Standing Committee on Finance

Comité permanent des finances

For immediate release

Ottawa, December 15, 2011 -

The House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance announced today that a study of charitable giving in Canada will be launched when Parliament returns in 2012.

“I am pleased that the Committee will be undertaking this important study,” said Mr. James Rajotte, chair of the Committee. “The Committee hears about charitable giving each year during its pre-budget consultations. This study is consistent with the unanimous support in the House of Commons for a March 2011 motion by Mr. Braid, the Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, a related motion adopted by this Committee in the fall of 2011 and the recommendation for a study of charitable giving by the Committee in the 2011 budget.”

In particular, the study will examine, in respect of both individuals and corporations, current and proposed tax measures to encourage charitable giving. The examination will include the charitable tax credit amount and the possible extension of the capital gains exemption to donations of private company shares and real estate. The study will also focus on the feasibility and cost of changes to existing tax measures as well as the implementation of new tax incentives.

Those who wish to submit a brief to the Committee on the topic of tax incentives for charitable giving should do so no later than noon on Tuesday, January 17, 2012. Briefs should be no longer than five pages in length and may be published by the House of Commons on the Committee’s Web site.