CRA has released a letter which discusses whether improvement districts, particularly in British Columbia, would be considered municipal or public bodies performing a function of government for the purpose of paragraph 149(1)(c) and therefore able to issue donation receipts as…
I am pleased to be on a panel at Arnova in Washington entitled “The Foundation Payout Debate: Comparative Perspectives on Distribution, Perpetuity and the Role of Foundations”. Here is the full description and presenters: The Foundation Payout Debate: Comparative Perspectives…
I am looking forward to presenting at the upcoming ICD session Collaboration for Greater Impact on November 22, 2016. The panel will include Rahul Bhardwaj (CEO ICD), Joanne Doyle (UWTYR), Donna Duncan (CEO The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre), Ian Smith (Chair The Hincks-Dellcrest Centre) and…
Here is a CRA Questions and Answers on Charity Sector regulation and political activities from 2012 that was obtained through access to information. It discusses the Charities Directorate's role, strategic priorities, how charities will be selected for audit, and other matters.
Here is the Draft CRA Communications Strategy from January 2013 on charities and political activities. The comms strategy discusses CRA's response to the 2012 Federal Budget changes affecting Canadian charities and political activities.
Blumbergs has created a very interesting new website called CharityData.ca. Here is a short video which provides an overview of this powerful tool with information on over 86,000 Canadian registered charities with up to 10 years historical information on each registered…
Imagine Canada has put out a very interesting report on a survey of Canadian charities and their answers relating to political activities. The Sector Monitor report is prepared by David Lasby of Imagine Canada and is well worth reading. One of the…
There is a small category of qualified donees i.e. those that can issue an official donation receipt called “List of low-cost housing corporations for the aged registered as qualified donees“. Currently there are only 2 listed organizations namely St. Mark's Maples…
Here is a copy of a few documents from the Charities Directorate dealing with the political activities audit conducted by the CRA. CRA released under access to information, their critical path, process and performance measurement framework for charity political activity audits.…
Currently there are only two organizations on the “List of foreign charities that have received a gift from Her Majesty in right of Canada“. They are the Aga Khan Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, both of which…
The CRA today launched its political activity consultation. It reinforces the importance of charities being engaged in the political process. The CRA is looking for feedback on the rules and CRA's guidance. People or organizations have until November 25, 2016…
The House of Commons Finance Committee (FINA) has posted the pre-budget submissions that it received. There are 420 briefs including our brief Increasing the productivity of the charity and non-profit sector through greater transparency and accountability. If anyone notices any other…
The CRA has issued a media advisory that the “Honourable Diane Lebouthillier, Minister of National Revenue, will launch public consultations to clarify the rules regarding the involvement of registered charities in political activities.” She will make the announcement tomorrow, Tuesday, September…
We recently obtained a copy of the CRA analysis of charities that disclosed on the T3010 they did political activities. In a note from Bryan McLean, Director of Policy, Planning and Legislation Division of CRA to Cathy Hawara the then current Director General of the…
The work that charities do is extremely important to our society, so it is vital that various stakeholders, such as the public, the media, the government, donors, employees, boards, donors and others. have access to key information on what the…
Last week we posted the CRA Compliance Framework for Files with Identified Political Activities. Now here is the draft CRA Assessment of Charities Directorate Political Activities Audit Program against Oct 2012 Compliance Framework. It was prepared by the Charities Directorate of…
The Liberal Government has made some noises about modernizing charity law. Who could be opposed to modernization? As there is no idea as to what “modernization” means, it has opened up all sorts of calls for changes to charity law…
Here is a CRA document provided under access to information rules which includes their media response on Canadian charities and funding or supporting terrorism. Not surprisingly because of the very limited scope for CRA to divulge information under the confidentiality provisions…
Here is a copy of the CRA Compliance Framework for Files with Identified Political Activities from the Charities Directorate of the CRA. It is dated October 9, 2012. It provides some answers to some of the questions around how were…
Here is a copy of a CRA Powerpoint presentation slide deck on the Regulation of Charities – Overview – September 2014. It provides some useful information including the CRA's audit plan. For example, the audit plan shows that CRA planned on auditing…
In the notes section of a CRA presentation “Regulation of Charities – Overview” the CRA notes that in 2012 the amount of receipts issued was $14.28 Billion and that “the federal assistance for charitable donations in 2012 exceeded $2.9 ……
A Canadian charity has launched a charter challenge against the restrictions on registered charities in carrying out political activities. They argue that it violates freedom of speech and assembly amongst other things. The CBC covered it in an article entitled “Anti-poverty…
We have uploaded a copy of the “secret” CRA Ministerial Transition Briefing Binder provided to the new Minister of Revenue Diane Lebouthillier in November 2015. It was obtained pursuant to access to information. It covers the mundane matters such as roles and…
Here is a recent CharityVillage article entitled “A national charity census: Mark Blumberg's Snapshot of the Canadian Charity Sector” which highlights the recent Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Canadian Charity Sector 2014. Blumbergs has been providing the Blumbergs' Snapshot of the…