Can I complain to the CRA anonymously?

Yes. The Leads Program accepts anonymous reports and says it works to protect the identity of people who do give a name.

Will the CRA tell me what happened?

No. You will not receive updates or an outcome. If the charity is revoked, suspended or penalized, that appears on the CRA's public lists.

What if the charity will not respond to me at all?

That is itself an answer. Contact information that does not work, or questions that go nowhere, is one of the red flags on the legitimacy page.

Can a donor get their gift back?

Generally no. A completed gift belongs to the charity. If it was given for a specific purpose and used for another, that is a question for the charity first and, in Ontario, potentially the Public Guardian and Trustee.

How do you complain about a Canadian charity?

The short answer

Start with the charity. Most concerns are a misunderstanding or a fixable problem, and a well-run organization will answer a direct question. If the concern is about tax law, receipts, or money used for non-charitable purposes, report it to the CRA through its Leads Program. You can do that anonymously. You will not be told what happened next unless it ends in revocation, suspension or a penalty.

Last reviewed September 20262 min read

Ask the charity. Before anything else, put the question to the organization, in writing, plainly. A missing receipt, a program that seems to have vanished, a report that does not match the website. Most of the time there is an explanation, and the way the charity answers tells you more than the answer does. This is also the step that keeps a bad day from becoming a formal complaint about a good organization.

If it is about the rules, tell the CRA. The CRA's Leads Program takes reports about registered charities: improper receipts, resources used for private benefit or non-charitable purposes, books and records that do not exist, activity outside the charity's purposes. Submit online, by phone or by mail. Anonymous is allowed. Include the charity's name and registration number, what you saw, when, and any documents.

Know what you will not get. The CRA does not confirm it is investigating, does not give updates, and does not tell you the outcome. Taxpayer confidentiality applies to charities too. If the result is a revocation, suspension or penalty, it becomes public through the CRA's lists. Anything short of that stays private. Submitting a lead is a contribution to oversight, not a case you get to follow.

If it is about charitable property in Ontario, the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee can inquire into misuse of charitable assets. Other provinces have less.

If it is fraud, the Canadian Anti-Fraud Centre collects reports and local police investigate. A charity that is a real registered charity behaving badly is a CRA matter. A fake one asking for money is a police matter.

What a complaint is not for. The charity did not thank you, took a position you disagree with, or spent your gift on the thing you funded rather than the thing you hoped. None of those are non-compliance. A complaint to a regulator lands on a small organization as a serious event, and the sector's lawyers have written about complaints made in bad faith. Be sure, and be fair.

Questions people also ask

Can I complain to the CRA anonymously?: Yes. The Leads Program accepts anonymous reports and says it works to protect the identity of people who do give a name.
Will the CRA tell me what happened?: No. You will not receive updates or an outcome. If the charity is revoked, suspended or penalized, that appears on the CRA's public lists.
What if the charity will not respond to me at all?: That is itself an answer. Contact information that does not work, or questions that go nowhere, is one of the red flags on the legitimacy page.
Can a donor get their gift back?: Generally no. A completed gift belongs to the charity. If it was given for a specific purpose and used for another, that is a question for the charity first and, in Ontario, potentially the Public Guardian and Trustee.

Sources: CRA, Leads Program: reporting suspected tax or benefit cheatingCRA, Confidentiality and public informationCanadian Anti-Fraud Centre, Report fraudMiller Thomson, The danger of bad faith complaints to CRA Charities DirectorateBlumbergs, CanadianCharityLaw.ca FAQ, "How can I complain about a Canadian charity?"