Charities welcome the reprieve announced by Ottawa

The four-week strike at Canada Post has dealt a blow to many charities and foundations that receive a portion of their donations by mail.

That’s why some Alberta organizations are welcoming the federal government’s eight-week reprieve this week from the deadline for reporting charitable donations on tax returns.

Ottawa thus intends to modify the Income Tax Act once Parliament resumes its work, so that Canadians will have until the end of February to make donations and report them on their 2024 taxes.

You should know that many charities still rely largely on donations sent by post.

This is the case of Alberta Lung, an organization that promotes lung health in Alberta and whose donors are older.

According to executive director Louise Allard, the center was only able to raise 40% of its donation goal this year: We receive a lot of calls from people who want to send their donation [par la poste] but wondering if they will be eligible for [l’exercice financier] of 2024.

For many organizations, the approach of the holiday season is one of the key times to raise funds, one more reason why the strike has paralyzed their fundraising efforts.

The months of November and December are important. We raise almost 30% of our annual revenue in December alonesays Jennifer English, director of accommodation resource Inn from the Cold.

This will allow us, I hope, to catch up and be able to achieve our objective.

Uncertainty in Ottawa

While some organizations are optimistic about the news, others are worried because of the uncertainty in Ottawa.

Justin Trudeau’s minority government wants to table the bill when it returns to the House on January 27.

However, we do not know how long the government will remain in power.

It is still possible that the project will not be formally adopted if the government falls or parliament is proroguedsupports Nicole Danesi, who works for CanadaHelps.

Additionally, other questions remain.

If they extend the deadline until the end of February this year, what will happen next?asks Marjorie Bencz, executive director of the Edmonton Food Bank.

The situation may cause more confusion among donors and charities as little information is available at this timeshe adds.

With information from Paula Duhatschek and Andrea Huncar