By Jennifer M. Leddy and Jefe Olagunju

CRA Releases Report on Charities Program 2024 to 2025

On October 1, 2025, the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) released its Report on the Charities Program 2024 to 2025 (the “CRA Report”) outlining its activities, achievements and ongoing initiatives from April 1, 2024, to March 31, 2025.

1. Overview

The CRA Report highlights a year of continued modernization and engagement with the charitable sector. The Charities Directorate focused on enhancing operational efficiency, improving stakeholder relations, and strengthening compliance. Key accomplishments included updates to Guidance CG-029, Relief of Poverty and Charitable Registration, modernization of operational processes, streamlining the application review process and internal tools, and new web pages to educate charities about the risks of terrorist abuse.

2. The Charitable Sector by Numbers

According to the CRA Report, in 2023, there were 85,360 registered charities in Canada, consisting of 73,691 charitable organizations, 6,956 private foundations, and 4,713 public foundations. The table below provides a break-down of the assets, revenue, and expenditures of each type of registered charity (in billions of dollars) based on information obtained through the Registered Charity Information Returns which were submitted by registered charities for the 2023 calendar year (which is self-reported by registered charities)

Government funding remained the largest source of revenue for charities, accounting for 64% of all revenue, followed by revenue from the sale of goods and services (8%), tax-receipted gifts (6%), non-tax-receipted revenue (4%), revenue from other registered charities (3%), and combined revenue in the “other” category (15%).

Regarding expenditures in 2023, the CRA Report notes that 77% of expenditures reported by charities were allocated to charitable activities, 19% on “other” expenditures (such as professional and consulting fees, management and administration, and travel and vehicle expenses) and 4% of expenditures were on gifts to qualified donees. Charities collectively reported spending $5.3 billion on activities outside Canada, reflecting their continued role in international humanitarian and development efforts.

3. Applications for Charitable Registration

During the 2024 - 2025 fiscal year, the CRA received 2,782 applications for charitable registration, including 2,720 for registration as a charity and 62 for registration in the other qualified donees category. Approval of registration was the most common application outcome with approximately 82% of charitable applications approved, and only 0.55% denied. The primary reasons for denying charitable registration included: lack of information on proposed activities, engaging in non-charitable activities, acting as a conduit, lack of direction and control over resources, and private benefit.

The CRA attributed a 29% increase in decisions made to its modernization initiatives and the expansion of online submission tools, with 85% of applicants now submitting documents on the CRA’s online platforms.

4. Compliance Activities

The CRA continued to take a risk-based approach to compliance, focusing on education for minor infractions while addressing serious non-compliance through audits. During the 2024 – 2025 fiscal year, the top three high-risk non-compliance areas of focus were aggressive tax planning, offshore activities, and ineligible individuals. The Charities Directorate conducted 6,595 non-audit interventions (which include education letters, telephone calls, and requests for information), and 220 audits.

The most common compliance issues involved incomplete or incorrect T3010 returns (65%), incomplete or inaccurate donation receipts (54%), and inadequate books and records (55%). Of the completed audits, 98% identified some level of non-compliance, and 40% revealed serious non-compliance issues, resulting in, among other outcomes, 21 Notices of Intention to Revoke, 51 compliance agreements, and 125 education letters. The total number of revocations for the fiscal year was 2,088, including 1,146 for failure to file, 916 voluntary revocations, and 26 revocations for cause.

5. Policy Updates and Stakeholder Engagement

In October 2024, the CRA revised its guidance CG-029 Relief of poverty and charitable registration, adding more detailed examples related to affordable housing, updating terminology, and clarifying information on the new rules for making grants to non-qualified donees. The CRA also administered the proposed draft legislation released by the Department of Finance on January 23, 2025, which proposed an extended deadline for making charitable donations eligible for 2024 tax benefits.

The CRA Report emphasized the CRA’s ongoing efforts to engage with the charitable sector by participating in meetings, conferences and other events with stakeholders across the charitable sector including the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (ACCS), the Technical Issues Working Group (TIWG), the NPO Sector Dialogues on Illicit Financing Risks and Related Issues, Federal/Provincial/Territorial Network of Charity Regulators (FPT Network), as well as International Charity Regulators meetings.

6. Service Delivery and Outreach

The CRA reported strong performance in client service delivery, exceeding its service standards for telephone accessibility and response times, while managing an increased call volume. It also offered five interactive webinars in both English and French on topics such as Gifting and receipting, Books and record and Rules for charities making grants to grantees (non-qualified donees). The CRA made over 200 updates to pages on the Charities and giving website and continued to provide charities with tools and resources they need by publishing various educational materials on their web pages as well as providing quarterly updates from the Charities Directorate.

7. External Reviews

The CRA Report highlights the Charities Directorate’s ongoing participation in several external reviews. The Charities Directorate supported the Department of Finance in preparation for a mutual evaluation review to be conducted by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), scheduled for 2025–2026. This work included updating Canada’s risk assessment of the non-profit sector and demonstrating compliance with FATF Recommendation 8, which addresses the risk of terrorist financing through the non-profit sector. The Charities Directorate also continued to support the external review by the National Security Intelligence Review Agency (NSIRA) focused on the CRA’s national security activities and decision-making related to charities.

The CRA Report asserts that the CRA continues to meet the deliverables established following the release of the Office of the Taxpayer’s Ombudsperson report, Charity Begins with Fairness: More to Explore. Over the 2024 - 2025 fiscal year, the Charities Directorate ensured that its employees completed the required Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) training and provided refresher training on key concepts though monthly religious literacy events.

Extension of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson’s Tenure

On September 16, 2025, the honourable François-Philippe Champagne, Minister of Finance and National Revenue, announced the two-year extension of Mr. François Boileau’s term as the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson. Originally appointed in October 2020, Mr. Boileau will now continue in his role until October 4, 2027. Mr. Boileau is Canada’s third Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, a role first established in 2008.

The purpose of the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson (OTO) is to enhance the CRA’s accountability and service to the public. In their statements, both Minister Champagne and Honourable Wayne Long, Secretary of State (CRA and Financial Institutions), emphasized the importance of the OTO’s work in improving how the CRA interacts with Canadians and how services are delivered.

The OTO examines and reviews complaints from taxpayers regarding the CRA and upholds taxpayers’ service rights as outlined in the Taxpayer Bill of Rights to ensure a fair resolution. Taxpayers are encouraged to first use the CRA’s internal redress mechanisms before submitting a complaint to the OTO.

​Read the October 2025 Charity & NFP Law Update