It was very nice to see this notice from CRA today reminding registered charities that are Ontario non-profits under ONCA that they may need to make corporate changes and they should get CRA preapproval of objects:

Charities and giving – What’s new

Transition to Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010

Are you a registered charity that is incorporated under Ontario’s Corporations Act?

This is a reminder that the Government of Ontario has updated rules for not-for-profit corporations subject to Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA).

If your registered charity is incorporated under Ontario’s Corporations Act, you should review the impact of the new ONCA provisions and determine whether you need to make any changes to your charity’s incorporating and other documents, including your purposes, before the end of the transition period on October 18, 2024.

In general, the provisions of ONCA automatically apply to Ontario not-for-profit corporations as of October 19, 2021, subject to the transition provision in s. 207, which provides for a three-year transition period.

If you are considering making changes to your governing document, including your charitable purposes, please contact the Charities Directorate first.

For more information, go to Transition to Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act.

We’re here to help

For other charities-related questions, you can call our client service team at 1‑800‑267‑2384. Our representatives are available to help you Monday through Friday, from 9 am to 5 pm, local time.

There are probably about 15-20,000 Ontario non-profits that are registered charities, and it is important that they get CRA approval in many cases for their objects, whether they are changed or not.   We have discussed ONCA and the CRA in numerous blog posts in our ONCA blog directory especially Objects of many Ontario non-profits that are registered charities are sometimes not charitable or appropriate.