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)
There has been a lot of coverage of the JNF Canada revocation and lots of discussions, especially in the Jewish community. The short answer to the Question, “How much of an impact will revocation of JNF Canada have on Canadian…
On December 19, 2023 CRA published their Guidance CG-032, Registered charities making grants to non-qualified donees. The new guidance is helpful, but because of the complexity of the wording from the Income Tax Act (Canada) and the lack of case…
Even while charity law is a little different in England compared to Canada, this revised UK guidance “Decision-making for charity trustees (CC27)” could be quite helpful for directors and trustees of Canadian charities. If Canadian charities heed some of…
Some registered charities funding projects outside of Canada, unfortunately, are not complying with the Canadian rules for such activities. Not complying with the rules can lead to revocation. Generally speaking, a Canadian registered charity works with (and sends funds to)…
The Canadian Jewish News (CJN) published an article today by reporters Ellin Besner and Jonathan Rothman, “Read about why JNF Canada lost charitable status after a decade of problems“. We received last week from CRA a copy of the Notice…
The CRA has recently posted more information on charities and terrorism. They also included an infographic “Protect your charity from terrorist abuse”. While not explicitly stated this new set of pages replaces the short “Checklist for Charities on Avoiding Terrorist…
Here are the CRA letters relating to the Ne’eman Foundation Canada Notice of Intention to Revoke. I would recommend that any charity that conducts foreign activities carefully review the letters. The revocation and the letters supporting that revocation have not…
There are so many weird, wonderful, and inaccurate things I hear about Canadian charities, compliance and CRA audits. Anyway nice to see CRA updating information on compliance for Canadian registered charities. CRA also provides further updated statistics below. What is…
On August 14, 2024 the CJN released a podcast entitled “JNF Canada ‘blindsided’ after Ottawa fully revokes charity status. What’s next?” “On today’s episode of The CJN Daily, we ask Mark Blumberg, a Canadian tax lawyer and charity expert, whether JNF…
We have discussed before how Mr. Justice Markus Koehnen dismissed the Muslim Association of Canada’s lawsuit against the Canada Revenue Agency previously: Ontario judge dismisses case by Muslim Association of Canada which had challenged the CRA’s audit of that organization…
We recently reviewed: How much did the largest Canadian private foundations spend in 2022 on charitable activities or gifts to qualified donees according to their T3010 filings? We also noted the amount expended on charitable activities and gifts to qualified donees…
We just recently received from CRA some 2023 T3010 returns, and about 173 organizations had completed the T3010’s Schedule 8, which deals with disbursement quota (or DQ). It is interesting that about 31 groups completed the form, even though…
Here is an updated Canadian Charity Legal Checklist by Mark Blumberg – May 2024. 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.…
This new course, “Should Our Non-Profit Become a Canadian Registered Charity and if so, how?” discusses when it may be advantageous, or not, for a Canadian non-profit that has already been established to apply for registered charity status with the…
We have a new course, “Should Our Non-Profit Become a Canadian Registered Charity and if so, how?”. It discusses when it may be advantageous or not for a Canadian non-profit that has already been established to apply for registered charity…
Did you know that Canadian charities spent in 2021 about $177 billion on salaries and other compensation expenditures, according to our Blumbergs Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2021? With millions of people working for the charity sector, it cannot be understated…
CRA has new page dealing with incorporation documents. It is helpful in that it provides information on different options that are available in Canada. They also highlight “that some provinces have incorporation provisions or incorporation guidelines that may be problematic…
CBC reports today in an article by Caitlyn Gowriluk that Lawyers barred from practising law in Canada for 3 years after having Manitoba judge followed in 2021. The CBC article notes: Two Alberta lawyers charged with attempting to obstruct…
Here is a presentation delivered by Mark Blumberg for CharityVillage on October 19, 2023. Top Ten Compliance Issues for Canadian Registered Charities Summary: A great deal has been written about legal compliance surrounding charities in Canada. Much of that material, however,…
Many charities have effectively used celebrity ambassadors for various purposes, including fundraising and advocacy. They can be a very positive force in raising the profile of a charity, bringing in resources for the charity and connecting the charity to others…
On Tuesday last week, we had our Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Institute. We had a very good presentation by two Ontario government lawyers dealing with recent changes to ONCA in Bill 91. During questions, there was a question about how…
Just a reminder that Canadian charities are not allowed to support terrorism. Doesn’t matter whether you are Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Jewish or secular. If you’re a Canadian charity and, you are supporting terrorism, you can expect to be revoked,…
I don’t think I often meet people who, when faced with an equal path, one very difficult and one easy, deliberately take the difficult path. Almost everyone is looking for simple solutions. How to save time, how to save money.…
It was reported in the media that a number of aid workers have recently been arrested in Afghanistan. Here is the article “18 Charity Workers Arrested In Afghanistan For Allegedly Preaching Christianity.” 18 Charity Workers Arrested In Afghanistan For Allegedly…