We recently reviewed the T3010 information for 2011 relating to foreign activities. The database was prepared by the Charities Directorate of CRA in September 2012 and covers about 81,000 charities (94% of Canadian registered charities) and their 2011 T3010 returns.…
Doug Donovan and Caroline Preston in the Chronicle of Philanthropy have written another article on inflated gift in kind valuations. Here is an interesting quote “Accounting principles may be applied differently by different groups to similar facts, but at some…
We recently reviewed the T3010 information for 2011 relating to foreign activities. The database was prepared by the Charities Directorate of CRA in September 2012 and covers about 81,000 charities (94% of Canadian registered charities) and their 2011 T3010 returns.…
I will be presenting in Vancouver a full day presentation on charity law and compliance for registered charities on November 6, 2012. It is being put on by CoDevelopment Canada & BCCIC and it is entitled “Charity Law 101”. Just…
I took a look at the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return statistics on foreign activities by Canadian charities for 2010. The total 2010 amount identified by all charities including gifts-in-kind (GIK) is almost $2.7 billion. 299 charities spent more than…
I will be delivering a presentation to the Canada Southern Africa Chamber of Business 2012 8th Risk Mitigation Program in Toronto on October 16, 2012 on the subject of “CSR with Canadian Charities – Opportunities and Pitfalls”. Here is a…
Here are two workshops organized by the OCIC entitled “Personal Security: to build an individual’s security capacity when working in risk prone environments” Upcoming Workshops http://www.powersitefactory.com/ocic/Page.asp?IdPage=7895&WebAddress=ocic Registration for the following workshops is now open: Personal Security: to build an individual’s…
I will be delivering for the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation a full day workshop entitled “Charity Law Boot Camp: compliance and standards issues for Canadian Charities”. It will be on October 12 at Carleton University. Here is the announcement…
Recently the Department of Finance requested submissions on “Strengthening Canada’s AML and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime”. I sent in a submission that focussed specifically on the vulnerabilities of charities. Here is a copy of my submission on Strengthening Canada’s AML and…
In July 2011 the CRA imposed a penalty of $174,228.08 on the Reimer Express Foundation Inc, which is a Canadian private foundation based in Winnipeg. The penalties related to certain payments that CRA characterizes as gifts to non-qualified donees. Paul…
The Charities Directorate of the CRA has posted a page on CIDA’s Sahel Crisis Matching Fund. Here is a link to the CRA’s Sahel Crisis Matching Fund page Here is the text of the page: “Sahel Crisis Matching Fund…
The Canadian government is launching a matching program for donations made by Canadians to organizations from August 7 – September 30, 2012. CIDA notes: “An estimated 18.7 million people in the Sahel region in West Africa are affected by a…
Here is a copy of a letter from the Charities Directorate to the Hindu Temple Society of Canada. It is interesting for a number of reasons in that it discusses penalties for making gifts to non-qualified donees and the imposition…
With the recent release of two Canadian aid workers who were working for the Norwegian Refugee Council there has been discussion about whether Canadian charities or aid workers should work in places that are in the midst of conflict. Humanitarian…
Canada has sanctions against a number of countries. These countries include: Burma / Myanmar, Belarus, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Eritrea, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Liberia, North Korea, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Egypt and Zimbabwe. Canadian…
On the heels of an OECD report on CIDA, CIDA has published the 4th annual CIDA’s Development for Results 2010–2011 report. You can read the report at:
A recent OECD report discusses CIDA and Canada’s aid effort. Canada receive some praise for certain initiatives but recommendations were made for improvements in other areas. The report notes: “Canada’s aid programme stood at USD 5.3 billion in 2011 (0.31%…
The Ontario Council for International Cooperation will be having its 2012 AGM and Conference. There will be a number of interesting discussions on international development and humanitarian assistance. I will be delivering a short break out session:” “Legal Perspectives on…
The CBC just ran a story entitled “Hindu temple faces fine over tsunami donations”. It discusses a recent fine imposed by CRA on the charity. According to the lawyer for the charity the matter will be appealed so it will…
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf of CharityVillage recently wrote an article “Don’t be a nonprofit party to terror” which discusses regulatory and risk management issues for charities in the area of preventing terrorism. Here is a link to Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf’s article “Don’t be…
A few weeks ago CRA revoked the charitable status of an environmental group for involvement in an abusive gifting tax scheme. Sorry to disappoint some but no political activities here. The Canada Revenue Agency revokes the registration of Escarpment Biosphere…
Here are the letters from CRA to HEDAC (Help Eliminate Disease and Addiction Canada) which explain why HEDAC was revoked for cause. Letters from CRA to HEDAC
The Standing Committee on Finance dealt with the charity provisions in the 2012 Federal Budget on May 28, 2012 from approximately 7 p.m. to 9 pm. The subject matter was “Bill C-38, An Act to implement certain provisions of the…
Here is the transcript from the Standing Committee on Finance on May 8, 2012. 6 witnesses, lots of questions. I was one of the witnesses. Here is the May 8, 2012 Finance Committee (FINA) committee transcript on charity transparency, tax…