Engage Canadians to Improve Key Canada Revenue Agency Services (CA0063)
Overview
At-a-Glance
Action Plan: Canada Action Plan 2016-2018
Action Plan Cycle: 2016
Status:
Institutions
Lead Institution: Canada Revenue Agency
Support Institution(s): NA
Policy Areas
Access to Information, Civic Space, Fiscal Openness, Inclusion, Open Data, Public Participation, Publication of Budget/Fiscal Information, TaxIRM Review
IRM Report: Canada End-Term Report 2016-2018, Canada Mid-Term Report 2016-2018
Early Results: Marginal
Design i
Verifiable: Yes
Relevant to OGP Values: Yes
Ambition (see definition): High
Implementation i
Description
Engage Canadians to Improve Key Canada Revenue Agency Services Why do this: Service excellence is a top priority for the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), and the agency is committed to ensuring high-quality services are delivered to Canadians in a way that makes them feel respected and valued. How will it be done: Over the next two years, CRA will undertake a number of key public consultation and engagement activities to respond to key challenges: - CRA currently publishes open data in various categories both on its website and on Canada’s Open Data portal. A better understanding of the public’s satisfaction with, and interest in, statistical tax publications and related data, is needed to meet the growing demand for data that is of value to Canadians. - CRA has committed to providing more information on the regulation of charities to the public in a timely manner and to ensuring the engagement of the charitable sector in support of rules that are fair, open, and easily accessible and understood. - Each year a number of indigenous Canadians miss out on potential tax benefits. Through consultation, new data, and collaboration with other government departments and stakeholders CRA will seek to empower indigenous Canadians to obtain the tax benefits to which they are entitled.
IRM Midterm Status Summary
22. Engage Canadians to improve key Canada Revenue Agency services
Commitment Text:
The Government of Canada will undertake public consultations and engagement to support improved access to high-value, statistical tax data and publications, increased fairness of the rules governing charities’ political activities, and better understanding of factors affecting the low rates of benefit uptake.
Milestones:
22.1. Complete an online consultation with Canadians to measure public satisfaction with, and interest in, statistical tax publications and related data.
22.2. Engage with registered charities, the public, and other stakeholders in the charitable sector to help clarify rules governing charities’ political activities:
• Conduct online and in-person consultations sessions on what information is needed, what form any future rules should take, and how best to communicate them to stakeholders and the general public.
22.3. Engage with indigenous Canadians to better understand the issues, root causes, and data gaps that may be preventing eligible individuals from accessing benefits.
Responsible institution: Canada Revenue Agency
Supporting institution(s): N/A
Start date: Not specified
End date: Not specified
Editorial Note: The text of the commitment was abridged for formatting reasons. For full commitment text, visit: http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Canada_AP3.pdf.
Context and Objectives
Among the most controversial activities of the previous government was its practice of carrying out tax audits of charities engaged in political activities, particularly since these were widely seen as having targeted their political opponents, Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) described the audits as 'a direct assault on freedom of expression.'
Completion
For Milestone 22.1, the Canada Revenue Agency published an online survey on opinions toward statistical tax data in August 2016.
For Milestone 22.2, the government conducted a robust series of consultations on clarifying the rules around charities and political engagement, and received almost 20,000 written submissions.
For Milestone 22.3, the Canada Revenue Agency carried out public opinion research with indigenous communities and vulnerable populations, including urban Indigenous Canadians, in Spring 2017.
Early Results
There are no indications of early impacts from milestones 22.1 and 22.3. In terms of Milestone 22.2, the civic space has improved considerably as a result of the suspension of tax audits.
Next Steps
This commitment, and in particular the milestone related to charities’ political activities, is an attempt to turn the page on a particularly challenging time for civic engagement in Canada. However, Publish What You Pay-Canada, the Canadian Unitarian Council, and the Centre for Law and Democracy all noted that the real test will be whether the consultation leads to substantive reforms of rules impacting charities.
Both Fred Vallance-Jones and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression expressed that the government could also examine their approach to funding of journalism, and consider whether that should be included among charitable activities.
IRM End of Term Status Summary
22. Engage Canadians to Improve Key Canada Revenue Agency Services
Commitment Text:
The Government of Canada will undertake public consultations and engagement to support improved access to high-value, statistical tax data and publications, increased fairness of the rules governing charities' political activities, and better understanding of factors affecting the low rates of benefit uptake.
Milestones:
22.1. Complete an online consultation with Canadians to measure public satisfaction with, and interest in, statistical tax publications and related data.
22.2. Engage with registered charities, the public, and other stakeholders in the charitable sector to help clarify rules governing charities' political activities:
•Conduct online and in-person consultations sessions on what information is needed, what form any future rules should take, and how best to communicate them to stakeholders and the general public.
22.3. Engage with indigenous Canadians to better understand the issues, root causes, and data gaps that may be preventing eligible individuals from accessing benefits.
Responsible institution:Canada Revenue Agency
Supporting institution(s): N/A
Start Date: Not specified
End Date: Not specified
Editorial Note: The text of the commitment was abridged for formatting reasons. For full commitment text, visit http://www.opengovpartnership.org/wp-content/uploads/2001/01/Canada_AP3.pdf.
Commitment Aim
This commitment aimed to improve the landscape for civic participation in Canada. It focused on supporting Indigenous Canadians, vulnerable communities, and charities. The commitment called for carrying out a consultation on statistical tax data and consulting with charities to improve the rules around political participation. It also called for engaging with Indigenous Canadians to help them understand the rules around eligible benefits.
Status
Midterm: Substantial
Under Milestone 22.1, in August 2016, the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) published an online survey on opinions about statistical tax data. Response rates were too low to generate significant data. As a result, the CRA committed to improve the survey for the second year of implementation. Regarding Milestone 22.2, the government conducted a robust series of consultations on clarifying the rules regarding charities and political engagement. It received almost 20,000 written submissions.[Note193: 'The Canada Revenue Agency's Online Consultation on Charities' Political Activities,' Canada Revenue Agency, 20 December 2016, https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/whats-new/canada-revenue-agencys-online-consultation-on-charities-political-activities.html.] A Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities, composed of experts in the charitable sector, reviewed the consultation feedback and developed a report that was presented to the Minister of National Revenue in March 2017.[Note194: Report of the Consultation Panel on the Political Activities of Charities: https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/cra-arc/migration/cra-arc/chrts-gvng/chrts/cmmnctn/pltcl-ctvts/pnlrprt-eng.pdf.] Under Milestone 22.3, the CRA conducted public opinion research with Indigenous communities and vulnerable populations, including urban Indigenous Canadians, in spring 2017.[Note195: Phoenix Strategic Perspectives Inc., Qualitative Research: The Experiences of Indigenous Communities with Tax Filing (Ottawa, Ontario: Canada Revenue Agency), June 2017, epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pwgsc-tpsgc/por-ef/canada_revenue_agency/2017/040-16-e/report.pdf; and 'Barriers Associated with Tax Filing in Vulnerable Populations Qualitative Research,' Canada Revenue Agency, 24 March 2017, epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/200/301/pwgsc-tpsgc/por-ef/canada_revenue_agency/2017/103-16-e/vulnerable_report_en_codes.html. ]
End of term: Complete
Under Milestone 22.1, Canada released an improved, more user-friendly format of its survey in summer 2017. Participation remained low, partly due to technical difficulties, according to Canada's end-of-term self-assessment.[Note196: An archived version of the survey is available at https://cra-arc-survey-sondage.ca/f/s.aspx?s=c0cd518f-c04e-49e3-b3b1-628d79fc68a4&mode=44&lang=EN.] By the end of the reporting period, only 34 responses to the survey had been obtained. This milestone has been completed, despite the low response rate. Regarding Milestone 22.2, the government completed the consultation during the first year of implementation. However, no responses or reforms have been implemented yet. The completion of this milestone is difficult to assess. Although the consultation has been completed, no changes were introduced during the action plan period, though Canada's end-of-term self-assessment claimed that a response will be issued in the coming months.[Note197: The self-assessment is available at https://open.canada.ca/data/en/dataset/9da9faf5-deb1-48db-8f16-91055d942d65.] On September 14, 2018, the Ministry of Finance released proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act, which ultimately fed in to Bill C-86, currently under consideration.[Note198: See: https://www.parl.ca/DocumentViewer/en/42-1/bill/C-86/first-reading.] Regarding Milestone 22.3, Canada's end-of-term self-assessment states that it continues to process the results from its previous engagement and consultations to try and improve participation by Indigenous peoples in the tax and benefits system.
Did It Open Government?
Access to Information: Marginal
Civic Participation: Marginal
Canada's civil society space faced substantial pressure at the outset of this action plan, particularly as a result of a series of government tax audits of charities engaged in political activities. Although these audits have been discontinued—and this commitment addresses a crucially important thematic area—the actual effect of this commitment on access to information and civic participation is assessed as marginal. The rating corresponds to the low response rate for the survey under Milestone 22.1, the unclear impact of the consultations and engagement under Milestone 22.3, and most importantly, the fact that substantial reforms have yet to materialise from the charities discussions that took place under Milestone 22.2, though it is important to note that some changes were proposed just after the end of the action plan. However, this report summarises the results between July 2017 and August 2018 and, therefore, does not assess activities carried out beyond this period of time.
Carried Forward?
This commitment does not appear to have been carried forward in Canada's fourth action plan.