C-230 (45-1) - An Act to amend the Financial Administration Act and to make consequential amendments to other Acts (debt forgiveness registry)
Chamber
commons
Stage
Cmte Reading
Introduced
Sep 19, 2025
Progress
This bill requires the government to create a public online registry of large debts owed by corporations that were waived or forgiven.
Key Changes
- Creates a mandatory public, searchable online registry of forgiven or written-off debts of $1 million or more owed to the federal government
- Applies to debts owed by corporations, trust companies, and partnerships — not individuals
- Registry must include the debtor's name, amount forgiven, relevant time period, and the law under which the debt arose
- Amends the Income Tax Act, Excise Tax Act, Excise Act 2001, Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, Digital Services Tax Act, and Global Minimum Tax Act to allow confidential information to be shared for registry purposes
- The President of the Treasury Board is responsible for establishing and maintaining the registry
Gotchas
- The bill only applies to corporations, trust companies, and partnerships — debts forgiven for individuals are not included in the registry
- The $1 million threshold means smaller forgiven debts would not appear in the registry, limiting its scope
- Amendments to multiple tax and excise laws create exceptions to confidentiality protections, allowing otherwise protected financial information to be made public in the registry
- The bill does not specify a timeline for when the registry must be established or how frequently it must be updated
- The President of the Treasury Board has discretion to require additional information beyond what is listed, giving the executive branch flexibility in how the registry is structured
Who's Affected
- Corporations, trust companies, and partnerships that have had large debts to the federal government forgiven
- Treasury Board of Canada (responsible for building and maintaining the registry)
- Canada Revenue Agency (as confidential tax information may be disclosed for registry purposes)
- Canadian public (gains access to information about large government debt forgiveness decisions)
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill only applies to corporations, trust companies, and partnerships — debts forgiven for individuals are not included in the registry
- The $1 million threshold means smaller forgiven debts would not appear in the registry, limiting its scope
- Amendments to multiple tax and excise laws create exceptions to confidentiality protections, allowing otherwise protected financial information to be made public in the registry
- The bill does not specify a timeline for when the registry must be established or how frequently it must be updated
- The President of the Treasury Board has discretion to require additional information beyond what is listed, giving the executive branch flexibility in how the registry is structured
Summary
Bill C-230 would amend the Financial Administration Act to require the President of the Treasury Board to create and maintain a publicly searchable online database. This registry would list any debt, obligation, or government claim of $1 million or more owed by a corporation, trust company, or partnership to the federal government that has been waived, written off, or forgiven. The registry would include the name of the company, the amount forgiven, the time period involved, and which law the debt arose under. The bill also makes changes to several other federal laws — including the Income Tax Act and Excise Tax Act — to allow confidential taxpayer and financial information to be disclosed specifically for the purpose of populating this registry. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill by Mr. Chambers in September 2025. It appears aimed at increasing government transparency and public accountability around large financial forgiveness decisions made on behalf of Canadian taxpayers.
Automatically generated from bill text using Claude
Vibes
0 responses