Question Period Note: Protecting Reproductive Freedom by Preventing Abuse of Charitable Status

• Every woman should be free to make her own decisions about her own body. Every woman in Canada should have access to the health care she needs.
• Concerns have been raised that some registered charities offering reproductive health services to women may not be transparent about the services they offer. These organizations, known as crisis pregnancy centres, are restricting the rights of vulnerable pregnant women.
• Our government will introduce legislation to require more transparency from charities providing pregnancy counselling. Organizations that do not provide accurate information do not deserve the generous tax support that charities receive.

• Concerns have been raised that some registered charities that offer reproductive health services to women, including pregnancy options counselling—and that are provided federal supports under the tax system—may be spreading misinformation by presenting themselves as a neutral, full-service pregnancy support service organization, when they are in fact anti-choice organizations that push women away from accessing the reproductive care of their choice. By concealing the true nature of their services, these organizations, known as crisis pregnancy centres, are restricting the rights of vulnerable pregnant women to choose the reproductive care appropriate to them and their circumstances.
• To address these concerns, the federal government intends to introduce legislation to amend the Income Tax Act and Income Tax Regulations to require registered charities that provide services, advice, or information in respect of the prevention, preservation, or termination of pregnancy to disclose where they do not provide specific services, including abortions or birth control. Disclosure of such information would be required in any form of public communication that advertises these services. This legislation would also require that reproductive health charities explicitly disclose this information on their annual information return, which is publicly available on the website of the Canada Revenue Agency.
• Under this legislation, a registered charity that provides reproductive health services would need to disclose if, at a minimum, it does not provide the contact information for an abortion services provider and a birth control service provider.
• For the purposes of this legislation, a public communication would generally include any advertisement, such as bus ad, poster, billboard, social media posts, or websites, put out by the charity or on the charity’s behalf, or any other communication aimed at the public, that advertises the information, advice, or services that it provides relating to the prevention, preservation, or termination of pregnancy.
• Where a charity fails to meet the requirements specified in the legislation, the Minister of National Revenue would be permitted to revoke its registration.
• These changes would come into force 90 days after Royal Assent, with the new information disclosure requirements applying as of the 2025 taxation year.

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