Legal Update & Questions for Religious Charities in Canada

In recent months, religious charities in Canada have raised questions about their ongoing charitable status. See below for an update and video from Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF).

Parliamentary committee recommendations

As previously reported, in December 2024, a Parliamentary committee recommended that the federal government amend the Income Tax Act to:

“no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations” (recommendation 429), and to
amend the Income Tax Act to remove the “privileged status of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose” (recommendation 430).

The committee’s report did not define “anti-abortion organizations” or provide further context or justification for the recommendations. CLF promptly wrote to both the Minister of Finance and the Chair of the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance (“Finance Committee”), urging them to reject these two recommendations, especially in the absence of further explanation.

In the summer of 2025, CLF submitted a brief to the Finance Committee, reiterating our 2024 request and highlighting constitutional concerns around revoking charitable status for certain groups solely on the basis of their beliefs around the sanctity of life or their religious affiliation.

Later in 2025, during pre-Budget consultations, CLF submitted an open letter – now endorsed by 310 lawyers and law students – to the Department of Finance, as well as the Minister of Finance and National Revenue. This letter again urged the government to reject the Committee’s recommendations.

So where do things stand now?

In November 2025 (nearly a year after the recommendations were tabled), the federal government confirmed that it is not considering the removal of ‘advancement of religion’ as a charitable purpose, nor is it actively developing policy on this issue.

This is indeed good news, and CLF has welcomed the government’s written affirmation of “the vital role that charities, including religious charities, play in delivering essential services to some of the most vulnerable in Canadian society.”

With that said, a number of questions and potential concerns remain.

federal government yet to address recommendation to revoke charitable status for “anti-abortion organizations”

The federal government has yet to respond to concerns around recommendation 429 of the Finance Committee, to amend the Income Tax Act to “no longer provide charitable status to anti-abortion organizations”. The term “anti-abortion organizations” is not defined, and it is unclear exactly which groups could be affected.

While the federal government did not include this recommendation in its 2026 Budget Update, it has also not addressed persisting concerns about the recommendation’s initial inclusion in the Finance Committee’s 2024 report.

Since this recommendation was tabled in late 2024, CLF has asked the federal government to expressly confirm that no registered charity will have its registration revoked, or be subject to any other penalty, solely because of its beliefs about the sanctity of human life. This request was most recently reiterated in November 2025, with the support of 310 Canadian lawyers and law students.

recommendations and concerning developments in the province of québec

While the federal government has affirmed that it is not looking to remove the advancement of religion as a charitable purpose, a similar amendment has been recommended at the provincial level by a legislative Committee in Québec.

As previously reported, a Québec Committee tabled recommendations last summer to strengthen laïcité (secularism) in the province by repealing the “advancement of religion” criterion for the recognition of registered charities, by prohibiting public funding of religious groups in colleges and universities, by eliminating tax exemptions and deductions for religious leaders, and by phasing out other municipal tax benefits for religious organizations.[1]

The Québec government has already started to act on this recommendation, having tabled legislation (Bill 22, An Act to broaden the intervention powers of municipalities and to amend other legislative provisions) to eliminate the municipal property tax and school tax exemptions for rectories (i.e., the “main residence belonging to a minister in charge of a place of public worship”).[2]

Québec’s Minister of Municipal Affairs stated that the goal of repealing the tax exemption for rectories is to make municipal property taxes “equitable for all” (unofficial translation). However, charitable tax exemptions like this one advance equity, reflecting the longstanding common law presumption that religion and religious property are public goods that benefit society and support those who are under-served and marginalized (see Special Commissioners of Income Tax v Pemsel, [1891] AC 531 (HL), affirmed in Vancouver Society of Immigrant and Minority Women v Canada (Minister of National Revenue), [1999] 1 SCR 10 at paras 144-146).

‘Modernizing’ federal tax rules for charities

In its 2026 Spring Economic Update, the Government of Canada stated (at page 107) that it “will undertake an exercise to modernise the framework for the charitable sector” (at p 107), but it does not announce any regulatory changes at this time.

The statement includes a recognition that the charitable sector, and non-governmental organisations, are “an important driver for the Canadian economy, create well-paying jobs and supplement the social safety net”. As a first step, the government has confirmed that it will undertake consultations with charities, stakeholders, and relevant agencies to gather feedback on modernization.

next steps

We are grateful to our members and supporters who continue to support the work of CLF before legislative committees and other government bodies. CLF is committed to advocating for religious charities across Canada, and especially the vulnerable and marginalized groups those charities serve. CLF will be monitoring each of these issues for further developments, and will continue to engage as needed.

CLF will also be hosting a major academic symposium on religion, charity and tax law in 2027, in connection with our Annual Symposium on Religion, Law, and Human Rights. Further details will be announced soon.

CLF video UPDATE

REFERENCES

[1] Specifically, the Committee’s report included the following recommendations (p. 118, unofficial translation): “To gradually put an end to tax benefits and subsidies granted to religious organizations, following a consultation and an impact assessment, by repealing the ‘advancement of religion’ criterion for the recognition of registered charities and by eliminating tax exemptions and deductions, such as those specifically targeting members of the clergy and other religious leaders as well as those relating to municipal taxation. In conjunction with the phased abolition of the aforementioned exemptions, create a transition fund for affected organizations. Finally, prohibit public funding of religious groups in colleges and universities.”

[2] Québec’s Act respecting municipal taxation defines a “rectory” as the “main residence belonging to a minister in charge of a place of public worship of a Church constituted as a legal person under the laws of Québec” (see s. 231.1). This provision permits one rectory of a Church constituted as a “legal person” under Québec law to be exempt from municipal or school taxes on the portion of its value fixed by regulation. Bill 22 proposes to repeal these provisions (see ss 67–68, 73).The Québec Committee’s earlier report had expressed opposition to religious leaders being able to claim a tax deduction for the use of housing related to their duties, noting that it “conflicts with” the principle of “fiscal separation” of the State and religions, and that although the budgetary implications for the province were “relatively modest”, the existence of such a tax deduction was “symbolically significant” and should be repealed (see p 117, unofficial translation).