A charity linked to HonestReporting Canada is fighting the Canada Revenue Agency in court to challenge the planned stripping of its charitable status. (Facebook/HonestReporting Canada)
This story is a collaboration between the Foundation for Investigative Journalism and Future of Good.
A charity linked to the controversial group HonestReporting Canada, which claims to expose anti-Israel bias in the media, has filed two lawsuits against an attempt to have its registration revoked by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
According to court records obtained by IJF and Future of Good, HR Canada Charitable Organization (HRCCO) has filed an appeal to have its license revoked in both the Ontario Superior Court and the Federal Court of Appeal.
Documents filed in Ontario court show the CRA notified the charity in January that its registration would be revoked after 30 days, a process that has now been delayed indefinitely due to the litigation.
The CRA says it found that HRCCO “did not carry out any charitable activities.”
The auditors said “the organization appears to have purposefully acted as a conduit for HonestReporting Canada (HRC),” which is not a charity, according to a letter dated July 14, 2025, outlining the CRA’s findings.
“Additionally, the organization appears to accept donations and issue charitable donation receipts on behalf of HRC. The organization appears to then use its resources to pay for HRC’s activities.”
HonestReporting Canada is rallying its 70,000 members to complain about what they call anti-Israel bias in journalism, arguing that traditional anti-Semitism has “morphed into a disguised anti-Jewish hatred in which the State of Israel is a stand-in for Jews.” Critics, however, claim that the organization carries out “targeted harassment campaigns” against reporters and “consistently denigrates journalists and media outlets that are critical of Israel.”
HRCCO is challenging the constitutionality of the CRA’s authority to regulate charities, arguing that under the Constitution Act, the “establishment, maintenance and management” of charities rests solely with the provinces, according to a Feb. 19 notice of filing in the Ontario court. Similar arguments have been made in an ongoing legal case brought by a Christian charity in British Columbia.
HRCCO asked the federal and provincial courts to restrain the government from officially announcing the recall by publishing it in the Canadian Gazette.
Judge Papageorgiou’s decision – Elisha Dacey, April 24, 2026
In Ontario, a judge initially rejected the charity’s application, writing that HRCCO had not presented evidence to support its arguments or conducted a cursory review of the relevant law. But in May the charity was allowed to appeal the decision and the court ordered the government to suspend publication in the meantime and also stopped HRCCO from issuing tax receipts.
In its application to the Federal Court of Appeal, HRCCO called the withdrawal a “draconian measure” and tax officials did not provide enough information or time to allow the charity to understand and respond to their concerns. It goes on to say that revocation of HRCCO’s registration “would cause irreparable harm to the organization, its directors, the Canadian Jewish community and the general Canadian public.”
HR Canada Petition to Appeal – May 7, 2026 by ElishaDacey
While the legal proceedings are ongoing, HRCCO remains a registered charity. CRA officials declined to comment, citing confidentiality provisions in the Income Tax Act.
However, the federal government previously argued in court papers that constitutional challenges to the CRA’s authority were rejected by the Federal Court of Appeal, which found that charitable revocation was a federal tax issue.
Representatives for HRCCO and HonestReporting Canada did not respond to requests for comment.
Michael Fegelman, executive director of HRCCO and HonestReporting Canada, filed an affidavit in March in support of the Ontario court’s claim. In it, he said the charity is playing an increasingly important role in informing Canadians about the well-documented surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes and providing the Jewish community with resources to combat the trend.
Fegelman wrote that he believes “there is an organized campaign to challenge the charitable registration of various organizations dedicated to countering anti-Semitism or otherwise associated with Jewish philanthropists or doing work in or in any way associated with Israel.”
Affidavit of Michael Fegelman – March 17, 2026 Elisha Dacey
In particular, he pointed to complaints filed with the CRA by the advocacy group Just Peace Advocates in partnership with Writers Against the War on Gaza, both calling for an audit of HRCCO. These complaints alleged that the charity promoted misinformation and harassed journalists and individuals.
“I believe that the CRA audit of HR Canada was instigated by (Just Peace Advocates)’s campaign against HR Canada, and that this campaign was driven by anti-Semitic bias rather than any genuine concern about alleged failures to comply with the Income Tax Act,” Fegelman wrote.
In a joint statement, Advocates for a Just Peace and Toronto Writers Against the Gaza War said they were relieved to learn the CRA had conducted an audit.
“The request to the CRA to investigate HonestReporting Canada is based on both Canadian and international law and is accompanied by sufficient evidence of their disqualifying activities,” the groups said.
“It should be a great shame that Canadian tax dollars have subsidized HRC donors for so long—donations earmarked for doxxing, disinformation, and anti-Palestinian racism.”
CRA says charity promotes one-sided view
The charity HR Canada was first registered in 2019, and CRA records show its stated purpose is partly to “gather and collect data and short- and long-term media analytical surveys on racism, anti-Semitism and discrimination.”
According to correspondence with the CRA included in Ontario court records, the charity insists it is a separate entity from HonestReporting Canada.
However, just nine months ago, the website HonestReporting Canada invited its supporters to fund its work by donating to HRCCO. And in their July 2025 letter, CRA auditors noted that both organizations have one executive director, a chief digital officer, an assistant director, a director of operations and a research analyst.
The CRA’s audit letter said tax officials warned HRCCO after it filed for registration that monitoring Canadian media for anti-Semitism “would not be considered a purely charitable activity because it does not fall within any of the four categories of charity and does not provide a charitable public benefit.”
According to the letter, the charity has changed its stated goals to focus on promoting education.
CRA Revocation Letter – HR Canada Charity Audit – July 15, 2025 by ElishaDacey
CRA auditors acknowledged that media monitoring is not an official purpose of HRCCO, according to a Jan. 29 notice of intent to withdraw attached to Ontario court documents.
“However, this is precisely the source of our concern: the organization, despite everything, used its charitable resources to carry out media monitoring activities,” the notice said.
To that end, HRCCO currently has a vision statement on its website outlining its goal of becoming the “watchdog of Canadian media.”
And earlier this year, the charity published an AI-powered research report alleging a “persistent, overwhelming narrative imbalance” in the CBC’s coverage of the war between Israel and Hamas. The newspaper claims the public broadcaster’s reporting “minimizes and abstracts the Israeli and Jewish experiences while privileging Palestinian perspectives and perspectives.”
One journalism professor called the study’s methods “questionable” and said the report was being used to spread misinformation about the national broadcaster.
In January, HRCCO published an artificial intelligence-based research report alleging that the CBC had an anti-Israel bias. (hrccharitable.ca)
In an attempt to prove they were an educational charity, HRCCO representatives provided auditors with examples of podcasts, YouTube videos, webinars and social media campaigns they said the charity had produced. But all examples were published using HonestReporting Canada accounts, the CRA notice noted.
In addition to these concerns, the auditors wrote, “the audit found that these activities do not appear to advance education in a charitable sense. Rather, they appear to promote a particular point of view while omitting information necessary for a balanced and comprehensive understanding of the subject.”
The correspondence contained in Ontario court filings includes promises from HRCCO to take corrective action to address the CRA’s problems.
However, CRA contends that the actions taken and HRCCO’s responses did not alleviate its concerns.
In the January revocation notice, tax officials noted that several months after the audit results were sent to HRCCO in July 2025, three “fact sheets” with the headings “Fake Post 1,” “Fake Post 2,” and “Fake Post 3” appeared on the charity’s website. Each post contained the same article with a description of the charity at the end.
“However, the description actually refers to HRC (HonestReporting Canada) and is the same information that HRC uses in its articles,” the application states.
“It appears that in an attempt to maintain its registered status, the organization has deliberately created web pages containing false/misleading information to create the impression that it is carrying out its own activities.”
At one point, auditors proposed fining the charity $336,145 for providing “unacceptable non-incidental private benefits” to HonestReporting Canada, as well as an American non-profit. This potential penalty was removed when the CRA decided to revoke HRCCO’s registration.
Irreparable reputational damage
In its application declaring the CRA’s revocation powers unconstitutional, HRCCO argues that “the basis of the Minister (of Revenue)’s decision to revoke HR Canada’s charitable registration relates to the management of HR Canada and not to legitimate concerns that can properly be characterized as tax matters.”
Affidavit of Ken Rothman – March 17, 2026 Elisha Dacey
The statement also claims that the revocation will cause lasting harm to HRCCO’s directors, who will be declared “unqualified persons” as a result. One current director, private equity manager Ken Rothman, filed an affidavit saying the appointment would seriously harm his business interests and security clearances with various governments.
“Clients trust me with large sums of money precisely because of my reputation as a reliable, honest and astute businessman. On the other hand, as an unsuitable person, I will be associated with individuals convicted of crimes or members of designated terrorist organizations,” Rothman wrote.
Rothman did not respond to requests for comment.
HRCCO’s claims have not been litigated. The charity is not currently accepting donations through its website.