Ottawa, Ontario, May 12, 2008… William V. Baker, Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), has announced new contribution agreements with four Canadian registered charities as part of the CRA's Charities Partnership and Outreach Program.
The contribution agreements will provide more than $2.9 million in new funding for innovative education and training projects designed to increase charitable sector compliance with relevant parts of the Income Tax Act. Funding is being provided to Imagine Canada, the Legal Resource Centre of Alberta Ltd., the Canadian Association of the Deaf, and the Canadian Council for International Cooperation.
"Canadian charities make an invaluable contribution to the well-being of our communities, year after year," said Commissioner Baker. "The Canada Revenue Agency is proud to support these organizations by helping them to better understand and voluntarily meet their obligations under the Income Tax Act, and to ensure that Canadians can continue to have confidence in the charitable sector."
The new projects announced today will be carried out over the next three years. The funding is provided in support of the recipients' work to educate and train registered charities in issues that may lead to non-compliance such as conducting foreign activities, fundraising, issuing receipts, and maintaining books and records.
To determine which projects to support, the CRA consulted members of the voluntary sector and other government departments before selecting the recipients. Contribution funding is available to registered charities and non-profit organizations serving the charitable sector in Canada to support projects designed to increase charitable sector compliance. Organizations are able to receive funding of up to $500,000 per year, to a maximum of three years per multi-year project.
For more information about the selected organizations and their projects, as well as other projects previously funded under the Charities Outreach and Partnership Program, visit the CRA's Charities and Giving Web site at www.cra.gc.ca/charities, or call 1-800-267-2384.
The Charities Partnership and Outreach Program delivers on the CRA's commitment to ensure that the charitable sector is better educated to meet its regulatory obligations under the Income Tax Act more easily and efficiently.
The federal government continues to work with the voluntary sector and with partners in the provinces and territories to improve the regulation of the charitable sector for the benefit of all Canadians.
