Canadian Ministries

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.