Many Canadian charities have been quite adept at using social media. It provides an opportunity for them to publicize their cause, fundraise and connect with people. It generally also has quite a low cost. Twitter has increasingly become a problematic…
Today, the Federal government introduced a new Bill C-41, An Act to amend the Criminal Code and to make consequential amendments to other Acts. This bill would make a change to the Criminal code and its anti-terrorism provisions and if an…
Just read this article from the Globe and Mail entitled “Pierre Elliott Trudeau Foundation returning donation with link to China“. The first paragraph states: A non-profit foundation dedicated to the memory of Pierre Elliott Trudeau is returning a large financial…
A Saskatoon charity that provides supportive living assistance to vulnerable populations has had a number of governance problems over the last few years and has been in and out of court over various issues. It is now in the news…
If you are a Federal non-profit corporation under the CNCA, then you can search your organization’s corporate profile at Search for A Federal Corporation. It will show you what documents have been filed with Corporations Canada. At the same place,…
Over the last decade, we have provided to the public CRA letters relating to a number of Canadian registered charity revocations. These letters from CRA cover many different grounds for de-registration. Some relate to relatively minor matters such as an…
I have learnt that one sometimes needs patience when dealing with the Federal government. For example, when you put in an ATIP request, they have 30 days to respond. Thirty days may seem like a long time, but I got…
We recently reviewed for 2018, 2019 and 2020 how much the largest 500 Canadian private foundations spent on charitable activities or gifts to qualified donees according to their T3010 filings. We also noted the amount expended on charitable activities and…
As many know, there were changes to the disbursement quota announced/proposed in the April 7, 2022, Federal Budget. Finance released draft changes on August 9, 2022, which showed that they were basically increasing the DQ from 3.5% on assets over…
As we have noted before in our blog on November 28, 2022, entitled Statement by the Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson on CRA examination will be significantly hindered by the confidentiality provisions of the ITA relating to charities, Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson will…
The Chair of the Charity Commission of England and Wales, Orlando Fraser, says the UK’s wealthiest people are ‘not covering themselves with glory’ with their giving. In response to numerous challenges facing charities, Mr. Fraser criticized the wealthy in the…
Over the last decade, we have provided to the public CRA letters relating to a number of Canadian registered charity revocations. These letters from CRA cover many different grounds for de-registration. Some relate to relatively minor matters such as an…
After advocating for over a decade that the confidentiality provisions of the Income Tax Act of Canada need to be updated, Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson has noted that the confidentiality provisions relating to registered charities, amongst other matters, will hinder their…
Over the last few months, there have been many newsletters and communications dealing with the recent corporate changes in Ontario that came into effect on October 19, 2021. There is widespread misunderstanding about these changes that have left some groups…
I just reviewed a report from François Brouard, Andrew Webb, and Marc Pilon, dated November 9, 2022, entitled “Registered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association (RCAAA) List of RCAAA and issues on financial information“. They give an introduction to the regulatory requirements…
I recently checked the Advance Search page of the Charities Listing. CRA has now added another search function which divides groups into “Type of Qualified Donee,” and there are now listed namely: 1) Registered Charities (85,842 in total) 2) Registered…
The Globe and Mail on November 1, 2022, had an extensive article reviewing 20 years of financial and other information on Hockey Canada entitled Numbers game – Hockey Canada, under fire for payouts in sexual-assault claims, doesn’t disclose its audited…
On October 31, 2022, Hockey Canada released a Hockey Canada Governance Review Final Report. Fitting that it would be released on Halloween. Governance at Hockey Canada was far scarier than anything I saw coming to our door. Maybe one day…
Many people are quite worried about the Ontario Government’s use of the notwithstanding clause in the Keeping Students in Class Act that imposes a 4-year collective agreement on a group of workers (educational assistants, custodians and early childhood educators) that…
In our article, How much should a Canadian registered charity spend on administration (2022), we discuss how CRA has not provided guidance as to the acceptable amount that a Canadian registered charity can spend on administrative expenses, but it will…
The CRA has published a “readout” on the meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (ACCS)(pronounced axe!) on August 25, 2022. These readouts provide almost no useful information. I have been highly critical of the Advisory Committee on…
When ordering corporate documents from Corporations Canada, it now appears that additional documents are available. It used to be listed only the documents from the Incorporation under the CNCA or continuance to the CNCA. Older documents under the Canada Corporations…
As many know, as of May 15, 2021, the Ontario Annual Return for OCA/ONCA non-profit corporations can no longer be filed with CRA (as part of the T3010 filing) and must be completed through the new Ontario Business Registry (OBR)…
Below are the full audited Hockey Canada’s financial statements for the last eight years. As we have noted before, Hockey Canada is a soliciting corporation under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”) and was supposed to file its financial statements…