Mark Blumberg and CLIP on Twitter to discuss Canadian charity law
I have started a small twitter channel at or It will focus on Canadian charity law issues and especially educational efforts to inforrm charities of their legal obligations.
Canadian Charity Law
Charity law in Canada is a mixture of federal and provincial legislation plus common law and trust law. It is important that registered charities understand their compliance requirements. If you wish to understand your charity law obligations you can retain our law firm by contacting us.
Canadian Charity Law top resources:
CRA Removes Guide RC4108, Registered Charities and the Income Tax Act from their website
The CRA has recently removes Guide RC4108, Registered Charities and the Income Tax Act from their website. It was quite out of date and they have now placed the relevant material in other places on their website. “As of September…
Fundraising by Canadian registered charities
CRA in June 2009 released its Guidance on Fundraising by Canadian charities. You can see the document in English at: and in French at: It is 35 pages at 9.5 font. To make it easier to read I…
Holy Alpha and Omega Church of Toronto – PartII – CRA wins case on injunction, direction and control
In an earlier blog () I had noted the case of Holy Alpha and Omega Church of Toronto. The Federal Court of Appeal heard the matter in September 2009 and here is the decision The case involved a charity…
William Harper’s “Some Top CRA Compliance Issues”
Here is an article at Imagine Canada’s website on “Some Top CRA Compliance Issues” by William Harper Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario. To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides…
Preparing your Canadian Registered Charity for a CRA Audit
If you anticipate that your charity is going to be audited by the Charities Directorate of CRA you may wish to review my article Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) Audits and Canadian Registered Charities at Here is a copy…
CCCC Submission on CRA Consultation on the Proposed Guidance on Activities Outside of Canada
The Canadian Council of Christian Charities (CCCC) has provided their submission to the Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) on the CRA’s proposed guidance on foreign activities (the “CRA Consultation on the Proposed Guidance on Activities Outside of Canada for Canadian Registered…
Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Toronto
Here is some information on the Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise in Toronto in November. Third Canadian Conference on Social Enterprise – Early Bird Rate! The Social Enterprise Council of Canada invites you to join hundreds of existing and…
Canadian charities and fundraising contracts – factors to consider before signing
The Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee has produced a charity bulletin entitled Charitable Fundraising: Tips for Directors and Trustees. In that bulletin they list in “Appendix A: Factors to Consider Before Signing a Fundraising Contract”. Appendix A: Factors to Consider…
CRA supports additional charitable organizations’ innovative educational and training projects
The CRA has announced contribution funding for eight new projects under the Charities Partnership and Outreach Program (CPOP). One of the announced projects will be handled by the Ontario Community Support Association under its Charity Law Information Program (CLIP). The…
Ten Most Useful Features of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charity Directorate Website
In this article I wrote for the Charity law information program it discusses the Ten Most Useful Features of the Canada Revenue Agency’s Charity Directorate Website for Charities. If you have not recently visited the site you might find that…
Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) Toronto workshops on charity law and risk management Oct 6/09
I will be delivering two workshops in Toronto on October 6, 2009 for the Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) of CapacityBuilders. For further information see the Toronto Brochure and registration information for CLIP. For a full list of workshops see: …
OCSA 2009 Great !deas Conference in Toronto – strategic planning, social enterprise speakers
The main page for the OCSA 2009 Conference is at The program is at I thought I would highlight a few interesting speakers namely Seb Elsworth, from the UK Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations(ACEVO) who will…
CRA provides commentary on Gifts to Certain Charitable Organizations Outside Canada and IC84-3R5
CRA has provided some more detail on how organizations are included in Attachment to IC84-3R5, Gifts to Certain Charitable Organizations Outside Canada. There are only about 5 organizations left on the list and perhaps this policy commentary will encourage the…
The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle in Stanford Social Innovation Review
This article entitled The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle discusses “overhead” or “indirect expenses” and how various factors play in to charities not investing enough in infrastructure which results in less efficient organizations that cannot effectively serve their beneficiaries. About a year…
Canadian charities and holding shares of subsidiary corporation carrying on business
This CRA letter deals with “whether a charity’s status is at risk where the charity holds shares of a subsidiary corporation carrying on a business involving rental and sale of real estate” LANGIND E DOCNUM 2009-0306691E5 AUTHOR Demeter, Robert DESCKEY…
Canadian charities and intermediate sanctions by the Canada Revenue Agency
It used to be that if a registered charity was non-compliant CRA either revoked the charity or could do little about the non-compliance. The times have changed. With the introduction of “intermediate sanctions” CRA now has lots more flexibility in…
Charity Directorate Web Statistics for 2008/2009
Here are the 2008/2009 web statistics for the English part of the CRA website sorted by most visited pages. Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario. He can be contacted at mark@blumbergs.ca or at 416-361-1982.…
Terry de March stepping down as Director General of the Charities Directorate – but staying at CRA
It was with sadness that I read that Terry de March will be stepping down as Director General of the Charities Directorate. Thankfully he is not going far. While Terry de March is leaving his position of Director General, Charities…
CRA consultation on foreign activities – some key points
The CRA in June released their “Consultation on the Proposed Guidance on Activities Outside of Canada for Canadian Registered Charities”. The Consultation is at Here is a copy of an earlier paper that I delivered to the 2009…
Canada Revenue Agency (CRA), Charity Directorate, consultations and guidance documents for 2008-2009
Here is a copy of an article I wrote for the Canadian Bar Association (CBA) National Charities and Not-for-Profit Law Section newsletter Charity Talk– A busy year: CRA consultations and guidance documents for 2008-2009 Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at…
Upcoming Charity Law Presentations in Canada by Mark Blumberg for CapacityBuilders
A list of some of my upcoming workshops for CapacityBuilders. In September, October and November I will be delivering workshops in a number of different cities across Canada. Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario. …
Insight Canadian Non-Profit and Charity Law Conference in Toronto – November 23-24, 2009
I am the program chair for a conference organized by Insight that will be held November 23 – 24, 2009 at the St. Andrew’s Club and Conference Centre at 150 King Street West, Toronto. The Conference is called NON-PROFIT and…
Giving Beyond Borders – Easier than you Think – presentation to Philanthropic Foundations Canada
Here is a copy of the flyer for a presentation that I will be delivering to Philanthropic Foundations Canada on September 15, 2009 as part of their 2009 Professional Development Sessions Here is the text of the flyer: Giving Beyond…