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 Government has provided the Canadian Red Cross, United Way Canada and Community Foundations of Canada with a total of $400 million to create a Community Services Recovery Fund. The fund is available to both charities and non-profits that are…
I am delighted to be doing my third webinar for Blackbaud’s True North Webinar Series. Here are the details: Compliance and Receipting for Canadian Charities Thursday, January 26 at 1:00 p.m. ET Legal compliance is important for all Canadian organizations.…
The Canadian charity and non-profit sectors are an important part of the Canadian economy and have a huge impact on the lives of Canadians. With the registered charity sector (approximately 86,000 organizations), the public has relatively up-to-date and detailed information.…
The list of municipal or public bodies performing a function of government in Canada registered as qualified donees has now increased to 555 entities. These groups, which are largely Indigenous bands but also other organizations, can issue official donation receipts…
Currently the list of “List of foreign charities that have received a gift from Her Majesty in right of Canada” only has two charities, namely: Council for Canadian American Relations and The Canada-UK Foundation. As these groups are qualified donees,…
We recently reviewed for 2018, 2019 and 2020 how much the largest 500 Canadian private foundations spent on charitable activities or gifts to qualified donees according to their T3010 filings. We also noted the amount expended on charitable activities and…
As many know, there were changes to the disbursement quota announced/proposed in the April 7, 2022, Federal Budget. Finance released draft changes on August 9, 2022, which showed that they were basically increasing the DQ from 3.5% on assets over…
Effective January 1, 2023, Blumberg Segal LLP will become Blumbergs Professional Corporation. We will still use our business name “Blumbergs” and will continue to be a law firm committed to focusing on the non-profit and charity sector. For over 38…
As we have noted before in our blog on November 28, 2022, entitled Statement by the Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson on CRA examination will be significantly hindered by the confidentiality provisions of the ITA relating to charities, Canada’s Taxpayers’ Ombudsperson will…
Over the last decade, we have provided to the public CRA letters relating to a number of Canadian registered charity revocations. These letters from CRA cover many different grounds for de-registration. Some relate to relatively minor matters such as an…
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 the Blumbergs Snapshot of the Charity Sector in Ontario 2020. We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2020 as part of the Sean Blumberg Transparency Project. The database covers about 30,540 of the…
The Ontario Superior Court of Justice recently heard its first case on donor advised funds in The Joseph Lebovic Charitable Foundation v. Jewish Foundation of Greater Toronto. (PDF) This is the first time a court in Canada has discussed donor…
Over the last few months, there have been many newsletters and communications dealing with the recent corporate changes in Ontario that came into effect on October 19, 2021. There is widespread misunderstanding about these changes that have left some groups…
CRA has made some changes to their Charities Listing to include RCAAAs as we have discussed in a different blog. In this note, I will share my concern that the current way that the RCAAAs are listed on the CRA…
I just reviewed a report from François Brouard, Andrew Webb, and Marc Pilon, dated November 9, 2022, entitled “Registered Canadian Amateur Athletic Association (RCAAA) List of RCAAA and issues on financial information“. They give an introduction to the regulatory requirements…
The Globe and Mail on November 1, 2022, had an extensive article reviewing 20 years of financial and other information on Hockey Canada entitled Numbers game – Hockey Canada, under fire for payouts in sexual-assault claims, doesn’t disclose its audited…
On October 31, 2022, Hockey Canada released a Hockey Canada Governance Review Final Report. Fitting that it would be released on Halloween. Governance at Hockey Canada was far scarier than anything I saw coming to our door. Maybe one day…
Twitter has become a problematic platform with problematic leadership and very little moderation. Consequently, its future is in some doubt. If you want to keep in touch with our firm and stay on top of developments affecting Canadian non-profits and…
In a recent Federal Court of Appeal Decision, Fortius Foundation v. Canada (National Revenue), (PDF) the FCA dismissed a motion for interim relief from the charity that CRA has proposed to revoke. The charity wanted to stop CRA from taking…
In our article, How much should a Canadian registered charity spend on administration (2022), we discuss how CRA has not provided guidance as to the acceptable amount that a Canadian registered charity can spend on administrative expenses, but it will…
Today the CBC published an article, “Mormon Church in Canada moved $1B out of the country tax free — and it’s legal“. Tonight on The Fifth Estate, there was a report on the same topic. The article reviewed gifts from…
When ordering corporate documents from Corporations Canada, it now appears that additional documents are available. It used to be listed only the documents from the Incorporation under the CNCA or continuance to the CNCA. Older documents under the Canada Corporations…