Here is a redacted copy of a notice sent by the Charities Directorate of CRA reminding charities of their filing date and the consequences of not filing the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return within 6 months of the end of…
A number of Canadian charities have been revoked by CRA for supporting terrorism in addition to other concerns. One of those organizations was The International Relief Fund for the Afflicted and Needy (Canada) or IRFAN Canada. It lost its charitable status…
The Canada Revenue Agency (‘CRA’) recently updated the T2050 form used by organizations when applying for charitable status with the Charities Directorate of the CRA. On the last page of the form, CRA has included a privacy disclosure which indicates that CRA…
Kate Robertson and Mark Blumberg recently prepared an article, “Some thoughts on Professional Athletes and Philanthropy in Canada: Part 1” which provides helpful information and guidance for professional athletes and their trusted advisors who are exploring philanthropic options in Canada. Part 2…
The Charity Commission of England and Wales recently published an Inquiry Report into a former charity named REDAID. It is well worth reading. In Canada, directors of registered charities sometimes focus too much on the Income Tax Act requirements of…
We recently reviewed the private foundations contained on the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return for 2013, 2014 and 2015. We looked at who had the largest expenditures, what their total assets were and the percentage of total assets that were disbursed…
British Columbia’s new Societies Act (the “new Act”), which replaces the previous Society Act (the “old Act”), was passed on May 14, 2015, and recently came into force on November 28, 2016. Societies incorporated in British Columbia will have two…
I recently read a press release from a Canadian think tank that said “Charitable giving in Canada hits 10-year low”. They proposed “In total, Canadians claimed $9 billion in charitable donations in 2014. But had Canadians donated in 2014 at…
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) recently released a new form which allows charities to easily update CRA on any changes to their directors, trustees or like officials. The Charities Directorate will not speak to an individual…
Canada Revenue Agency recently released a new CRA guidance, CG-026, Relieving conditions attributable to being aged and charitable registration that replaces the previous CPS-002 Relief of the Aged CRA guidance. The new guidance explains how CRA interprets and applies the law as…
Mark Blumberg recently presented a webinar for the Canadian Charity Law Association (CCLA) to discuss CRA’s consultation on political activities and the importance of Canadian charities conducting political activities. The deadline for submissions to CRA has been extended to…
CRA recently announced that the mailing of a printed copy of the Form T2081, Excess Corporate Holdings Worksheet for Private Foundations will no longer be sent out to affected charities. However, this form will be accessible to affected charities on…
Recently we noticed that CRA is now including a T3010 reminder notice in the Notification of Registration letters being issued to new Canadian registered charities. The reminder notice relates to the due date of the charity's annual information return with CRA. This…
I am pleased to be co-presenting to the ICN a webinar on “CRA Regulations and the Political Activities of Charities“. Here is the blurb on it: An ICN Webinar – CRA Regulations and the Political Activities of Charities On September…
We are proud to present the Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Ontario Charity Sector 2014. The data subset used is the CRA's 2014 T3010 data but only for registered charities based in Ontario. A large part of the Canadian registered charity sector is based…
On October 28, 2016 at the Blumbergs' Charity Law Institute we will be presenting the results of the Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Ontario Charity Sector 2014 including how the numbers have changed between 2011 and 2014. Some of the highlights from 2014…
Blumbergs has created a very interesting new website called CharityData.ca. Here is a short video which provides an overview of this powerful tool with information on over 86,000 Canadian registered charities with up to 10 years historical information on each registered…
Imagine Canada has put out a very interesting report on a survey of Canadian charities and their answers relating to political activities. The Sector Monitor report is prepared by David Lasby of Imagine Canada and is well worth reading. One of the…
There is a small category of qualified donees i.e. those that can issue an official donation receipt called “List of low-cost housing corporations for the aged registered as qualified donees“. Currently there are only 2 listed organizations namely St. Mark's Maples…
Currently there are only two organizations on the “List of foreign charities that have received a gift from Her Majesty in right of Canada“. They are the Aga Khan Foundation and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, both of which…
The CRA today launched its political activity consultation. It reinforces the importance of charities being engaged in the political process. The CRA is looking for feedback on the rules and CRA's guidance. People or organizations have until November 25, 2016…
The House of Commons Finance Committee (FINA) has posted the pre-budget submissions that it received. There are 420 briefs including our brief Increasing the productivity of the charity and non-profit sector through greater transparency and accountability. If anyone notices any other…
The work that charities do is extremely important to our society, so it is vital that various stakeholders, such as the public, the media, the government, donors, employees, boards, donors and others. have access to key information on what the…
The Liberal Government has made some noises about modernizing charity law. Who could be opposed to modernization? As there is no idea as to what “modernization” means, it has opened up all sorts of calls for changes to charity law…