CRA employees need better unconscious bias training for charity audits: watchdog – National | 24CA News

The federal taxpayers’ ombudsperson is recommending higher unconscious bias coaching for workers of the Canada Revenue Agency’s charities directorate.

In a report Monday on the equity of the audit course of for registered charities, Francois Boileau says the coaching ought to be obligatory for all workers concerned within the audit course of, together with decision-makers.

However, Boileau says that resulting from obstacles in accessing related data, he couldn’t study the problems “deeply enough” to evaluate the existence of bias in how the income company applies its processes.

Following her participation in a nationwide summit in 2021 on Islamophobia, Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier requested Boileau to conduct a systemic assessment of the issues of Muslim-led charities about their remedy by the income company.

Boileau says it’s clear that extra powers would have offered his workplace with extra entry to the data it wanted to conduct a complete examination on this case.

For instance, he says, the workplace may have been given extra powers beneath the Inquiries Act.