Here is an updated Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Legal Checklist. It is a checklist for Canadian registered charities to assist them with managing compliance issues. We use it as part of our informal risk reviews for registered charities. It focuses on top…
Here is an updated Canadian Charity Legal Checklist by Mark Blumberg – May 2024. It is a checklist for Canadian registered charities to assist them with managing compliance issues. We use it as part of our informal risk reviews for registered charities.…
Here is a presentation delivered by Mark Blumberg for CharityVillage on October 19, 2023. Top Ten Compliance Issues for Canadian Registered Charities Summary: A great deal has been written about legal compliance surrounding charities in Canada. Much of that material, however,…
Here is a CRA letter on the conversion of a share capital corporation to a non-profit corporation and whether it is a tax-exempt non-profit under the ITA? The main point is that “It is possible for an organization to meet…
Here is an updated Canadian Charity Legal Checklist by Mark Blumberg – July 2023. It is a checklist for Canadian registered charities to assist them with managing compliance issues. We use it as part of our informal risk reviews for…
We recently updated our course titled Fundamentals of Running a Private or Public Foundation in Canada. This seven-hour course focuses on compliance issues with an emphasis on those specifically relevant to running a private or public foundation that is a…
Here is the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2021. We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2021 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers about 83,771 of the approximately 86,000 registered charities…
We just launched a new course titled Objects/Purposes for Canadian Charities and Changes to Your Objects This course will discuss the importance of objects for a registered charity and will be particularly relevant in three circumstances: 1. When you are a…
Here is the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2020. We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2020 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers about 83,991 of the approximately 86,000 registered charities…
The Cullen Commission of Inquiry into Money Laundering in British Columbia released its final report. Although the report focuses on BC, money laundering is an international problem that affects those in all of Canada. The lengthy report will be of…
Here is CRA Guidance on Credit Counselling. The document was obtained through access to information and privacy. The guidance “discusses considerations for assessing whether credit counselling services further charitable purposes and meet other requirements of the Income Tax Act. It…
Here is the CRA Guidance CRA Guidance Classifying income earned by registered charities from their rental of real estate obtained through access to information. The guidance discusses “whether the revenue earned from rental of real property by a charity (in…
I am very grateful that Mary Barroll, President of CharityVillage, spent over an hour with me discussing the charity sector in Canada including business activities and social enterprise as well as regulator and public policy issues. For those interested in…
There are approximately 6,300 private foundations in Canada. Private foundations have been growing at a higher rate than any other type of Canadian registered charity. They have assets of around $100 Billion. Although there are some differences between a private…
CRA has information on its website about how Canadian registered charities must act within their legal objects and how those objects must be legally and exclusively charitable. Objects of a non-profit corporation are usually set out in the corporation’s constating…
The CRA was asked whether monetary compensation paid to participants in clinical research studies is taxable income and whether the payer is required to issue a tax slip to the participant. Here is their response: CRAs views on compensation paid…
Here is a CRA’s letter 2019-0825751E5 Whether a NPO has a profit purpose — Section 149(1)(l) (1) dealing with Non-profit organizations and business activities, reserves and dealing with non-members. There are many non-profit organizations that are non-registered charities and they…
In the last couple of weeks I have read two separate CRA notes on the importance of maintaining sufficient separation between a registered charity and a non-qualified donee (whether non-profit, foreign charity, for-profit, etc) Here is an excerpt from a…
On April 21, 2021 we had our Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2021. It is the second Boot Camp that we have conducted online and our tenth Boot Camp in total. Those who missed the course can catch the…
Today an article appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek entitled “How a Charity Superstar Innovated Its Way to Political Scandal: The Kielburger brothers courted celebrities, became voluntourism pioneers, and built a Davos-friendly model of philanthrocapitalism. Then a Canadian Covid-relief deal got people…
We recently did a course entitled Multiple Corporate Structures for Canadian For-Profits, NPOs, + Charities to Enhance Flexibility and Impact. People who run charities, for-profits and non-profits in Canada and wish to understand the benefits of multiple entities for liability…
An interesting report from the OECD on charities in many different countries recently was published. It was given a really exciting title namely “Taxation and Philanthropy” so you might have missed it at the checkout at your local grocery store. …
We recently received a copy of the CRA Ministerial Welcome Package which is dated November 2019. There are a number of references to charities including on pages 39, 64, 65, 73, 87-88, 95 and 120. There is no reference in the…
On Friday, December 11, 2020 I gave testimony to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) on the CSSG and We Charity scandal. Here is the video of the testimony. The part dealing with procurements and…