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 to the Crown that have been forgiven or written off.
Key Changes
- Creates a new public, searchable online registry of forgiven or written-off debts owed to the federal Crown
- Applies only to debts of $1 million or more owed by corporations, trust companies, or partnerships
- Requires the registry to include the entity's name, amount forgiven, time period, and the Act 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
- Places responsibility for establishing and maintaining the registry on the President of the Treasury Board
Gotchas
- The bill only applies to corporations, trust companies, and partnerships — individual Canadians whose debts are forgiven would not appear in the registry
- Consequential amendments to multiple Acts allow confidential taxpayer and financial information to be disclosed publicly, which is a significant exception to normal privacy protections for tax information
- The $1 million threshold means smaller forgiven debts would not be captured in the registry
- The bill does not specify a timeline for when the registry must be established or operational
- The President of the Treasury Board has discretion to require additional information beyond what is listed, giving the executive branch some flexibility in how the registry is implemented
Who's Affected
- Corporations, trust companies, and partnerships that have had large debts to the federal government forgiven or written off
- The Treasury Board and President of the Treasury Board (responsible for building and maintaining the registry)
- Canada Revenue Agency and other federal departments that hold confidential taxpayer or financial information
- Canadian public and journalists who would gain access to this transparency information
Vibes
0 responses
Gotchas
- The bill only applies to corporations, trust companies, and partnerships — individual Canadians whose debts are forgiven would not appear in the registry
- Consequential amendments to multiple Acts allow confidential taxpayer and financial information to be disclosed publicly, which is a significant exception to normal privacy protections for tax information
- The $1 million threshold means smaller forgiven debts would not be captured in the registry
- The bill does not specify a timeline for when the registry must be established or operational
- The President of the Treasury Board has discretion to require additional information beyond what is listed, giving the executive branch some flexibility in how the registry is implemented
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 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, in whole or in part. The registry would include the name of the entity whose debt was forgiven, the amount forgiven, the time period it covers, and which federal law the debt arose under. The bill also makes consequential amendments to several other Acts — including the Income Tax Act, Excise Tax Act, and others — to allow confidential taxpayer or financial information to be disclosed for the purpose of populating this registry. The bill was introduced as a private member's bill by Mr. Chambers in September 2025. Its apparent purpose is to increase government transparency and public accountability around large financial obligations that the federal government has chosen not to collect from businesses.
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Vibes
0 responses