RECOMMENDATION 1

That the Government of Canada, through its departments and agencies, develop and implement a national volunteer strategy to encourage volunteerism by all Canadians in their communities, recognizing that the needs of northern, rural and urban communities are unique.

RECOMMENDATION 2

That the Government of Canada, through the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat and the agencies and departments funding charitable and non-profit organizations, include in contribution agreements costs associated with the recruitment and retention of volunteers needed to deliver funded events and/or services.

RECOMMENDATION 3

That the Government of Canada, though the Public Safety Minister, work with provincial and territorial counterparts and the Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police to seek ways to alleviate a financial burden on low-budget organizations for needed police checks on volunteers.

RECOMMENDATION 4

That the Government of Canada encourage federal departments and agencies to develop and administer recognition programs for volunteers who assist in the delivery of their government services.

RECOMMENDATION 5

That the Government of Canada, through the Minister of Finance and federal-provincial-territorial meetings of Ministers of Finance, support the development of pensions for the charitable and non-profit sectors that are portable across provincial and territorial jurisdictions.

RECOMMENDATION 6

That the Government of Canada, through Labour Canada, work with the charitable and non-profit sector to develop and implement a human resources renewal plan to ensure the long-term sustainability of the sector workforce, recognizing that the needs of northern, rural and urban communities are unique.

RECOMMENDATION 7

That the Government of Canada, in consultation with the charitable and non-profit sector, reinstate the Human Resources Council for the Voluntary Sector, or a similar body by which the sector can collaborate with government to fulfill aspects of the human resources renewal plan.

RECOMMENDATION 8

That the Government of Canada, through the Canada Revenue Agency, include questions on both the T3010 (for registered charities) and the T1044 (for federally incorporated not-for-profit corporations) on diversity representation on boards of directors based on existing Employment Equity guidelines.

RECOMMENDATION 9

That the Government of Canada, through the Minister of Revenue and the Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency, direct the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to review existing tax measures available to individual donors in order to strengthen the culture of giving among new and current charitable donors.

RECOMMENDATION 10

That the Government of Canada, through the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, develop policies that require departments and agencies to compensate full administrative costs associated with delivering the services being funded in transfers to charitable and non-profit organizations.

RECOMMENDATION 11

That Government of Canada initiatives that support the sustainability of for-profit sectors, particularly with respect to overhead and infrastructure costs, be extended to the charitable and non-profit sector.

RECOMMENDATION 12

That the Government of Canada, through Treasury Board of Canada, ensure that grants and contribution agreements cover a minimum of two years, renewable as appropriate; and that the level of information required for both application and reporting on these agreements be commensurate with the level of funding, minimizing complexity for smaller amounts.

RECOMMENDATION 13

That the Government of Canada develop and implement a standardized set of reporting categories and an on-line tool for charitable and non-profit organizations to submit financial reports based on these categories. The Treasury Board of Canada should be tasked with working with federal departments and agencies and federal/provincial/territorial working groups.

RECOMMENDATION 14

That the Government of Canada, through Employment and Social Development Canada, support innovation across charitable and non-profit organizations, including through the advisory group managing the Social Finance Fund.

RECOMMENDATION 15

That the Government of Canada’s procurement strategy be further modified to remove barriers to the participation of charitable and non-profit organizations, with a particular focus on suppliers with smaller staff complements.

RECOMMENDATION 16

That the Government of Canada prioritize data about the charitable and non-profit sector in all Statistics Canada economic surveys, including the Satellite Account of Nonprofit Institutions and the General Social Survey on Giving, Volunteering and Participating; and that the Government of Canada support collaboration between Statistics Canada and the charitable and non-profit sector to determine what additional data could be collected and disseminated in a timely and consistent manner to support the evidence base for decisions by organizations in the sector.

RECOMMENDATION 17

That the Government of Canada, through the Canada Revenue Agency, seek the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector on what additional information could be included in the Agency’s T3010 form that would support the work of the sector.

RECOMMENDATION 18

That the Government of Canada establish a funding stream for projects to incent organizations to develop shared technologies to manage their administrative requirements.

RECOMMENDATION 19

That the Government of Canada through the Minister of National Revenue seek the advice of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector with respect to modifying CRA restrictions on accessing other forms of capital by charitable and non-profit organizations; and that all federally funded initiatives with respect to innovation that are available to for-profit organizations be available to and promoted among charitable and non-profit organizations.

RECOMMENDATION 20

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) to take the following steps to improve its relationship with charitable and non-profit organizations:

• communicate more clearly CRA’s decisions with respect to rejections of applications, revocation of registered charitable status, and results of internalappeals;
• reduce wait times for responses on applications for status and other requests forinformation; and
• increase collaboration with provincial and territorial counterparts with a view toreduce the reporting burden on charitable and non-profit organizations.

RECOMMENDATION 21

That the Government of Canada, through the Minister of National Revenue and the Commissioner of CRA, direct the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to include a wide range of organizations on its working groups. This should include, but not be limited to, smaller organizations, organizations in rural and remote communities, organizations representing and serving newcomers to Canada and organizations supporting and serving Indigenous communities.

RECOMMENDATION 22

That the Government of Canada, through the Minister of Innovation, Science and Economic Development, create a secretariat on the charitable and non-profit sector to:

• establish and convene regular meetings of an interdepartmental working group, with representation from Finance Canada, the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, the Canada Revenue Agency, Employment and Social Development Canada and other departments with direct connections to these organizations;
• convene meetings of appropriate groups of federal/provincial and territorial ministers with responsibility for various aspects of regulating and relating to the charitable and non-profit sectors; and
• publish an annual report on the state of the charitable and non-profit sector. This report should include changes related to the sector by federal, provincial and territorial governments along with a more general overview of the economic and social health of the sector.

RECOMMENDATION 23

That the Government of Canada propose amendments to the Income Tax Act to provide that all appeals from decisions of the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency proceed to the Tax Court of Canada for a hearing de novo, following consideration by the Canada Revenue Agency’s Tax and Charities Appeals Directorate; and a right to appeal to the Tax Court of Canada for cases where the Canada Revenue Agency’s Tax and Charities Appeals Directorate (the Directorate) has not rendered a decision on an appeal by an organization that has had its application for registered charity status refused, or an existing charity that has had its registration revoked, within six months of it having been referred to the Directorate.

RECOMMENDATION 24

That, recognizing the importance of enabling the development of the common law definition of charity, the Government of Canada consider measures to assist organizations that have had their application for registered charity status refused, or existing charities that have had their registration revoked, in appealing decisions from the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charities Directorate.

RECOMMENDATION 25

That the Government of Canada, through the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, review the common law meaning of charity to determine whether Canada should follow the approach of other jurisdictions, such as Australia and England, and enact legislation to broaden the legal meaning of charity.

RECOMMENDATION 26

That the Government of Canada, through the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector, review the policy considerations relating to qualified donee and tax preferred status. This review should be conducted with a view to establishing a principle-based framework for new categories of qualified donee and other tax preferred entities.

RECOMMENDATION 27

That the Government of Canada replace the current categories of registered charity with two new categories: public charity and private charity.

RECOMMENDATION 28

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency to develop and implement a pilot project to assess the viability of granting registered charities greater latitude in undertaking revenue-generating activities (provided the proceeds are used to further charitable purposes) through the implementation of a “destination of funds” test.

RECOMMENDATION 29

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency to update policy statement CPS-019 (What is a related business) to provide greater clarity on permissible revenue generation activities for registered charities, particularly with regard to revenue generating opportunities arising from new technologies.

RECOMMENDATION 30

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency to revise Guidance CG-002 “Canadian registered charities carrying out activities outside Canada.” The revised guidance should demonstrate a shift in focus from “direction and control” to careful monitoring through the implementation of an “expenditure responsibility test.”

RECOMMENDATION 31

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency to develop, implement and evaluate a pilot project to allow registered charities to make gifts to non-qualified donees in certain limited circumstances, namely where the gifted funds are subject to careful monitoring and used for exclusively charitable purposes, in order to facilitate cooperation between registered charities and non-charities.

RECOMMENDATION 32

That the Government of Canada review the Income Tax Act provisions governing registered charities every five years, beginning no later than next fiscal year.

RECOMMENDATION 33

That the Government of Canada consider which activities registered charities should not be allowed to carry out and proscribe them through precisely defined statutory prohibitions.

RECOMMENDATION 34

That the Government of Canada, through the Canada Revenue Agency, develop, implement and evaluate a pilot project on the impact on the charitable sector of exempting donations of private shares from capital gains tax.

RECOMMENDATION 35

That the Government of Canada, through the Canada Revenue Agency, study the extent to which the donation of non-environmental real estate could be incentivized without undermining the Ecological Gifts Program.

RECOMMENDATION 36

That the Government of Canada direct the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to examine the advantages and disadvantages of amending the disbursement quota for registered charities; and

the advantages and disadvantages of setting the disbursement quota in regulation, rather than statute.

RECOMMENDATION 37

That the Government of Canada instruct the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to consider means of ensuring that donations do not languish in donor-advised funds, but are instead used to fund charitable activities in a timely fashion.

RECOMMENDATION 38

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency to revise its interpretation of the “not-for-profit purpose rule” to provide greater clarity and certainty for non-profit organizations (NPOs) regarding the extent to which it is permissible for them to hold surplus income; and to reflect the language of the Income Tax Act, which focuses on the purposes of the organization.

RECOMMENDATION 39

That the Government of Canada direct the Canada Revenue Agency to assess the merits of amending section 241 of the Income Tax Act to allow the Canada Revenue Agency to publicly disclose the information contained on the T1044 Non-Profit Organization Information Return.

RECOMMENDATION 40

That the Government of Canada direct the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to review the treatment and regulation of non-profit organizations, including whether the Income Tax Act should distinguish between public benefit and member benefit non-profit organizations.

RECOMMENDATION 41

That the Government of Canada instruct the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector to review the impact of Canada’s anti-spam legislation on charities and charity-like organizations.

RECOMMENDATION 42

That the Government of Canada review the “ineligible individual” provisions set out in section 149.1(1) of the Income Tax Act as part of a comprehensive review of the Income Tax Act provisions governing registered charities, other qualified donees and non-profit organizations.