Doug Ford. Credit: Doug Ford Twitter Handle
Ottawa/CMEDIA: Canada’s federal government has been reportedly called by its premiers to extend the deadline for claiming charitable donations on tax returns through to the end of Feb, 2025.
In a letter to Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Christmas Eve, Ontario Premier Doug Ford, as chair of the Council of the Federation, has requested extension of the deadline for claiming charitable donations on tax returns through to the end of February.
“Charitable organizations across Canada depend on year-end fundraising to support their operations throughout the year,” Ford wrote. “However, this year’s efforts have been severely impacted by the Canada Post strike, which has prevented donors from making their usual holiday donations.”
Having been experiencing major declines in mail-in donations during typically their busiest time of year, charities have blamed the Canada Post strike.
Canada Post strike brought letter mail to a standstill for a month starting in mid-November, preventing donors from sending cheques the old-fashioned way.
The premiers are requesting that the federal government extend the deadline from the end of the year to the end of February 2025 to allow donors to send their cheques later than usual but still get credited for the 2024 tax year
It was said by multiple charities that the Canada Post strike has hurt annual donation drives, because they can’t send brochures, or receive cash or cheque donations in the mail.
The premiers are echoing calls from chief executives of three groups that represent Canadian charities — Cooperation Canada, Imagine Canada and the Health Charities Coalition of Canada.
“The effects of the postal strike will be felt well into 2025,” the groups wrote. “Extending the donations receiving period into the first quarter of 2025 is a simple and effective solution to provide immediate relief and support the charitable sector in recovering lost revenue.”
Reporting a drop of more than 50 percent in holiday donations this year, the Salvation Army has also been advocating for an extension to the tax deadline.
“This is, we believe, about doing the right thing for those who need help daily. And we’re grateful to the premiers for seeing the significance of this,” said Lt.-Col. John Murray, a spokesman for the charity.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers, representing more than 55,000 members, began its job action Nov. 15 over issues including deployment of staff for proposed weekend delivery shifts.
On Dec. 17 the Canada Industrial Relations Board declared the two parties would be unable to reach a deal by the end of the year ordering the mail carriers back to work.
Although post offices started accepting new mail two days later, time was running out for donors to send in their cheques.
