Committee: Remove religious privilege from Canada’s charity law

The Government of Canada should remove the "privileged status" of religion in charity law, a Canadian parliamentary committee has said.

In a report ahead of Canada's 2025 budget, the Standing Committee on Finance recommended the Income Tax Act be amended to "provide a definition of a charity which would remove the privileged status of 'advancement of religion' as a charitable purpose".

The National Secular Society has long called for similar changes to the UK's charity law.

In both Canada and the UK, the "advancement of religion" is a recognised charitable purpose in law. The NSS has argued that this can enable religious organisations to register as charities, and therefore gain tax exemptions, without demonstrating a tangible public benefit.

The NSS has also raised concerns that including the "advancement of religion" in the list of charitable purposes enables religious charities to promote misogyny, homophobia and other forms of extremism with impunity. This is despite the duty on charities to serve a public benefit and not to cause harm.

The committee's report, presented to Canada's House of Commons in December, follows a consultation on the budget last summer. Respondents included the British Columbia Humanist Association (BCHA), which called for the removal of the "advancement of religion" as a charitable purpose.

Research by the Centre for Inquiry Canada in 2022 found religious charities cost taxpayers billions every year.

The report also says the Government should no longer provides charitable status to anti-abortion organisations – another recommendation from BCHA.

Many anti-abortion organisations operate as charities in the UK. In 2023, the NSS urged ministers to review the charitable status of 'crisis pregnancy centres' that give unethical anti-abortion advice to pregnant woman.

NSS: UK Government should also review religion and charity law

NSS head of campaigns Megan Manson said: "We strongly agree with the Standing Committee on Finance's recommendations to remove religious privilege from Canada's charity law, and strip charity status from unethical anti-abortion groups.

"We hope the Government of Canada takes these recommendations forward. Meanwhile, we urge the UK Government to review our own charity laws, with a view to removing religious privilege which results in unfairness and the promotion of harmful religious ideology in the charity sector. Religious charities which do genuine good work will always be able to register under a separate charitable purpose."