Executive Summary: Key Legal and Evidentiary Issues

• Whether the Federal Court has jurisdiction to review the Minister’s publication of a Notice of Intention to Revoke (NITR) a charity’s registration.

• Interpretation of section 180(2) of the Income Tax Act in limiting jurisdiction to the Federal Court of Appeal.

• Characterization of the publication of the NITR as part of the revocation process rather than a separate administrative decision.

• Application of precedent from Stewards’ Charitable Foundation regarding jurisdictional limitations on judicial review.

• Whether the statutory appeal process under the Income Tax Act constitutes a complete code excluding other forms of review.

• The effect of the confirmed NITR and publication on the appellant’s charitable registration status.

Facts and outcome of the case

In this case, the Jewish National Fund of Canada Inc. (JNF) challenged the publication of a Notice of Intention to Revoke (NITR) its charitable registration status by the Minister of National Revenue. The NITR was issued in 2019 following an audit that raised concerns about JNF's qualification as a registered charity. After issuing a notice of objection and receiving a notice of confirmation from the Minister in 2024, JNF filed an appeal in the Federal Court of Appeal. Separately, it filed an application for judicial review in the Federal Court seeking to compel the Minister to retract the publication of the NITR in the Canada Gazette.

The Federal Court dismissed the application on jurisdictional grounds, citing the decision in Stewards’ Charitable Foundation, which held that such matters are within the exclusive jurisdiction of the Federal Court of Appeal due to the appeal scheme under the Income Tax Act. JNF appealed that decision to the Federal Court of Appeal, arguing that the publication was a distinct administrative act separate from the issuance of the NITR and thus fell within the Federal Court’s jurisdiction under section 18 of the Federal Courts Act.

The Federal Court of Appeal rejected this argument. It concluded that the publication of the NITR was not a separate decision but an integral part of the revocation process already covered by the statutory appeal framework. The court emphasized that section 180(2) of the Income Tax Act expressly removes jurisdiction from both the Tax Court and the Federal Court when an appeal to the Federal Court of Appeal is available. The phrase “in respect of” in section 180(2) was interpreted broadly, meaning the judicial review of the publication decision was indeed part of the appealable process concerning the NITR.

Accordingly, the Court held that only it—not the Federal Court—has jurisdiction over matters related to the issuance, confirmation, and consequential publication of an NITR. The appeal was dismissed, and costs were awarded to the respondent, although no specific amount was stated in the judgment.