Bill C-230 Debt Forgiveness Registry
C-230 An Act To Amend the Financial Administration Act and To Make Consequential Amendments To Other Acts (Debt Forgiveness Registry)
Bill Type: Private Member’s Bill
Bill Sponsor: Adam Chambers (Simcoe North)
Currently: When the federal government forgives, writes off or waives a large corporate debt, it appears buried in the Public Accounts — a dense document that few Canadians read and that requires significant effort to search through.
Under C-230: Those same write-offs must appear in a dedicated, searchable online database — name of the company, amount forgiven, fiscal year, and the legal authority used to forgive it — updated within 90 days of each Public Accounts tabling.
So the information technically existed before — it just wasn't accessible to ordinary Canadians in any practical way. This Bill pulls it out of the Public Accounts and puts it in a format anyone can search by company name. That's the meaningful change.
Status: Passed by the House of Commons — May 7, 2026. This Bill is now before the Senate.
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WHO GAINS POWER
- Canadians gain the right to see which corporations, trust companies and partnerships have had debts of $2 million or more forgiven, written off or waived by the federal government — through a public, searchable online registry
- Parliament gains an ongoing accountability tool — the registry must be updated within 90 days of each Public Accounts tabling
- The President of the Treasury Board gains the authority to manage and maintain the registry, including discretion to exclude sensitive information
WHO LOSES POWER
- Corporations, trust companies and partnerships lose the ability to have large government debts quietly forgiven without public disclosure
- The Executive loses the ability to write off or waive debts of $2 million or more without those decisions appearing in a searchable public record
WHO GAINS MONEY
- No direct financial provisions in this Bill — but public accountability for debt forgiveness may deter future large write-offs
WHO LOSES MONEY
- No direct financial provisions in this Bill
THE CATCH
- ⚠️ The President of the Treasury Board can exclude information — any information deemed confidential, personal or sensitive can be withheld. Only the category of exclusion must be noted, not the reason or the amount excluded
- ⚠️ The $2 million threshold excludes smaller write-offs — debts forgiven below $2 million are not captured, and there is no aggregate reporting requirement for smaller amounts
- ⚠️ Crown corporations are explicitly excluded — debts owed to Crown corporations are not covered, leaving a significant portion of government-related financial activity outside the registry
- ⚠️ The registry covers forgiveness going forward plus one prior fiscal year — historical write-offs before this Bill comes into force are not captured, limiting accountability for past decisions
- ⚠️ 18 months to establish the registry — a significant delay before any public transparency is achieved
- ⚠️ No penalty for non-compliance — if the President of the Treasury Board fails to establish or update the registry on time, there is no enforcement mechanism or consequence