Read about why JNF Canada lost charitable status after a decade of problems [Video]

Jewish National Fund of Canada has known for years that Canada’s tax agency had “major concerns” with how the charity operates, The Canadian Jewish News has learned. 

Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) warned JNF Canada in 2019 it planned to take away its charitable status and then warned them again in 2023 and in 2024, due to “repeated and serious non-compliance” with the Income tax Act rules governing charities, particularly covering JNF Canada’s work in Israel.

Documents recently released to The CJN by the CRA show the venerable Canadian Jewish charity–that has helped reforest and build infrastructure in Israel since the late 1960s—had been warned repeatedly to clean up its act between 2016 and 2023, and even earlier. 

“The CRA letter dated Aug. 21, 1989, raised concerns about the [JNF Canada’s] direction and control, and maintenance of books and records,” according to the CRA documents. “The major concerns about the Organization’s activities overseas have …