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…
We have put up a large amount of free resources for groups to use. They include on our CanadianCharityLaw.ca website about 3000 blog posts with more CRA information relating to charities than CRA has on its own website! On our…
On July 28, 2023, we wrote a blog Will Canadian registered charities need to file T3 forms for “express trusts” beginning next year? In that article dealing with express trusts or certain restricted gifts, we discussed how CRA had provided…
The Ontario government has announced that as part of their red tape reduction initiative, they will remove the requirement for charities to notify the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) when they are established. This is probably a good thing. …
There is some confusion about NUANS searches and incorporation under the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”). When a member of the public is going to be incorporating a CNCA corporation, the Corporations Canada Online Filing Centre allows for…
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,…
We have received several inquiries about whether Canadian charities and non-profits can continue working with nongovernmental organizations (NGO)s in India in light of recent heightened enforcement of Indian laws that regulate charitable funding coming into the country from foreign sources.…
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…
There are now 10 registered journalism organizations or RJOs. They are listed below. These organizations also have specific compliance obligations and CRA now has a webpage detailing those obligations which we have reproduced below. List of registered journalism…
There is a Global News story that came out today, October 13, 2023, by Stewart Bell, an investigative journalist, “Auditors allege Canadian charity helped Hamas financier“. It deals with a lengthy CRA letter to the Muslim Association of Canada (MAC),…
Corporations Canada has sent notices to 1318 non-profit corporations under the CNCA as they have not filed their annual returns. The groups will be given some time to file the documents and if not they will be dissolved. In total,…
CRA has a new page encouraging taxpayers not to become involved in inappropriate tax schemes, including those offered by some charities. The page is located here. Here is the text of the page: Beware of tax schemes that…
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 as CRA notes in its guidance on foreign activities: “Under Canadian law, most activities that are charitable in Canada are also charitable abroad. However, the courts have stated that some activities that are charitable in Canada…
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,…
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada (OPC) released on September 19, 2023 a finding that a Canadian charity had an inadequate process for obtaining consent from prospective donors for sharing of their information on a mail list with…
Here is a CRA letter on the conversion of a share capital corporation to a non-profit corporation and whether it is a tax-exempt non-profit under the ITA? The main point is that “It is possible for an organization to meet…
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.…
Recently, the Tax Court of Canada provided a judgment in Richard John Nixon and His Majesty the King, which deals with a leveraged donation arrangement that occurred in 2002 and 2003. The judgment was dated August 22, 2023. Even…
It was good to see that the Chronicle of Philanthropy is covering Donor Codes of Conduct in their article “Donor Codes of Conduct to Fight Sexual Harassment of Nonprofit Fundraisers Are Growing More Common“. It was also nice to see…
The Office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer or PBO, recently released a report on the Changes to the Alternative Minimum Tax as Proposed in Budget 2023. [PDF] For those interested in the topic of taxation, it is an interesting report. …
The Washington Post recently had a story “He was Mormon royalty. Now his lawsuit against the church is a rallying cry.” The article deals with a lawsuit by James Huntsman against the Mormon Church. Here are a few paragraphs from…
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…