The Federal Government published a detailed response letter on March 30, 2021 to the Senate’s special report on the charitable and non-profit sector. In this regard, as discussed in Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 451, the Special Senate Committee on the Charitable Sector (“Committee”) had earlier released its final report, Catalyst for Change: A Roadmap to a Stronger Charitable Sector (“Report”), on June 20, 2019. The Report was the result of a year-long study and included 42 recommendations to the Government of Canada, officially adopted by the Senate of Canada on November 30, 2020, (“Recommendations”), with a focus on key themes to strengthen the charitable and non-profit sector, while proposing measures to update the legal framework. The Committee was formed in 2018 to examine the impact of federal and provincial laws and policies governing registered charities, non-profit organizations and other similar groups, and to examine the impact of the voluntary sector in Canada.

The 20-page letter from the Minister of National Revenue reviews and responds to all of the 42 Recommendations. This Bulletin provides an overview of the Government’s extensive response to the Report and highlights comments of particular interest.

For the balance of this Bulletin, please see Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 491.