Bringing the provinces back in : creating a federated Canadian Charities Council

"Canadian charities need a new regulatory system. Currently, charities are regulated primarily at the federal level by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). But because charities, by virtue of the donation tax credit, can reduce the tax base, the CRA’s regulating them conflicts with its mandate to protect the tax base.The CRA is the regulator of charities by the happenstance of history and the absence of action by the provinces to assert their constitutional power in this area. The result is a regulatory environment that is costly for charities, stymies the development of new charities, and injects tax bureaucrats into the arena of social policymaking.This Commentary proposes reforming the system through the creation of a federal-provincial “Canadian Charities Council” that would assume from the CRA responsibility for registering charities, advancing the common law definition of charity, regulating non-tax-related aspects of the charity system, adjudicating disputes regarding a charity’s registration, and ensuring compliance with the rules the Council creates. Involving the provinces, as the Constitution intended, and encouraging their cooperation with the federal government can only benefit the regulation of Canada’s charitable sector." -- t.p.