British Columbia’s Supreme Court did not find the Knapp Island center “public” enough and supported an expansive approach to taxing religious properties.
by Massimo Introvigne


Tax offices internationally try to expand the taxation of religious properties by using a variety of arguments. Most of them are not persuasive and raise serious problems of discrimination of minorities and violations of freedom of religion or belief.
A case in point is Canada’s Shin Mei, born out of Reverend Ann Evans’ passion for Japanese Shintoism. She studied Shinto for 25 years, wanted to propose it to Westerners, and founded in 2000 the Matsuri Foundation of Canada, affiliated with Tsubaki Grand Shrine near Suzuka, Japan.
For twenty years, the Foundation operated the Bright Woods Spiritual Centre on Salt Spring Island, British Columbia. In 2021, as the number of those interested in Shin Mei grew, Evans decided to relocate to nearby Knapp Island, which Ann Evans’ partner owned since the early 2000s, where devotees can have larger spaces for their activities. The property was transferred to the Matsuri Foundation.
Since the relocation was expensive, Shin Mei teamed up with Nalandabodhi, a Buddhist movement in the Tibetan Nyingma tradition, which also uses the Knapp Island facilities. Reverend Evans and her spouse are the only permanent residents of Knapp Island. Other staff members come and go, and more stay for retreats and activities.
The Bright Woods Spiritual Center on Salt Spring Island was consistently acknowledged as tax-exempt for twenty years. However, when Shin Mei moved to Knapp Island the Property Tax Assessment Board claimed that the situation had changed. Firstly, there were other Shin Mei devotees who had moved to Salt Spring Island in addition to the Evans family and the Shinto center served their spiritual needs. Second, Bright Woods was easily accessible. As opposite to this, Knapp Island has only the Evans as permanent residents and is only accessible through private boats (although Shin Mei argues that water taxi services are offered for free to visitors on weekends).
The Board declared Knapp Island not to be a “public” religious center and as such not tax-exempt. The Matsuri Foundation filed an unsuccessful administrative complaint, after which it went to the Supreme Court of British Columbia. On February 2, 2024, the Supreme Court confirmed the decision of the Board and denied tax exemption to Shin Mei.


As detailed in the court decision, Knapp Island includes: “a) The Shin Mei Spiritual Centre: a two-story building that includes a Shinto and Buddhist meditation and prayer room with small shrines and religious paintings, a small kitchen, and living and dining rooms, all on the main floor, and a larger reception or prayer room on the second floor; b) The Jinja: a free-standing outdoor Shinto shrine that is used for worship activities; c) The Jangchub Chorten: a Buddhist stupa (shrine) that is used for worship activities; d) The Gyomando: a Shinto and Buddhist temple that is used for offering prayers; e) Two short walking meditation and prayer paths; and f) A wharf for boats that bring people and supplies to the Island.” In addition to these facilities, there are “a) a private residence; b) a building containing two apartments used as, and referred to as, a guest residence or ‘the cottage’; c) a water treatment facility and other storage and maintenance buildings; and d) a barn with an apartment.”
The tax authorities concluded, and the Supreme Court agreed, that Knapp Island is not a “public” place of worship because it is only accessible on weekends or to those who arrange transportation with Shin Mei; to those who happen there the religious nature of the buildings “would not be readily apparent from the water” and they would not find an invitation to visit but a sign “Private Harbour.” If it is not a public place of worship, one can even argue that Knapp Island serves primarily as the private residence of the Evans. Therefore, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal and confirmed that the property is not tax-exempt.


The decision is questionable and adopts a narrow approach to the “public” character of places of worship. It is also discriminatory because casual visitors approaching Knapp Island by boat may perhaps not understand the religious nature of Shinto shrines while they would recognize Christian churches. More importantly, Shin Mei is not an esoteric movement whose shrines can be visited by initiates only. On the contrary, all are invited through Shin Mei’s website. Although there are no regular scheduled ferry services, Shin Mei would gladly fetch visitors with its own boats. On social media, pictures of Knapp Island are shared with captions such as “Please consider coming for a visit.”
The British Columbia Supreme Court thus supported an approach also adopted by tax authorities outside of Canada to impose real estate taxes on religious properties. They consistently shop for arguments, some of them preposterous, to deny tax exemptions to properties that, like in the Shin Mei case, clearly serve a religious purpose.