The Hamilton law firm Scarfone Hawkins has just filed another charity class action lawsuit. The case is Terry Emms vs. Christian Economic Assistance Foundation and Ontario Alliance of Christian School Societies. The case essentially deals with the Christian Economic Assistance…
Scientology is not considered a registered charity in Canada. If an individual donates to Scientology they will not receive an official donation receipt in Canada. In Hall v. The Queen, Mr. Hall donated money to the International Association of Scientologists…
International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (Canada) (“IRFAN”) was revoked for cause in 2011. Previously we had provided copies of the CRA letters outlining in quite a large amount of detail the concerns CRA had with IRFAN. A…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has reminded UK charities who provide humanitarian assistance in certain areas of the importance of avoiding terrorist activity. “Charities working in conflict zones or in regions where it is known that terrorist organisations…
CIVICUS is an important organization that supports civil society around the world. They have recently held their three annual conferences in Montreal. CIVICUS has just released a new report on civil society around the world. CIVICUS notes “many governments around…
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable registration of the ISNA Development Foundation for funding activities outside of Canada without appropriate “direction and control” and funds for “relief work” may have been used to support…
On September 17, 2013 Mark Blumberg will be interviewed on Ted Hart’s The Nonprofit Coach Radio Show. Here is a link with call in numbers:
There was an article recently in the Toronto Star regarding a Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) audit of the Islamic Society of North America, a registered Canadian Charity. Here is the article in the Toronto Star: Also the article references…
We have provided the letters from the CRA to the International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy Canada (IRFAN) when they were revoked for cause. IRFAN has now filed a Notice of Appeal with the Federal Court of Appeal…
I will be giving a presentation to Chapel & York on Fundraising from Canada on July 26th, 2013 in London, England. Here is a link to the description and registration details: Here is the blurb from Chapel & York:…
In March 2013 we published the “Blumbergs Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2011”. Now here is Blumbergs Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot for 2010 which will allow those who are interested to compare the 2010 and 2011 snapshots.
The Federal Court of Appeal released a judgment on May 1, 2013 relating to the revocation of the Prescient Foundation. Here is a link to the Prescient Foundation judgment: Here is a PDF copy of the Prescient Foundation judgment:…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has offered some advice to donors interested in supporting Syria. I would point out that in Canada the Humanitarian Coalition is now collecting funds for Syria. http://humanitariancoalition.ca/ Here is blurb on the Humanitarian…
The website of the Charity Commission of England and Wales has been redesigned. The website always offered very useful information on legal issues affecting charities in the England and Wales. However, most importantly much of that information was also useful…
In this case Trinity Global Support Foundation (the “Foundation”) asked the court to delay CRA publishing a notice of intention to revoke the registered charity status until the Foundation’s other legal claims have been dealt with. The FCA ruled against…
The Federal Government has announced in the 2013 Federal Budget that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will be amalgamated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to form the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. …
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has announced the revocation of Marketplace Ministries International as a registered charity for its involvement in the “Insured Giving Donation Program tax shelter gifting arrangement”. Here is the CRA press release: …
Almost $15 billion is sent by people in Canada to developing world countries as remittances. Over the years I have written quite a bit about remittances, how important they are; how they dwarf charitable funds in Canadian charities used for…
We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2011 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers 82,000 of the 86,000 registered charities in Canada that had filed their T3010 and were processed into…
The Charity Commission notes that the Guidance “explains trustees’ duty to prevent their charity being used to promote extremist views or terrorist ideology. The toolkit also suggests steps trustees can take to minimise risks associated with particular activities, such as…
The CRA recently wrote a letter in French on whether charitable foundations are allowed to make gifts to section 501(c)(3) US charities, because of paragraph 7 of article XXI of the U.S. Tax Convention? The CRA answered no. Their reason…
The Hudson Institute has published its 2012 report on remittances. It shows that Canadian remittances to developing countries were $14.7 billion in 2010. CIDA gave $5.2 billion and Canadian charities gave about $1.95 billion. Here is a copy of the…
The Toronto Star recently covered a conference in which Justin Trudeau was speaking. One of the sponsors of the conference was IRFAN, a group that has lost its charitable status due to allegations that it was involved with directly or…
On December 14th, 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada delivered its ruling in the case of R. v. Khawaja, 2012 SCC 69. Much of this case centered on whether the Criminal Code of Canada definition of “terrorist activity” was constitutional. …