In this article I discuss various options for non-Canadian non-profits and charities interested in fundraising or operating in Canada. January 15, 2008 Foreign Charities and Non-Profit Organizations Operating in and from Canada Many foreign charities (ie. non-Canadian charities) or non-profits…
This excellent slide presentation by Terry de March of the Canada Revenue Agency, Charities Directorate, highlights the most important compliance problems for registered Canadian face. Many charities could avoid problems by reading this article and ensuring compliance with the issues…
Canadian non-profits that do NOT have charitable status have their own legal requirements, which are different from those of registered charities. Such non-profits generally have greater flexibility in terms of activities, however, they do not have some of the advantages…
Increased media, donor and regulatory scrutiny has resulted in more charities conducting informal legal audits to prevent problems, rather than reacting to them. October 03, 2007 Some Canadian charity boards and senior staff when dealing with legal, accounting, governance problems…
My friend Annie Carrière, from École Polytechnique de Montréal, and fellow member of Water for People Canada was recently in Bolivia on a water mapping mission and she took some beautiful pictures. One of the pictures I used on the…
In this presentation I provide an overview of issues for Canadian charities operating abroad especially Jewish charities interested in operating in Israel, the US and the rest of the world. I specifically discuss certain issues with respect to Israel and…
12,320 Canadian registered charities spent over $2.1 billion outside of Canada in 2005. The details are provided. October 11, 2007 My article a number of months ago looking at the T3010 statistics relating to Canadian charities that operate abroad was…
This 29 page article will attempt to assist Canadian charities who are conducting or interested in conducting programs outside of Canada with some of the legal issues that they may face. It will discuss the statutory and regulatory framework for…
Here is my article on Canadian Private and Public Foundations and International Activities. In this article I suggest 4 ways that Canadian Private and Public Foundations can carry on foreign charitable activities outside of Canada or assist with humanitarian relief…
Canadian charities generally cannot just gift funds to foreign charities. This article discusses appropriate direction and control over foreign activities and projects by Canadian charities. Download Article
Most Canadian charities that lose their registered charity status have lost it for one reason – that is non-filing of the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return. Download Article
32 ideas for managing risk with volunteers. Volunteers are very important for many charities. However, one should manage the risks associated with volunteers and here are some thoughts. View Article
Here is a sample contractor agreement for a Canadian registered charity conducting foreign activities I prepared it for the Capacity Builders Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) in order to assist charities with understanding what such an agreement could look like.…
Charities, by virtue of their reputation and access to resources, in some cases make a tempting target for terrorists who are trying to acquire funds and/or legitimacy. Canadian charities need to be diligent in ensuring that their resources are used…
In this article I discuss how Canadian charities can work with other Canadian or International Organizations that are not registered Canadian charities as long as they maintain direction and control of the Canadian resources. It is very important that charities…
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf recently posted an article on Charity Village providing some comments and information regarding the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA). Here is a link to the Charity Village article on the ONCA View Article
CRA has just released a new guidance called “Canadian Registered Charities Carrying out Activities Outside Canada”. Although the name indicates “foreign activities” this document deals with a lot more than foreign activities. It covers the relationship between a Canadian…
89% of charities issue inappropriate receipts according to statistics from the CRA when they audit charities. Other than non-filing the T3010 this is the greatest reason that charities face revocation. Here is my paper that I delivered to the Ontario…
Canadians are increasingly asking “How Much Should A Canadian Charity Spend on Overhead?” Is this the right question? Here is my June 2010 article on the subject which was just published in the Canadian Donor’s Guide: view PDF Download Article
The new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) came into force October 17, 2011. Federal non-profits have until October 17, 2014 to continue under the new act of face possible dissolution. Industry Canada has placed hundreds of pages of information on…
Prepared by: Mark Blumberg, Maddy Sawyer, Lynn Gluckman, Ron Segal, and Adam Greco of Blumberg Segal LLP.