Are you a group outside of Canada considering fundraising initiatives in Canada or a group outside of Canada that has supporters in Canada? Are you wondering how to deal with Canadian supporters? The presentation will briefly introduce participants to the…
We have just launched our 3rd online course – this one is entitled “Fundraising from Canada: A course for groups outside of Canada“. It is geared towards those outside of Canada thinking about fundraising in Canada and the options for…
Many people in Ontario are wondering what the status of ONCA is. I just wrote this email to MGCS and look forward to hearing more and sharing it with the sector. Here is my note to MGCS: Dear MGCS, I would…
Elections Canada in late August 2019 updated their guide Political Financing Handbook for Third Parties Financial Agents and Auditors, which updates the last version of the guide which was published in June 2019. One of the changes was in their chart of…
The Tyee, an online magazine, recently posted an opinion piece by Tom McMahon entitled “Why Environmental Groups’ Attack on Elections Canada Is Wrong, and Dangerous“. It is a very thoughtful piece from an individual who has a good understanding of electoral regulation. …
CANADALAND recently had a podcast which dealt with a number of topics but one of them was charities, political activities, Elections Canada and the upcoming Federal election. The podcast was called “#227 Scandal? What Scandal?”. In the podcast Jesse Brown is joined by Sandy…
Private and Public Foundations are an important part of the Canadian charity sector. The Blumbergs' Fundamentals of Running a Private or Public Foundation in Canada will focus on compliance issues with an emphasis on those specifically relevant to running a private or…
STEP Canada had a CRA Roundtable on June 6-7, 2019 and they discussed a number of topics. One issue of interest to charities and philanthropists is Question 2 dealing with alter ego trusts and donations. Essentially CRA takes the position…
There has been a lot of media and social media coverage over the last few days about non-profits and charities and the rules around their involvement in the upcoming election. To my dismay, much of it has been inaccurate. While…
There have been a number of articles discussing Jeffrey Epstein’s used of charities. One of the is the New York Times “Jeffrey Epstein’s Opaque Finances Could Become Focal Point for Investigators” which discusses his use of charities. “The money, tens…
CRA in June 2019 brought in a new charity application system under their CHAMP modernization program. Here is our article Making sense of CRAs new online Canadian charity application system which discusses the new system and also provides a paper copy…
The Journalism and Written Media Independent Panel of Experts released a report that they had provided to the Federal government relating to the 2019 federal budget and the proposals on journalism. Here is a copy of the report. As well…
On June 24, 2019, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld CRA's decision to revoke Many Mansions Spiritual Centre, Inc. (“Many Mansions”)'s charitable status in Many Mansions Spiritual Centre, Inc. v Canada (National Revenue). CRA listed many reasons for revocation, including…
On June 28, 2019, the Tax Court of Canada released its decision Promised Land Ministries v the Queen, in which it upheld CRA's decision to suspend the registered charity Promised Land Ministries (“PLM”)'s receipting privileges for one year for failing to…
Yesterday, CRA announced that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has surplus items and PSPC is inviting registered charities interested in receiving items to identify themselves. Registered Charities should contact PSPC prior to August 30, 2019. Below is the full…
We have created two new online courses for those outside of Toronto who are not able to easily attend our programs. They might also be helpful to those in Toronto who cannot wait for our next session as they sometimes only…
Next year there will be slightly revised fees for certain services relating to the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”) ie. the Federal non-profit corporate act. These changes will come into effect on January 15, 2020. I will discuss the mundane…
Canadian charities now have more options for doing certain transactions online using the CHAMP system. Charities should look into accessing their CHAMP account. Here is a summary from the CRA from their recent Charity Information Sessions as to transactions that…
Here is our article on “Objects of registered charities in Canada are sometimes not charitable“. Objects are very important and often Canadian charities don't understand that even though they are a registered charity their objects may not actually be charitable.
The Senate has had a standing committee that has been looking at the voluntary sector in Canada. They released their report today. The report is entitled Catalyst for Change: A Roadmap to a Stronger Charitable Sector. It is over 189…
I have just completed 4 years on the CRA's Technical Issues Working Group. Most people don't even know that it exists. The Technical Issues Working Group is fondly known as TIWG and pronounced like 'twig'. It is an opportunity twice a…
There are a large number of Ontario non-profit corporations under the Ontario Corporations Act (“OCA”). As you may know, the Ontario government has stated that it is targeting to replace the OCA with the new Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA)…
Here is a Q&A from CRA about the new journalism qualified donee category.
CRA has recently updated its Charities Listing and the most notable change is the fact that they have reduced the amount of information available on each Canadian registered charity. The Charities Listing used to have up to 15 years of data…