North Korea, Canadian sanctions and Canadian charities - toughened sanctions

Canadian charities operating in North Korea must pay close attention to Canadian sanctions.  These sanctions were recently tightened.

CRA releases fillable T2050 Application to Register a Charity Under the Income Tax Act

The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency just released a fillable T2050 Application for charitable status which will make it easier for organizations to complete the form and presumably make it more legible.  You can obtain a copy of the form at http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2050/README.html  Although the form may look simple, and is now easier to fill in, it is actually a form covering many different areas of charitable law and it is often a good idea to get some legal advice and assistance with incorporation and applying for charitable status.

Revised CRA questions and answers on applying for registered charity status

Here is a revised CRA “Questions and Answers” for charitable registration http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/pplyng/fqr-eng.html

CIDA Issues Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and extractive sector (mining, oil)

Here is a CIDA Issues Paper on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and extractive sector (mining, oil).  Well worth reviewing for those interested in international development and the importance of natural resources.

Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) - Annotated T3010B Registered Charity Information Return

Here is a copy of the Annotated T3010B http://www.capacitybuilders.ca/clip/clip-resources.php from CLIP.  It will be updated periodically to include different information from different sources.

Gifts by Canadians to US Charitable Organizations - Some general CRA comments

Here is a copy of a recent letter from CRA with respect to gifts by Canadians to U.S. charitable organizations.  It summarizes CRA’s views on the subject.

New T2050 (09)  from CRA for charity status applications

In late July 2009 CRA changed the 2008 T2050 form to the new T2050 (09) - they added a few blank pages to the 2008 revised application form for example for the description of activities.The new form can be found at: http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t2050/ 

Imagine Canada proposal for Voluntary Standards of Excellence in Canada’s Voluntary Sector

Imagine Canada just released “A Proposal to Implement Voluntary Standards of Excellence in Canada’s Voluntary Sector”.  The full document can be found at: http://www.imaginecanada.ca/files/www/en/standards/standards_proposal_july_2009.pdf

Canadian Charities Operating in Quebec or Issuing Receipts to Quebec residents

Organizations that operate in Quebec or issue official donation receipts to Quebec residents should be aware that Revenu Quebec may require that those organizations either apply to Revenu Quebec for charitable registration or upon the organization receiving CRA status require that the registered charity provide certain documents to Revenu Quebec.

Canadian Charities and Transparency

I recently read a short article by Adam Rothwell of Intelligent Giving in the UK.  He argues that UK charities are not very transparent.  I am not sure that the situation is any different here in Canada.

Searching the CRA Charity Directorate’s website - a workaround

Have you ever had trouble finding information on the CRA’s website relating to charities?  Well the site has really improved over the last couple of years and is a lot more user friendly.  However, here is a suggestion if you are looking for a document on the CRA website.  Go to google and if you are are looking for information on disbursement quota type in the following:
disbursement quota site:http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/

That will search the charity directorate website in English for documents that have the words disbursement and quota - if you want the phrase “disbursement quota” try putting it all in quotation marks “disbursement quota”.  Now I must admit that finding documents on disbursement quota is not going to help you actually understand anything about it - for that you need to speak to Elena Hoffstein!  Unfortunately there is only so much that CRA and its webmaster can do - the rest is in the hands of Finance. 

CRA publishes warning on issuing official donation receipts for gifts of services by Charities

CRA has just published a reminder to charities that “Issuing receipts Caution: Gifts of services.  A registered charity is not permitted to issue an official donation receipt for a gift of service. At law, a gift is a voluntary transfer of property. Gifts of services (donated time, skills, or efforts) provided to a charity are not property, and therefore do not qualify as gifts for the purposes of issuing official donation receipts.”

Is transfer of proceeds to Canadian registered charity a gift? CRA discusses one situation

David Baines article on fundraising telemarketing firm Xentel DM Inc.

David Baines, a reporter with the Vancouver Sun, recently wrote an article on a telemarketing firm Xentel DM Inc..  It is entitled “Charity fundraisers not so charitable”.  The article is at http://www.vancouversun.com/health/Charity+fundraisers+charitable/1450998/story.html or http://74.125.93.132/search?q=cache:nNTR88K0xPUJ:www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html%3Fid%3D1450998%26sponsor%3D+xentel+vancouver+sun&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ca

Paper on “Regulating Self-Regulation in the Charitable Sector:” is very thought provoking

I recently read a draft paper entitled Regulating Self-Regulation in the Charitable Sector: Innovation or Contradiction? by Susan D. Phillips, Professor and Director of the School of Public Policy and Administration at Carlton University.  It is very well written and thought provoking discussion of self-regulation of the non-profit and charitable sectors in Canada and the limitations and opportunities for self-regulation.

The article is at: http://www.anser-ares.ca/files/conf09/Phillips_ANSER2009.pdf