Non-profits and charities in Canada are receiving a lot of stakeholder scrutiny. Increasingly, funders, the media and the public are going beyond legal compliance and criticizing charities and non-profits for questionable governance practices and actions that don’t meet voluntary guidelines or ethical standards. Stakeholders are expecting more transparency and accountability.
We help organizations change their governing documents (such as articles and by-laws) and their governance practices. We educate boards on their fiduciary duties and understanding of legal compliance. We assist with creating or revising policies and procedures to help with compliance.
With the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA) and the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) almost all non-profits and charities in Ontario (and many outside of Ontario) will have made governance changes or will need to make changes. The CNCA affects over 25,000 Federal non-profit corporations and ONCA will affect over 50,000 Ontario non-profit corporations. The corporate changes provide an important opportunity for non-profits and charities to take stock of their governance practices and policies and make changes as necessary. If you wish to retain our law firm to assist with your charity application, you can contact us.
Governance top resources:
Should We Establish a Canadian Social Enterprise, Non-Profit or Charity and How to Do It? (online course for Canadian groups)
Fundraising from Canada – A course for groups outside of Canada (online course for foreign groups)
Should Our Canadian Business Establish a Corporate Foundation?
Fundamentals of Running a Canadian Charitable Organization/Operating Charity (online course)
Fundamentals of Running a Private or Public Foundation in Canada (online course)
Membership of Non-Profits and Charities in Canada (online course)
Multiple Corporate Structures for Canadian For-Profits, Non-Profits and Charities to Enhance Flexibility + Impact (online course)
Running and Maintaining a Federal Non-Profit Corporation under the CNCA – An Introduction (online course)
Separation and Independence by Canadian Charities from Entities that are not Canadian Charities (online course)
Should you agree to be a director or board member of a Canadian non-profit or registered charity? (online course)
I was recently interviewed by Mary Gooderham from Canadian Family Offices on private foundations in Canada. The article is a mix of issues relating to private foundations and some of my personal background. Here is the article: Private foundations are…
In our article “Ontario rules for compensation of certain directors of Ontario charities or registered charities 2025” we discuss the Ontario rules for Ontario charities and registered charities in Ontario relating to compensation of directors and those related to directors.
The CBC today posted an article Donations to Sean Feucht groups via B.C.-based charity add to financial transparency concerns raised in Canada: Former Feucht followers ask Canadians to reflect before donating to ministry. In the article, I discuss some general concerns…
Here are two further warnings by the Charity Commission of England and Wales about problematic charity social media use. I have no reason to believe that CRA would necessarily take a different position, and therefore Canadian charities should pay close…
When changing the governing documents of a non-profit (such as under ONCA or the CNCA), it’s important to understand the different functions of Articles of Amendment and Restated Articles of Incorporation. These documents serve different purposes but work together to…
Here is an updated Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Legal Checklist. 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 registered charities. It focuses on top…
After almost three decades of dealing with governance for Canadian registered charities and non-profits and their directors, Mark Blumberg has now created a course to help non-profits and charities understand governance. We hope that you find it helpful. Here is a…
On July 16, the Office of the Commissioner of Lobbying Canada released a new bulletin, interpreting (or, re-interpreting) the in-house lobbying registration threshold under section 7(1)(b) of the Lobbying Act (Canada). This quiet, yet substantial, change will have a significant…
It is essential for charities, whether in England and Wales, or in Canada, to exercise caution when sharing resources on websites, social media, and elsewhere. Resources should not support terrorism or partisan political causes. We have recently blogged about social…
The Charity Commission for England and Wales’ social media guidance serves as a good reminder—and resource—for the responsible use of social media among charitable organizations. This guidance, while based on English and Welsh law, nevertheless provides Canadian charities with helpful…
Here is our article How much did the largest Canadian private foundations spend in 2023?
Here is our note Which Canadian charities spent money on foreign activities in 2023 and how much did they spend?
The CRA has announced they are doing a new webinar on “Completing your T3010 online: A walkthrough for charities”. It will be free, one hour long and helpful for Canadian registered charities. There are English webinars on June 17 and…
Corporations Canada recently launched a new assistance tool to help corporations under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”) determine if they are considered soliciting or non-soliciting. A corporation is considered soliciting when it has received more than $10,000 in income…
We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2023 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers about 83,540 of the approximately 86,000 registered charities in Canada that had filed their T3010 and were…
There is unprecedented change and disruption at the moment around the world, including in Canada. This free presentation Surviving the Storm – Legal Issues for Canadian Non-Profits and Charities in Tough Times on April 28, 2025 @ 12:00 pm –…
It is important that Canadian non-profits and registered charities are aware of what is going on politically in Canada and also engage in appropriate and relevant political activities, as allowed by law. Unfortunately, for NPOs and charities, it is far…
Earlier this week, the National Post published an article, entitled “Diaspora groups call on Canada to activate foreign agent registry ahead of federal election.” The article outlined diaspora groups’ displeasure with the indeterminate timeline for rolling out the foreign influence…
We recently wrote to the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement to ask them why for example articles of amendments with no problems were taking about 3 months to be returned after they were filed. The Ministry…
The Toronto Star recently had an article, “Law Society of Ontario hires retired senior judge to investigate CEO’s new, near-$1-million contract,” and it is well worth reading. This will be a learning moment for the LSO as well as other…
The disbursement quota (DQ) is the minimum amount a registered charity is required to spend each year on its own charitable activities, on gifts to qualified donees (for example, other registered charities) or on grants to grantees. The disbursement quota…
An interesting story appeared today in the Toronto Star by Max Binks-Collier of the Investigative Journalism Bureau. The article is entitled “This Canadian cancer charity tells the public it spends most of its donations on charitable works. Financial records tell…
Tens of thousands of Ontario non-profit corporations that were originally incorporated under Part III of the Corporations Act (Ontario), had a 3-year transition period during which to bring their constating documents (i.e. letters patent, by-laws, etc.) into conformity with the…
The US Form 990 is filed by some organizations that have addresses in Canada. Sometimes, it is a Canadian charity or non-profit in Canada that has applied for 501(c)(3) status, but sometimes, it is a US 501(c)(3) that has an…