Under the Income Tax Act (Canada) certain Indigenous groups can be recognized as qualified donees as “Municipal or public bodies performing a function of government”. In most cases, pursuing qualified donee status as a municipal or public body performing a function…
There was a recent decision on a motion in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice case of Muslim Association of Canada v. Attorney General of Canada, 2023 ONSC 1923 [PDF]. This decision is quite important, and the written reasons given…
We recently received an ATIP disclosure package from CRA relating to Bill S-216, the Effective and Accountable Charities Act. This act was not passed and was replaced by the Federal Budget in 2022. Here is the document we received: All…
Here is our note: Which Canadian charities spent money on foreign activities in 2021 and how much did they spend? Canadian registered charities spent over $3.8 billion on direct foreign activities (not including gifts to qualified donees), and in this note…
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…
The Federal Court of Appeal dismissed a request by Human Concern International to postpone the suspension that CRA had imposed upon them. Then Human Concern International made a leave to appeal application to the Supreme Court and the Supreme Court…
Canada has a unique and generous system to help foreign universities fundraise in Canada. Unfortunately, most foreign universities are not aware of this system. Here is our article on Foreign Universities Applying to be Registered Universities outside Canada: What we…
The Canadian government has announced a match of $10 million for the Canadian Red Cross response to the devastating earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria. Here is the press release from the Government of Canada: Canada to match up to $10…
Here is our note: Which Canadian charities spent money on foreign activities in 2020 and how much did they spend? Canadian registered charities spent over $4 billion on direct foreign activities (not including gifts to qualified donees), and in this…
The new Qualifying Disbursement rules will give some charities (with certain objects) some more flexibility when dealing with non-qualified donees in Canada and outside of Canada. At the same time, the anti-avoidance provision passed at the same time will make…
The Charities Directorate of CRA has released draft guidance for “Registered charities making grants to non-qualified donees“. (PDF) The CRA is requesting public feedback on the guidance by January 31, 2023. This guidance relates to the Federal Budget 2022 and…
Here is a letter from Francois Boileau, Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, at the Office of the Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson, on the Systemic Examination into concerns expressed by certain Muslim-led charities around audits by the Charities Directorate and more specifically, the Research and Analysis…
The Charities Directorate of CRA recently released an Access to Information document which discusses audits of registered charities. Here is our article CRA audit statistics released through freedom of information in 2022.
I found this document entitled NPO Sector Review that had been obtained through access to information. It is from 2015 and deals with CRA‘s review of the NPO sector which includes both nonprofit organizations and registered charities. The document provides…
The Budget Implementation Act No. 1 was recently passed which allows for “(l) enabling registered charities to enter into charitable partnerships with organizations other than qualified donees under certain conditions;”. There has been a lot of changes and misunderstandings about this…
I will be presenting to the Foundation, Endowment and Not For Profit Investment Summit on Navigating the Top Compliance Issues Facing Canadian Foundations. Here is some further information: Thursday, May 12, 2022, at 9:30 AM LEGAL UPDATE: LATEST DEVELOPMENTS Navigating…
Here is our article Gifts by Canadian Charities to the United Nations and its Agencies in 2019. In this article, we will look at funding of the United Nations and its agencies by Canadian registered charities. The UN is considered…
Here is our article Gifts by Canadian Charities to the Registered Foreign Universities in 2019. In this article, we will look at funding of registered foreign universities that are qualified donees by Canadian registered charities. We recently reviewed the T3010…
The Department of Finance has released the Notice of Ways and Means Motion to introduce an Act to implement certain provisions of the budget tabled in Parliament on April 7, 2022, and other measures. Here is a PDF. It is…
The CRA recently published their annual “Report on the Charities Program 2020 to 2021″. (PDF) Here are some comments: The Minister of National Revenue states: “To continue building and maintaining public trust in the charities regulator and the charitable sector,…
Let’s start with the most obvious. Canadian individuals and corporations can donate to numerous Canadian registered charities that are dealing with the situation in Ukraine and neighbouring countries. Here are examples of some of the groups: Canadian Red Cross Society…
Canada, on February 25, 2022, announced a $10 million matching fund for gifts by individuals to the Canadian Red Cross Society for their Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Appeal. Then, Canada’s matching fund for the Canadian Red Cross Society was increased to…
Here is a recent case in the Federal Court of Appeal with charity Human Concern International v. Canada. (PDF) We had discussed this matter previously. Human Concern International is a Canadian registered charity and CRA had suspended their qualified donee…
Here is the Blumbergs’ Pre-Budget Submission for the 2022 Federal Budget that we filed on February 25, 2022. Our top recommendations are: List of Recommendations Primary Recommendations Recommendation 1: That the Federal government amend Section 241 of the Income Tax…