By Theresa L.M. Man

Quarterly Updates from the Charities Directorate: Modernization, Online Filing, and Sector Engagement

On September 16, 2025, the Canada Revenue Agency’s (“CRA”) Charities Directorate released its quarterly update on its News and events for charities webpage, outlining its recent activities in the last quarter and its priorities for the fall.

Much of the focus of this update is on encouraging charities to file their T3010 Registered Charity Information Return online. This can be done by either filing through (a) the CRA’s free, interactive form available in their CRA MyBA account, or (b) the CRA’s new online filing service that allows charities or their authorized representatives to complete their return using CRA-certified software, and then upload and submit it directly online through their CRA MyBA account.

It indicates that in the near future, the CRA will move toward online filing as the default method for submitting the T3010, instead of paper filing. Once submitted, the information in the return will be instantly processed, and the public portion of the financial information will be available on the CRA’s online database of charities the next day. In doing so, the CRA intends to improve service delivery by making it faster, easier, and more secure for charities to meet their filing obligations.

The update also recaps a number of other recent CRA initiatives, including information for charities impacted by a natural disaster, publication of updated compliance and audit statistics for the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year, educational materials on completing the T3010, refreshed content on books and records obligations, and enhanced donor-focused web content to make it easier to find and understand. The Charities Directorate continues to offer resources to support the sector's digital transition.

T3010 Filing Deadlines and Digital Services

On September 12, 2025, the Charities Directorate, in its News and events for charities webpage, issued a reminder to the 15,000 charities whose fiscal year ended on March 31, 2025, that the deadline to file their T3010 Registered Charity Information Return is September 30, 2025. The CRA emphasizes that timely filing is essential to maintaining their charitable status. T3010 must be filed within 6 months after their year end, so the CRA reminded charities with different fiscal year ends to confirm their specific due dates.

Up till now, charities can file their T3010 using different means – by mail, fax or online. The CRA announced in the September news update that it will be phasing out fax services in the coming months. Instead, the CRA encouraged charities to use the CRA’s secure online services or CRA-certified software to file their T3010 and submit organizational updates as explained above in the September 16, 2025 update.

For detailed instructions on how to complete the T3010, see the CRA’s Guide T4033 Completing Form T3010 Registered Charity Information Return. When accessing the guide, make sure that the version of the guide matches the version of the T3010 that is being completed. At this time, the current version of the T3010 is version 24 and therefore Guide T4033 for version 24 must also be used.

The CRA also has a brief summary webpage entitled Filing a Registered Charity Information Return (T3010), as well as a checklist entitled T3010 checklist – how to avoid common mistakes when filing your return. Both the summary webpage and checklist are not as informative or detailed as Guide T4033. There is also a CRA webinar Completing your T3010 online: A walkthrough for charities that was aired on June 17, 2025, and a transcript is available on CRA’s website.

​Read the September 2025 Charity & NFP Law Update