected in the Government’s budget. Each year, hundreds of recommendations are submitted, and many are not implemented into the budget by the Department of Finance.
Please be assured that MP Gould and the Government recognize the important role many churches play in providing crucial services to their communities and will continue to protect their ability to do so.
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