TRAN meeting 15 · 2025-11-06 — Committee Evidence — LegisWatch

Summary

The committee was studying the changing landscape of truck drivers in Canada, focusing on tax compliance issues in the trucking industry. Appearing were Secretary of State Wayne Long (Canada Revenue Agency and Financial Institutions) and Jean-François Fortin, Deputy Commissioner of the Canada Revenue Agency.

Secretary of State Long testified that budget 2025 proposes $77 million over four years, with ongoing annual funding of $19.2 million, to lift the moratorium on penalties for failing to report fees-for-service transactions in trucking and to address non-compliance related to personal service businesses. He argued this would level the playing field for rule-abiding companies and ensure workers receive benefits, and he called on all parties to support the budget. He projected the measures would generate $160 million in revenue over four years, but he declined to give a specific implementation timeline, saying the first step is passing the budget.

Deputy Commissioner Fortin stated that once Parliament approves the budget, the T4A penalty system could be implemented in a very short time frame because the system already exists. He noted that a dedicated compliance team would need to be assembled, but the CRA is already working on the issue. He also emphasized that education would remain an important part of the CRA's approach alongside enforcement.

During debate on a motion by Xavier Barsalou-Duval to request documents from three departments and add two more meetings with specific witnesses, including victims of heavy truck accidents, Liberal members argued that calling victims would be inappropriate and that the document request was a resource-intensive fishing expedition. Conservative and Bloc members defended the motion as necessary for accountability and to hear from affected families. After extended discussion, no vote was taken on the motion before the meeting ended.

AI-generated summary — may contain errors; verify against the official evidence.

Witnesses · 1

Jean-François Fortin

Deputy Commissioner, Canada Revenue Agency

Opening remarks

Thank you for the question. I don't know if we'll be in a position to answer the first part of the question about the costs associated with a request to produce documents. First, we need to know a little more about the nature of the request and what it involves. We can follow up with the committee on that. The same is true for sentences and penalties, but this issue is fundamental. First, it concerns the application of section 241 of the Income Tax Act, which, as you know, protects confidential information related to Canadian taxpayers. We have a voluntary system. Through this system, the CRA gets highly sensitive information from all Canadians, and we need to protect that information. The worst penalty is a criminal offence, which can eventually lead to imprisonment. It's a serious matter. That explains why, at the CRA, we need to keep that information and put measures in place to protect it. It also explains why the CRA can only disclose this type of information under certain circumstances. The decision to disclose must be based on memoranda of understanding and provisions of the act. However, in the absence of specific provisions allowing for the disclosure of confidential…

Full testimony ↗

Transport, Infrastructure and Communities

Summary

Witnesses · 1