Canadian National Avoid a Charity Scam Day
For those interested in celebrating National Avoid a Charity Scam Day you might find this interesting.
Blog
Charity Scams in Canada – Costing Us All A Lot
Here is some statistical information on Charity Scams – Costing Us All A Lot. Just to give some perspective far more funds flow to charity tax avoidance schemes in Canada than to all the money spent by Canadian charities on…
Tax Havens Cause Poverty
If you are interested in assisting reduce or eliminate extreme poverty and you want more than writing a cheque to fix a symptom of a problem then you might find this note interesting. Various groups have highlighted the importance of…
Canadian Charities
There are over 83,500 Canadian registered charities. If you want to find out about a registered charity the first place to look is the CRA’s website to see if they are registered and their T3010 Registered Charity Information Return at…
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) “Criteria for Philanthropy at its Best”
The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) has recently prepared a report entitled “Criteria for Philanthropy at Its Best: Benchmarks to Assess and Enhance Grantmaker Impact”. The report is geared towards US foundations but is equally relevant to Canadian foundations. …
Obama Budget to drastically reduce tax incentives for the wealthy who donate to charity
Obama has proposed the largest budget in US history. He is planning on various tax cuts for people earning under US$250,000 and various tax increases for those earning over US$250,000. He is also planning on reducing the tax incentives for…
OECD Report on Abuse of Charities for Money Laundering and Tax Evasion – Canada does very poorly
The OECD Report on Abuse of Charities for Money Laundering and Tax Evasion is well worth reading for anyone who cares about the Canadian charitable sector. On my quick read of the report it seems that Canada has probably more…
Canada Narrows Focus of Countries for CIDA Aid as part of Aid Effectiveness Agenda
Here is a press release from the Canadian government with respect to the 20 countries that will be the focus of Canadian bilateral (government to government) aid and they include: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Caribbean, Colombia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Haiti, Honduras, Indonesia,…
T3010B – New CRA Canadian Charity Information Return for 2009
The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency has revised their form T3010A with a new form called the T3010B, and it is supposed to be used by Canadian charities for fiscal years ending in 2009. Update February 22, 2009…
Millennium Charitable Foundation Case – Federal Court (FCA) not impressed with charity tax shelters
The Millennium Charitable Foundation Case deals with abusive charitable gifting schemes. The Federal Court of Appeal (FCA) sided with CRA in this matter. It is well worth reading for anyone concerned with the charity sector. The Millennium Charitable Foundation Case…
Scaremongering charities in a recession is not helpful – Canwest should improve coverage
In this article, I look at and criticize a sensationalist and inaccurate article in the Ottawa Citizen entitled “Downturn will sink 10,000 non-profits: think-tank: ‘We’re just beginning to see blood in the pool,’ expert warns”. I recently read an article…
Global giving is not a one way street- US Foundations Supporting Canadian Charities
The Foundation Center’s Interactive Map of Direct Grants by U.S. Grantmakers to Non-US Recipients is helpful to see how almost $7 billion dollars worth of grants went from the US to non-US charities etc. It may be helpful to Canadian…
Ethiopian Law Will Affect Canadian Charities Operating in Ethiopia
The Proclamation for the Registration and Regulation of Charities and Societies was passed by the Ethiopian government. It will limit the activities and funding by foreign NGOs and charities. It will make it harder for some foreign NGOs to operate…
Canadian charities and pharmaceutical donations -some ethical issues
There are many legal and ethical issues with the donation of pharmaceuticals to developing countries. In this note I will touch upon some of the ethical issues. Over the last few decades the number and uses of pharmaceuticals have increased. …
Bev Oda, CIDA boss, answers questions and provides direction on aid in article with Embassy Magazine
In this article from Embassy Magazine entitled “Aid to Focus on Needs During Downturn: Oda”, Bev Oda, the Minister of International Cooperation who is responsible for CIDA provides some very interesting insights into questions that many have wondered about in…
Research Paper “Global Philanthropy and International Cooperation: A Guide to Trends and Issues”
Here is a research paper prepared by Betty Plewes for the CCIC entitled “Global Philanthropy and International Cooperation: A Guide to Trends and Issues. ”
Workshop on Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE), and Crises- by CIDA and STC
This CIDA and Save the Children Canada workshop sounds really interesting on “Understanding and Using the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE), Chronic Crises and Early Reconstruction.” Understanding and Using the Minimum Standards for Education in Emergencies (MSEE), Chronic…
Canada Revenue Agency Charities Directorate Update November 2009
This CRA Charities Directorate Update presented in November 2009 provides some interesting information and statistics on compliance issues for the sector. Here is a copy of the presentation Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario. …
Canadian Charity Donation Tax Shelters Make No Financial Sense – or any other sense
I was merrily reading the Business Section of the Globe and Mail on February 7, 2009, and there was an advertisement stating: “Donation Tax Shelters Still Make Financial Sense”. The advertisement does not say who it is from. There is…
Charities and the Do Not Call List – Yes Charities Must Register who telemarket
Since September 30, 2008 charities who telemarket must register. The Federal government recently rejected an attempt by AFP and Imagine Canada to exempt charities from any registration requirement. Here is my article on the Do Not Call List (DNCL) and…
Should We Establish another Canadian Charity? Or Does Canada have too many charities?
In this article I discuss the issue of whether Canada has too many charities or too few. If one still wants to create a charity, some of the considerations and practical details of how one does establish a Canadian registered…
Political Activities and Canadian Charities -Some CRA Policies and letters on political activities
Most of CRA’s view on political activities by Canadian charities can be found in Policy Statement CPS-022 Political Activities. (see Political Activities (CPS – 022) located at I highly recommend that any charity considering conducting any activity that…
Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List – January 2009 – the Budget, CRA Audits, Political Activities
1) Budget Disappointment – Unfortunate but not surprising The 2009 Federal Budget had nothing specific in it for charities that I can see. There is tremendous disappointment amongst some “sector representatives” and others who had called for further tax incentives…
CRA helps Ontario charities reduce paperwork and filing requirements in 2009
Ontario charities incorporated under the Ontario Corporations Act can save time and energy by filing one new directors and officer form instead of two, beginning when the Ontario corporation has a fiscal year end in 2009. Ontario charities incorporated under…