Here is our article How much publicly listed securities are donated to Canadian charities and how will AMT changes affect charities November 2023 With all the confusion about donations of marketable securities and the AMT, we thought we would offer…
On July 28, 2023, we wrote a blog Will Canadian registered charities need to file T3 forms for “express trusts” beginning next year? In that article dealing with express trusts or certain restricted gifts, we discussed how CRA had provided…
CBC reports today in an article by Caitlyn Gowriluk that Lawyers barred from practising law in Canada for 3 years after having Manitoba judge followed in 2021. The CBC article notes: Two Alberta lawyers charged with attempting to obstruct…
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,…
We have received several inquiries about whether Canadian charities and non-profits can continue working with nongovernmental organizations (NGO)s in India in light of recent heightened enforcement of Indian laws that regulate charitable funding coming into the country from foreign sources.…
Many charities have effectively used celebrity ambassadors for various purposes, including fundraising and advocacy. They can be a very positive force in raising the profile of a charity, bringing in resources for the charity and connecting the charity to others…
CRA has a new page encouraging taxpayers not to become involved in inappropriate tax schemes, including those offered by some charities. The page is located here. Here is the text of the page: Beware of tax schemes that…
On Tuesday last week, we had our Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Institute. We had a very good presentation by two Ontario government lawyers dealing with recent changes to ONCA in Bill 91. During questions, there was a question about how…
Just a reminder that Canadian charities are not allowed to support terrorism. Doesn’t matter whether you are Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish or secular. If you’re a Canadian charity and, you are supporting terrorism, you can expect to be revoked,…
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released on September 19, 2023 a finding that a Canadian charity had an inadequate process for obtaining consent from prospective donors for sharing of their information on a mail list with…
I don’t think I often meet people who, when faced with an equal path, one very difficult and one easy, deliberately take the difficult path. Almost everyone is looking for simple solutions. How to save time, how to save money.…
It was good to see that the Chronicle of Philanthropy is covering Donor Codes of Conduct in their article “Donor Codes of Conduct to Fight Sexual Harassment of Nonprofit Fundraisers Are Growing More Common“. It was also nice to see…
The Washington Post recently had a story “He was Mormon royalty. Now his lawsuit against the church is a rallying cry.” The article deals with a lawsuit by James Huntsman against the Mormon Church. Here are a few paragraphs from…
It was reported in the media that a number of aid workers have recently been arrested in Afghanistan. Here is the article “18 Charity Workers Arrested In Afghanistan For Allegedly Preaching Christianity.” 18 Charity Workers Arrested In Afghanistan For Allegedly…
The UK has far better transparency when it comes to charities than we have in Canada. It is interesting to read a report by the Charity Commission on England and Wales into a charity – Care4Calais. As we know, in…
We have urged that the Charities Directorate in Canada be given more leeway to provide information to the public when charities are involved with serious non-compliance. Here is an example of a submission we recently made to the Finance Committee…
Here is the Blumbergs’ Pre-Budget Submission for the 2024 Canadian Federal Budget. For those who have been following our law firm’s submissions over the last ten or more years, they have focused on transparency and accountability in the non-profit and…
The CRA recently sent a response to the Canadian Tax Foundation on the new qualifying disbursement/grant to grantee and directed donations provisions. As many are aware, section 168(1)(f) of the ITA was amended to provide that CRA can revoke a…
The Globe and Mail recently had an opinion piece criticizing changes to the rules relating to donations of marketable securities for some taxpayers who are also affected by the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”). In essence, next year, but not this…
There has been some coverage in the media of a concern that Canadian charities may be required to file a T3 form for each of their “express trusts”. Examples of express trusts could be a perpetual endowment or a long-term…
The Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“ONCA”) came into force on October 19, 2021 and groups have until October 19, 2024 to bring themselves into compliance with the ‘new’ act. For some groups, this may seem like a long time, but…
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…
I recently requested and paid for some customized data from Statistics Canada on donations to charities by income percentile. Here is the data on family giving, followed by some source information from Statistics Canada. I have also posted a blog…
I recently requested and paid for some customized data from Statistics Canada on donations to charities by income percentile. Here is the data on individual giving, followed by some source information from Statistics Canada. Here is a similar blog but…