Public policy dialogue and development activities by charities

For a general overview of the changes to the rules governing the political activities of charities, see the Questions and answers.

Guidance

Reference number
CG-027

Issued
January 21, 2019 (Revised November 27, 2020)

This guidance replaces Policy statement CPS-022, Political activities.

General requirements for charitable registration

In addition to the requirements set out in this guidance, there are a number of other general requirements related to charitable registration. For more information, see Guidance CG-017, General requirements for charitable registration.

Guidance products can be updated. If you have comments or suggestions to improve the guidance, we would like to hear from you. To provide comments or obtain additional information, contact the Charities Directorate.

To be eligible for registration, the Income Tax Act requires a charity to be constituted and operated exclusively for charitable purposes, and all the charity’s resources must be devoted to charitable activities carried on by the charity itself.Footnote 1  Charitable activities include public policy dialogue and development activities (PPDDA) that further a charitable purpose. PPDDAs generally involve seeking to influence the laws, policies, or decisions of government, whether in Canada or a foreign country.

As long as a charity’s PPDDAs are carried on in furtherance of its stated charitable purpose(s), the Income Tax Act places no limits on the amount of PPDDAs a charity can engage in.Footnote 2  In this context, a charity may devote up to 100% of its total resources to PPDDAs that further its stated charitable purpose(s).

Furthering a stated charitable purpose

A charity may engage in unlimited PPDDAs that further its stated charitable purpose(s), provided the charity never directly or indirectly supports or opposes a political party or candidate for public office (see Prohibited: Supporting or opposing a political party or candidate). In other words, a charity is free to advocate for retaining, opposing, or changing any law, policy, or decision of government in furtherance of its stated charitable purpose.

Stated charitable purpose

A stated purpose is one that appears in the charity’s governing documents. The stated purpose is charitable when it meets the following two criteria:

The requirement to have a stated charitable purpose

The Income Tax Act requires a charity’s stated purposes to be charitable.Footnote 3  Accordingly, the purposes stated in a charity’s governing document may not refer to influencing the laws, policies, or decisions of government. This is the case even if most or all of a charity’s activities are PPDDAs.

A charity’s purposes should be drafted so that they focus on the charitable purposes the PPDDAs are meant to achieve, rather than the PPDDAs themselves. A stated charitable purpose could include, for example:

For more information on drafting charitable purposes, see Guidance CG-019, How to draft purposes for charitable registration.

The requirement for PPDDAs to further a charitable purpose

A charity’s PPDDAs further a stated charitable purpose if they satisfy both of the following criteria:

In this context, a charity could, for example, carry out PPDDAs to:

Examples of PPDDAs that further a stated charitable purpose

A charity provides information to the public about the benefits of enhancing social assistance programs for the impoverished, to further its purpose of relieving poverty.

A charity makes representations to elected representatives to lobby for increased provincial funding for post-secondary education, to further its purpose of advancing education.

A charity calls on its supporters to contact elected representatives of all parties and urges them to support provincial funding for religious schools of a certain faith through the public education system, to further its purpose of advancing religion.

A charity expresses views on social media platforms against a municipal government’s zoning decision to permit smoking on restaurant patios, to further its purpose of promoting health.

A charity advocates for higher government rebates for electric vehicle purchases, to further its purpose of protecting the environment.

The Canada Revenue Agency's (CRA) requirements for books and records means that a charity must keep records that demonstrate how its PPDDAs further its stated charitable(s) purpose as described above.Footnote 4  These records can include, among other things:

For more information, go to keeping books and records.

Public policy dialogue and development activities

PPDDAs can be described as activities a charity carries on to participate in the public policy development process, or facilitate the public’s participation in that process. A charity can also transfer resources to another qualified donee to support the recipient’s PPDDAs. As long as a charity’s PPDDAs further its stated charitable purpose, the Income Tax Act places no limit on the amount of PPDDAs a charity can engage in.

For the purposes of this document, public policy means the laws, policies, or decisions of a government, in Canada or a foreign country. The CRA considers PPDDAs to include: Footnote 5

Providing information – charities may provide information to their supporters or the general public related to their charitable purposes (including the conduct of public awareness campaigns) in order to inform or persuade the public in regard to public policy. Such information must be truthful, accurate, and not misleading.

Research – charities may conduct research into public policy, distribute the research, and discuss the research and findings with the media and with others as they see fit. Note that, to be a charitable activity, a charity’s research must meet the criteria in Policy statement CPS-029, Research as a charitable activity.

Disseminating opinions – charities may express opinions on matters related to their charitable purposes when participating in the development of public policy, as long as they draw on research or evidence, and they are not contrary to hate speech laws or other legitimate restrictions on freedom of expression.

Advocacy – charities may advocate to retain, oppose, or change a law, policy, or decision, of any level of government in Canada, or a foreign country.

Mobilizing others – charities may call on supporters or the general public to contact elected officials, public officials, political parties, and candidates of all parties to express their support for, or opposition to, a particular law, policy, or decision of any level of government in Canada or a foreign country.

Representations – charities may make representations in writing or verbally to elected officials, public officials, political parties, and candidates, and appear at parliamentary committees, to bring their views to the public policy development process, and may release such materials publicly. Note that a charity engaging in this type of activity may be required to register as a lobbyist organization. See Other legal requirements.

Providing forums and convening discussions – charities may invite competing candidates and political representatives to speak at the same event, or may request written submissions for publication, to discuss public policy issues that relate to the charity’s purposes.

Communicating on social media – charities may express their views, and offer an opportunity for others to express their views, in regard to public policy, on social media or elsewhere. If the social media site or platform allows it, charities must remove any comments made on their site or platform that they should know are false or misleading. 

Prohibited: Supporting or opposing a political party or candidate

The Income Tax Act prohibits a charity from devoting any part of its resources to the direct or indirect support of, or opposition to, any political party or candidate for public office.Footnote 6  FootnoteAny activity that supports or opposes a political party or candidate is not a PPDDA, and a charity cannot carry on such an activity to any degree.

This requirement is particularly important to remember during an election period, when charities may want to express their views on the policy issues that matter to their supporters. Beyond the requirements of the Income Tax Act, charities are also subject to other legislation governing elections and activities surrounding representations to parliamentarians, such as the Canada Elections Act and the Lobbying Act (see Other legal requirements).

A charity may publicly agree or disagree with a decision or position of government, but in doing so must not support or oppose any political party or candidate for public office. As a general guideline, a charity’s communications should focus on the policy issue under discussion, and not refer to any candidate or political party.

The CRA considers a candidate to be a person who meets that specific definition in the applicable election legislation. For example, a candidate in a federal election would be a person that meets the definition in The Canada Elections Act.Footnote 7  Note that charities must not devote resources to supporting or opposing the election of any individual, even if they are not a candidate as per the applicable election legislation.

The CRA considers a political party to be an organization with a fundamental purpose to participate in public affairs by endorsing one or more of its members as candidates and supporting their election.Footnote 8

The CRA considers a candidate for public office to include a candidate seeking election to any of the following:

Direct and indirect support or opposition

Direct support or opposition means either of the following:

Examples of direct support or opposition could include:

Indirect support or opposition means either of the following:

Examples of indirect support or opposition could include:

A charity that provides a platform for the public to comment on and discuss issues (for example, a website, a blog, or a social media page) must monitor these platforms to the extent allowable by the platform itself. If possible, the charity is expected to remove, in a timely manner, any comments made on its platform that support or oppose a political party or candidate for public office. In such a case, a charity might choose to add a notice to its platform that messages that support or oppose a political party or candidate will be removed.

The CRA does not consider a charity to support or oppose a political party or candidate if it merely receives a gift from a party or candidate, or is promoted by a party or candidate. For example, if a political party, candidate, or elected representative donates to a charity, or compliments the charity on social media, the CRA would not consider the charity to support or oppose that political party or candidate on this factor alone.

Allowed: Communicating about policy issues

A charity may carry out PPDDAs that support or oppose a law, policy, or decision of government that a political party or candidate also supports or opposes. A charity can do this at any time, inside or outside of an election period, as long as in doing so the charity does not refer to or otherwise identify the political party or candidate.

The actions a political party or candidate may independently take do not transform the activities of a charity into direct or indirect support of or opposition to that party or candidate. What the CRA considers is the activities of the charity itself. For example, a charity’s PPDDAs are not, nor do they become, support of or opposition to a political party or candidate, if a political party or candidate:

Examples 

Allowed PPDDAs, and not prohibited direct or indirect opposition to a political party
A charity that is registered to support newly arrived refugees in Canada posts on its blog its experiences working with these individuals, and its opinions on the refugee system, an issue on which a provincial political party has expressed differing views.

Prohibited direct support for a candidate
The charity tells people to vote for the candidate with a particular view on Canada’s refugee system.

Not an activity of the charity, and not typically a concern for the CRA
A candidate in a municipal election calls for new local government programs to help refugees, and cites a charity’s publications on the issue as support.

Allowed: Informing the public about the policy positions of political parties and candidates

Inside or outside of an election period, a charity may:

Representatives of a charity involved in politics on their own personal time

The Income Tax Act prohibits a charity from directly or indirectly supporting or opposing a political party or candidate. It is the CRA’s view that this restriction does not apply to representatives of a charity, in their own personal, private capacity as individuals. That is, a representative of a charity, such as a director, is not prohibited from being involved with an election, political campaign, or any other political process in their own personal, private capacity as individuals, whether during an election period or not.

However, a charity must not use its resources, such as office space, supplies, phone, photocopier, computer, or publications, and human resources such as employees or volunteers, to support that individual’s personal political involvement.

Representatives of a charity can publicly voice their personal views on political issues, but must not use events or functions organized by the charity, the charity’s publications, or other resources such as a platform to voice their views on these issues.

In situations outside charity functions and publications, representatives of a charity, particularly leaders, who want to speak or write in their individual capacity should indicate that their comments are personal rather than the views of the charity. This is particularly important in the case of social media, where it may be difficult to tell whether a representative’s messages reflect his or her personal views, or those of a charity.

Other legal requirements

A charity that intends to carry out PPDDAs should be aware of other federal, provincial, or municipal requirements that might apply to these types of activities, such as:

A charity that carries on allowable PPDDAs is not exempted from meeting any provincial requirements on the use of its resources, such as any restrictions on the use of charitable assets.Footnote 10

Annex A – Categories of charity

These purposes have already been found to be charitable by the courts, or are analogous to those that have been found to be charitable by the courts:

Footnotes

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