The Canadian government appears to have paused any consideration of removing charitable status for faith-based organizations after the chair of the House of Commons Finance Committee said there are “no plans to change that.”
The assurance comes after months of concern among churches, legal advocates, and religious groups over controversial parliamentary recommendations that could have stripped faith-based and pro-life organizations of their charitable status.
Nearly 300 Canadian attorneys and law students signed an open letter in September urging the government to protect religious charities, warning that such proposals threaten religious freedom and essential community services, as previously reported by Christian Daily International.
The letter, organized by the Christian Legal Fellowship (CLF), responded to two recommendations by the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance. Recommendation 429 calls for removing the “advancement of religion” as a recognized charitable purpose, while Recommendation 430 proposed ending charitable status for anti-abortion organizations.
In an Oct. 20 update, the Evangelical Fellowship of Canada (EFC) said there remains uncertainty about the government’s position on the proposed changes.
“We continue to hear from many churches concerned about possible changes to charitable status. We haven’t seen any direct communications from the Finance Minister on the government’s plans, but there are MPs going on the record to indicate there are no plans to change charitable status for religious organizations,” the EFC stated.
The Canadian government’s Finance Committee held pre-budget consultations over the summer, during which the EFC submitted a response alongside 948 written briefs from other organizations. The evangelical group urged the committee to reject recommendations calling for the removal of “advancement of religion” as a charitable purpose and for ending charitable status for anti-abortion organizations.
The EFC noted that the committee has not yet released a report or recommendations from its summer 2025 pre-budget study and said it is unlikely to issue a further response before the Nov. 4 budget. it added, however, that it is continuing to monitor any new recommendations that may be issued before the budget.
Although the EFC has not received a reply to its letter to the finance minister, it reported encouraging signs regarding one of the recommendations.
In late September, Liberal MP Karina Gould, chair of the Finance Committee, informed Al Postma, Canadian executive director of the Christian Reformed Church, that the government has no plans to change charitable status. Her office relayed a statement from the Department of Finance confirming that charitable status for religious organizations “is not under review,” adding that “no policy or legislative changes have been proposed that would revoke charitable status from religious groups including churches.”
The EFC called the response the “clearest, on-the-record statement” yet that the government is not planning to change charitable status for religious organizations.
“This aligns with what we’ve been hearing from various sources, but it’s reassuring to see it confirmed officially,” the group said, adding that it remains encouraged by the clarification.
The EFC said it will continue urging the government to support the charitable sector and to help MPs better understand the positive impact of religious charities in their communities, making them less likely to back similar proposals in the future.
However, the EFC noted that Gould’s statement did not address the committee’s other recommendation to revoke charitable status for anti-abortion organizations. It added that a previous government proposal to legislate against charities offering pregnancy options counseling “died when Parliament was prorogued” and has not reappeared in the new government’s plans.
“The EFC remains concerned about the mischaracterization and targeting of pregnancy care centers and the politicization of charities,” the group said.
