Federal Court Rules Rebel News Ineligible for Journalism Tax Credits

The court upheld the CRA's decision, citing insufficient original content from the far-right media outlet.

Rebel News applied in May 2021 to be designated as a qualified Canadian journalism organization but was rejected by the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
The CRA found that less than one per cent of Rebel News' content was original news, leading to the rejection.
A Federal Court judge upheld the CRA's decision, noting that out of 423 news reports assessed, only 10 were original.
The judge's ruling stated that the majority of Rebel News' content was not based on facts, lacked multiple perspectives, or was curated from other sources.
Rebel News argued that the decision violated free press principles, but the court found no evidence that the refusal impeded the outlet's ability to operate.