Zachary Euler of the CRA Charities Directorate mentioned today in a presentation to the Blumbergs’ Charity Law Institute that CRA has recently posted a “Political activities self-assessment tool” on their website. The “Political activities self-assessment tool” is a helpful, plain…
On October 15, 2013, Blumbergs will be having the 2nd Annual Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Institute in Toronto. It will be a full day of practical legal and ethical compliance information geared toward charities, professional advisors and those interested in…
Under the CNCA since it came into force in October 2011 there have been 2700 incorporations and 1800 continuances. This is according to numbers provided by Industry Canada. Over the next year there will be a large number of Federal…
The Hamilton law firm Scarfone Hawkins has just filed another charity class action lawsuit. The case is Terry Emms vs. Christian Economic Assistance Foundation and Ontario Alliance of Christian School Societies. The case essentially deals with the Christian Economic Assistance…
Scientology is not considered a registered charity in Canada. If an individual donates to Scientology they will not receive an official donation receipt in Canada. In Hall v. The Queen, Mr. Hall donated money to the International Association of Scientologists…
The Charity Commission made clear that it is not questioning the worth of the organization but refused to register it as it did not have exclusively charitable objects. The Human Dignity Trust was focussed on challenging laws around the world…
The Charities Directorate has recently put up new webinars dealing with political activities. Charities are allowed to conduct political activities but there are rules and limits around how that should be done. These webinars will help charities understand CRA’s views…
The Toronto Star published an article entitled “Toronto Christian program tries to ‘heal’ gays” with a by-line “A Star reporter goes undercover inside a gay conversion program in Toronto to uncover the controversial practice of “healing” homosexuality.” It is an…
I am not sure if I should even cover Sowah. The CRA denied a claim by Emily Sowah $10,252 because the receipt did not have all the required elements and also Emily Sowah was not able to prove that she…
International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (Canada) (“IRFAN”) was revoked for cause in 2011. Previously we had provided copies of the CRA letters outlining in quite a large amount of detail the concerns CRA had with IRFAN. A…
How long does it take the Charities Directorate to answer a call, respond to a letter or respond to a charity application? Well, it depends. But you might find CRA’s Service standards for charities and charitable giving helpful in getting…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has reminded UK charities who provide humanitarian assistance in certain areas of the importance of avoiding terrorist activity. “Charities working in conflict zones or in regions where it is known that terrorist organisations…
CRA has begun posting and releasing data from the 2013 T3010 which has extensive questions on Canadian charities and political activities. So far only 3400 have been released. Of them only a handful identify that they are doing political activities. …
CIVICUS is an important organization that supports civil society around the world. They have recently held their three annual conferences in Montreal. CIVICUS has just released a new report on civil society around the world. CIVICUS notes “many governments around…
CRA released a letter which discusses whether an organization that is exempt from income tax can receive donations from its members and businesses affiliated with its members to fund a capital project. CRA ruled that this was acceptable provided that…
CRA recently released a letter which discusses whether the transfer of 100% of the voting common shares of a taxable Canadian corporation to a public foundation will result in the public foundation acquiring control of the corporation under paragraph 149.1(3)(c)…
I will be leading a webinar entitled “Spam Law – Recent Legislation and its Impact on Canadian Fundraisers and Charities” on October 28, 2013 AFP Foundation for Philanthropy – Canada and Mackenzie Investments have partnered to strengthen training and education…
The Ontario government has released a report “Profile of Ontario Not-for-Profit and Charitable Organizations” based on some telephone and internet polling. One question on page 64 was interesting. “What should be the provincial government’s top two priorities when it comes…
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has revoked the charitable registration of the ISNA Development Foundation for funding activities outside of Canada without appropriate “direction and control” and funds for “relief work” may have been used to support…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales has released an updated public benefit guidance. Canadian charities can find this material quite helpful in terms of the understanding the concept of public benefit and how a charity can show public benefit. …
I will be co-presenting on “Ethical Decision-Making in Fundraising: Dealing with Situations that Challenge Professional Ethics” at the Ontario Hospital Association conference HealthAchieve 2013 in Toronto in November. Ethical Decision-Making in Fundraising: Dealing with Situations that Challenge Professional Ethics…
It is amazing to see the speed at which changes have happened in the UK as a result of one problematic charity. The charity named Cup Trust involved a claim from the UK Gift Aid program of £46 million and…
The short answer is that no one really knows. I asked Industry Canada to comment on this “The number of CCA corporations is commonly said to be 19000. It is actually about 25,000 on the rolls of IC but some…
In a recent Federal Court of Appeal decision, Cheder Chabad v. The Queen, the registered charity Cheder Chabad had asked that CRA be prohibited from publishing a notice of revocation until the charity had exhausted all its rights to object…