On June 28, 2019, the Tax Court of Canada released its decision Promised Land Ministries v the Queen, in which it upheld CRA's decision to suspend the registered charity Promised Land Ministries (“PLM”)'s receipting privileges for one year for failing to…
We have created two new online courses for those outside of Toronto who are not able to easily attend our programs. They might also be helpful to those in Toronto who cannot wait for our next session as they sometimes only…
Canadian charities now have more options for doing certain transactions online using the CHAMP system. Charities should look into accessing their CHAMP account. Here is a summary from the CRA from their recent Charity Information Sessions as to transactions that…
Here is our article on “Objects of registered charities in Canada are sometimes not charitable“. Objects are very important and often Canadian charities don't understand that even though they are a registered charity their objects may not actually be charitable.
The Senate has had a standing committee that has been looking at the voluntary sector in Canada. They released their report today. The report is entitled Catalyst for Change: A Roadmap to a Stronger Charitable Sector. It is over 189…
I have just completed 4 years on the CRA's Technical Issues Working Group. Most people don't even know that it exists. The Technical Issues Working Group is fondly known as TIWG and pronounced like 'twig'. It is an opportunity twice a…
There are a large number of Ontario non-profit corporations under the Ontario Corporations Act (“OCA”). As you may know, the Ontario government has stated that it is targeting to replace the OCA with the new Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA)…
Here is a Q&A from CRA about the new journalism qualified donee category.
CRA has recently updated its Charities Listing and the most notable change is the fact that they have reduced the amount of information available on each Canadian registered charity. The Charities Listing used to have up to 15 years of data…
CRA is set to introduce its online system for organizations applying for charitable status. Once this system is available on June 1, 2019, paper applications will no longer be accepted and organizations will only be able to apply for charitable status…
Properly issuing official donation receipts has been challenging for many registered charities. According to the CRA, 89% of registered charities that are audited by CRA are not correctly issuing official donation receipts. Issuing incorrect receipts can result in revocation or…
Every year Canadian registered charities must file the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return with the Charities Directorate of CRA. In June 2019 Canadian registered charities will be able to file the T3010 online which will make the process easier and…
A great deal has been written about legal compliance surrounding charities in Canada. Much of that material however, is highly specialized, hard to understand, and sometimes esoteric. As a result, it can be difficult for charities, employees and volunteers to…
In December 2017, CRA introduced a new program, the Charities Education Program (“CEP”) which is aimed at helping charities comply with the requirements for Canadian registered charities. CRA said it aims to visit 500 charities a year with this program. The…
Here is our new Canadian Charity Legal Checklist. For those who are interested in reviewing legal compliance for their registered charity, they may find the checklist helpful. If you require legal assistance and wish to retain our law firm then please…
I will be speaking at the CFA Society of Toronto 2019 Wealth Conference on May 1, 2019 dealing with the topic ”Professional Advisors and Philanthropy: Helping clients and yourself navigate philanthropy”. You can register for the program here. Here is the…
Here is a redacted Advanced Income Tax Ruling Request response from CRA, dealing with the amalgamation of a registered charity and a non-profit. Registered charities and non-profits can amalgamate and as with all mergers or amalgamations there are a number of complexities…
The CRA's Guidance Canadian registered charities carrying out activities outside Canada indicates it was revised on January 29, 2019. As some of you know CRA has been looking at revising their foreign activity guidance however the changes made in January…
On March 15, 2019, CRA announced that there will be changes to the T3010 Annual Return and the T2050 Application to Register a Charity to account for the recent changes to the political activities rules for Canadian registered charities. Instead…
We are pleased to announce that we will be holding a full-day event on international philanthropy on April 12, 2019: Blumbergs' International Philanthropy Conference 2019. See below for more details and we hope to see you there. Over 5000 Canadian…
The Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp will be held again on Monday April 8, 2019. This is a one-day boot camp on compliance and standards issues for Canadian registered charities. You can register for the program here. This one-day workshop…
Finance Minister Morneau delivered the 2019 Federal Budget today. Here is our article “2019 Canadian Federal Budget – How will it affect the Canadian charitable sector?“ Finance has already released a Fall Economic Statement that did contain a number of initiatives…
There has been a lot of coverage of the college admission scandal in the United States, in which many celebrities and wealthy executives paid large sums of money (some over $1 million US) to cheat their children’s way into top universities.…
The CRA announced today a number of different matters including “The Government is providing up to $5.3 million in new funding over the 2018–2019 to 2023–2024 period for the CRA to enhance sector outreach and education. This will include reinstating in-person information sessions and…