Canada Revenue Agency Act (S.C. 1999, c. 17)

Short Title

Marginal note:Short title

1 This Act may be cited as the Canada Revenue Agency Act.

Interpretation

Marginal note:Definitions

2 The definitions in this section apply in this Act.

Agency

Agency means the Canada Revenue Agency continued by subsection 4(1). (Agence)

Board

Board means the Board of Management of the Agency established by section 14. (conseil)

Commissioner

Commissioner means the Commissioner of Revenue appointed under section 25. (commissaire)

Minister

Minister means the Minister of National Revenue, appointed to serve at pleasure by commission under the Great Seal. (ministre)

program legislation

program legislation means any other Act of Parliament or any instrument made under it, or any part of such an Act or instrument

• (a) that the Governor in Council or Parliament authorizes the Minister, the Agency, the Commissioner or an employee of the Agency to administer or enforce, including

  • (i) the Excise Act,

  • (ii) the Excise Tax Act,

  • (iii) the Customs Act,

  • (iv) the Income Tax Act,

  • (v) the Air Travellers Security Charge Act,

  • (vi) the Excise Act, 2001,

  • (vii) the Softwood Lumber Products Export Charge Act, 2006,

  • (viii) the Greenhouse Gas Pollution Pricing Act,

  • (ix) the Underused Housing Tax Act,

  • (x) the Select Luxury Items Tax Act,

  • (xi) the Digital Services Tax Act, and

  • (xii) the Global Minimum Tax Act; or

• (b) under which the Minister or another minister authorizes the Agency, the Commissioner or an employee of the Agency to administer a program or carry out an activity. (législation fiscale)

Her Majesty

Marginal note:Binding on Her Majesty

3 This Act is binding on Her Majesty in right of Canada or a province.

Continuation and Mandate of the Agency

Marginal note:Continuation

• 4 (1) The Canada Customs and Revenue Agency is continued as a body corporate under the name of the Canada Revenue Agency.

• Marginal note:Agent of Her Majesty

  (2) The Agency is for all purposes an agent of Her Majesty in right of Canada.

• Marginal note:Headquarters

  (3) The headquarters of the Agency must be at such place in Canada as may be designated by the Governor in Council.

Marginal note:Mandate

• 5 (1) The Agency is responsible for

  • (a) supporting the administration and enforcement of the program legislation;

  • (b) implementing agreements between the Government of Canada or the Agency and the government of a province or other public body performing a function of government in Canada to carry out an activity or administer a tax or program;

  • (c) implementing agreements or arrangements between the Agency and departments or agencies of the Government of Canada to carry out an activity or administer a program; and

  • (d) implementing agreements between the Government of Canada and an aboriginal government to administer a tax.

• Marginal note:Ancillary functions

  (2) The Agency may provide any support, advice and services that can be provided in the course of carrying out its mandate under subsection (1).

Minister

Marginal note:Powers, duties and functions of Minister

• 6 (1) The powers, duties and functions of the Minister extend to and include all matters over which Parliament has jurisdiction, not by law assigned to any department, board or agency of the Government of Canada other than the Agency, relating to

  • (a) [Repealed, 2005, c. 38, s. 40]

  • (b) duties of excise;

  • (c) stamp duties and the preparation and issue of stamps and stamped paper, except postage stamps, and the Excise Tax Act, except as therein otherwise provided;

  • (d) internal taxes, unless otherwise provided, including income taxes;

  • (d.1) the collection of debts due to Her Majesty under Part V.1 of the Customs Act; and

  • (e) such other subjects as may be assigned to the Minister by Parliament or the Governor in Council.

• Marginal note:Minister responsible

  (2) The Minister is responsible for the Agency.

Marginal note:Designation of officers

7 The Minister may designate any person, or person within a class of persons, as an officer as defined in section 2 of the Excise Act or section 2 of the Excise Act, 2001 to exercise any powers or perform any duties and functions of an officer under those Acts that the Minister may specify.

Marginal note:Authorization to act on Minister’s behalf

• 8 (1) The Minister may authorize the Commissioner or any other person employed or engaged by the Agency or who occupies a position of responsibility in the Agency, subject to any terms and conditions that the Minister may specify, to exercise or perform on the Minister’s behalf any power, duty or function of the Minister under any Act of Parliament or of a province.

• Marginal note:Application

  (2) Subsection (1) does not apply where an Act of Parliament, other than this Act, or an Act of a province authorizes the Minister to delegate the power, duty or function to any person or authorizes any person to exercise or perform it.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3) Subsection (1) does not include

  • (a) a power to make regulations; or

  • (b) a power, duty or function of the Minister under this Act, other than those referred to in subsection 6(1) or section 7.

• Marginal note:Commissioner’s authorization

  (4) The Commissioner may authorize any person employed or engaged by the Agency or who occupies a position of responsibility in the Agency to exercise or perform on the Minister’s behalf any power, duty or function that the Commissioner is authorized to exercise or perform under subsection (1).

Marginal note:Minister may direct on exercise of powers

9 The Minister may direct the Commissioner or any other person in the exercise of a power or the performance of a duty or function of the Minister that the Commissioner or the person is authorized to exercise or perform under subsection 8(1) or (4) or under the program legislation.

Marginal note:Direction from other federal ministers

10 If another federal minister authorizes the Commissioner or any other person employed or engaged by the Agency or who occupies a position of responsibility in the Agency to exercise a power or perform a duty or function, the Minister may, at the request of that federal minister, direct the person in the exercise of the power or performance of the duty or function.

Marginal note:Directions to the Agency

• 11 (1) The Minister may issue a written direction to the Agency, addressed to the Chair of the Board, on any matter within the authority or responsibility of the Board that, in the Minister’s opinion, affects public policy or could materially affect public finances.

• Marginal note:Statutory instruments

  (2) A direction issued under subsection (1) is not a statutory instrument for the purposes of the Statutory Instruments Act.

Marginal note:Compliance with directions

12 Every person who is directed by the Minister under section 9 or 10 or subsection 11(1) must comply with the direction.

Marginal note:Minister’s power of inquiry

13 The Minister may inquire into any activity of the Agency and has access to any information under the Agency’s control.

Structure of the Agency

Board of Management

Marginal note:Establishment

14 There shall be a Board of Management of the Agency consisting of fifteen directors, including the Chair, the Commissioner, a director nominated by each province and one director nominated by the territories.

Marginal note:Appointment and tenure of directors

• 15 (1) Each director, other than the Commissioner and the Chair, must be appointed by the Governor in Council to hold office during pleasure for any term of not more than three years that will ensure, as far as possible, the expiry in any one year of the terms of office of not more than one half of the directors.

• Marginal note:Directors nominated by the provinces and territories

  (2) Each director nominated by a province or the territories must be selected by the Governor in Council from a list of nominees submitted by the minister responsible for revenue administration in the province or a territory, or by another minister that the province or a territory designates.

• Marginal note:Absence of nomination

  (3) If a province does not submit, or none of the territories submit, a list of nominees who are qualified for appointment as directors within two months after the day on which this Act is assented to, or within six months after the day on which the position of the director nominated by the province or territories becomes vacant, the Governor in Council may appoint a director, notwithstanding subsection (2).

Marginal note:Qualifications of directors

• 16 (1) The directors must be persons who, in the opinion of the Governor in Council, have the experience and the capacity required for discharging their functions.

• Marginal note:Persons not eligible for appointment

  (2) No person may be appointed or continue as a director of the Agency who

  • (a) is not a Canadian citizen or a permanent resident within the meaning of subsection 2(1) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act;

  • (b) is a member of the Senate or House of Commons or a member of a provincial or territorial legislature; or

  • (c) is employed on a full-time basis in the federal public administration or the public service of a province or territory.

• Marginal note:Limitation

  (3) Paragraph (2)(c) does not apply to the Commissioner.

Marginal note:Renewal of term

17 The Governor in Council may renew the term of office of a director, other than the Chair or the Commissioner, for a maximum of two further terms of not more than three years each, but in the case of a director nominated by a province or the territories, the nomination must first be renewed.

Marginal note:Continuation in office

18 If a director, other than the Chair or the Commissioner, is not appointed to take office on the expiry of the term of an incumbent director, the incumbent director may continue in office until a successor is appointed.

Marginal note:Part-time office

• 19 (1) All the directors except the Commissioner must carry out the duties and functions of their office on a part-time basis.

• Marginal note:Directors’ fees

  (2) The Agency must pay the directors, other than the Commissioner, the fees fixed by the Governor in Council for attendance at meetings of the Board or any committee of directors, or for the performance of other duties.

Marginal note:Expenses

20 The directors, other than the Commissioner, are entitled to be paid reasonable travel and living expenses incurred by them in the course of performing their duties while absent from their ordinary place of residence.

Marginal note:Accident compensation

21 For the purposes of the Government Employees Compensation Act and any regulation made under section 9 of the Aeronautics Act, the directors and the Deputy Commissioner appointed under subsection 26(1) are deemed to be employees in the federal public administration.

Chair

Marginal note:Appointment and tenure of Chair

22 The Chair of the Board must be appointed by the Governor in Council to hold office during pleasure for a term of not more than five years, which term may be renewed for one further term of not more than five years.