Church of Atheism of Central Canada v Canada (National Revenue)
Canadian federal court case
Church of Atheism of Central Canada v Canada (National Revenue) 2019 FCA 296 (CanLII) is a 2019 Federal Court of Appeal case in Canada. It was brought by the Church of Atheism of Central Canada against the Canada Revenue Agency after the Minister of National Revenue rejected their application for religious charitable status. The court determined on a unanimous verdict that atheism is not a religion and not eligible for tax-exempt charity status.
Background
The Church of Atheism of Central Canada was a registered non-profit organisation in Ottawa. They applied under the Income Tax Act, 1985 for the status of a charity, which would have allowed all their income to be tax-free under Canadian law. The Minister of National Revenue rejected their application on the grounds that they did not meet the statutory definition of a charity under the act. The Church of Atheism appealed the decision on the grounds of religious discrimination and alleged violations of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Constitution Act, 1982.
Case
The case was heard to decide if there was a violation of the rights and freedoms of the Church and if the Minister's decision was reasonable. The court noted there was no clear definition of a charity in statute, so the court relied upon Canadian common law which had found that a charity either was involved in "the advancement of religion" or "certain other purposes beneficial to the community". The court ruled that as the Church was a non-profit, they were not individuals so were not entitled to equality protection.
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