A parliamentary committee made troubling recommendations to the federal government of changes to make in the next federal budget in December 2024. The House of Commons Finance Committee recommended that the government remove the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose and no longer provide charitable status to "anti-abortion" organizations.
Among its 462 recommendations, the Finance Committee recommended that the government:
Recommendation 429
No longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations.
Recommendation 430
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.
These recommendations are made to the government for its consideration. The Finance Minister does not have to adopt them. If adopted, these changes would devastate many religious charities and destabilize the charitable sector.
Related resources
- The EFC's sample communications (email, telephone and petition) to MPs on charitable status at TheEFC.ca/Protect-Charitable
- The EFC's submission to the House of Commons Finance Committee's pre-budget consultation, August 2025
- The EFC's submission to the Department of Finance's pre-budget consultation, March 2025
- The EFC's update on the committee's troubling recommendations, why it matters and how you can respond (from December 2024)
- The EFC's letters to the Finance Minister about the committee recommendations (June 2025 and December 2024) and about the politicization of charitable status (November 2022).