CIDA
March 2013
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.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/21/2013 |
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CIDA
The Federal Government has announced in the 2013 Federal Budget that the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) will be amalgamated with the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) to form the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development. It will be interesting to see how this change will affect the Canadian governments international development work and its relationship with Canadian charities.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 03/21/2013 |
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What's New from the Charities Directorate of CRA |
Canadian Charity Law |
CIDA
On March 21, 2013 at 4pm, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty delivered the 2013 Canadian federal budget. There were a number of interesting proposals relating to charities. Some of the highlights include a new temporary First-Time Donor’s Super Credit (FDSC) designed to encourage new donors to give to charity. “The FDSC will increase the value of the federal Charitable Donations Tax Credit by 25 percentage points if neither the taxpayer nor their spouse has claimed the credit since 2007” Flaherty has ignored many suggestions for increased tax incentives that would have been expensive and disproportionately benefitted the rich such as the elimination of capital gains on donations of land or private shares.
August 2012
The Charities Directorate of the CRA has posted a page on CIDA’s Sahel Crisis Matching Fund.
The Canadian government is launching a matching program for donations made by Canadians to organizations from August 7 - September 30, 2012. CIDA notes: “An estimated 18.7 million people in the Sahel region in West Africa are affected by a food and nutrition crisis due to drought, sporadic rains, poor harvests, soaring food prices and widespread displacement. As a result, more than 1 million children under the age of five are at risk of dying from severe acute malnutrition. Canada, through CIDA, is helping to meet vital humanitarian needs in the Sahel, and as part of its efforts, has created the Sahel Crisis Matching Fund. For every eligible dollar donated by individual Canadians to registered Canadian charities, Canada will set aside one dollar for the Sahel Crisis Matching Fund. CIDA will allocate these funds to established Canadian and international humanitarian organizations for humanitarian assistance efforts that benefit the people most affected by the crisis.” Organizations that receive a donation will not receive directly a matching amount but those organizations will advise CIDA of the funds collected and then CIDA will have a process to determine which organizations receive the funds. Organizations that are interested in potentially applying for those funds should review CIDA’s “Guidelines for Emergency Humanitarian Assistance Project Proposals and Reports”.
June 2012
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/23/2012 |
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CIDA
On the heels of an OECD report on CIDA, CIDA has published the 4th annual CIDA’s Development for Results 2010–2011 report.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/21/2012 |
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A recent OECD report discusses CIDA and Canada’s aid effort. Canada receive some praise for certain initiatives but recommendations were made for improvements in other areas. The report notes: “Canada’s aid programme stood at USD 5.3 billion in 2011 (0.31% of its national income), making it the eighth largest DAC member. Since 2007 Canada has achieved the challenging targets it set itself for its international assistance volumes; in the decade between 2001 and 2010 it managed to double its aid in nominal terms (i.e., the money of the day). The DAC commends Canada for this achievement. However, some of these gains are likely to be reversed, given that Canada’s ODA volume shrank by more than 5% in real terms (i.e., after removal of the effect of inflation) between 2010 and 2011 and is set to fall further in 2012. Canada still needs to draw up a timetable for achieving the international commitment of giving 0.7% of its gross national income (GNI) as ODA.”
May 2012
Here is the transcript from the Standing Committee on Finance on May 8, 2012. 6 witnesses, lots of questions. I was one of the witnesses.
January 2012
Here is the Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law List - January 2012
Minister of International Cooperation, Bev Oda, announced on December 23, 2011 the results of the Call for Proposals process of the Partnerships with Canadian branch. 53 organizations received about $142 million in total commitments.
June 2011
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 06/04/2011 |
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CIDA
If you register before June 30, 2011 you get a 40% discount on your registration fee. CIVICUS is a great conference and it is in Montreal this year.
March 2011
Like many Canadians I will be watching the election. I will be blogging on whether there are implications for the charitable sector and whether any of the parties have anything particularly interesting to say about the charitable sector. Also, a quick reminder to registered charities, that they cannot be involved with partisan political activities and there are restrictions on the scope and resources that registered charities can use on political activities. Here is an article on legal requirements for Canadian charities wanting to conduct political activities in the 2011 Canadian Federal Election.
December 2010
Here is a copy of the Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law List for December 2010.
November 2010
Here is a copy of a presentation I have given on CRA’s Foreign Activity Guidance. It has been delivered in Calgary, Edmonton and Ottawa over the last couple of months. If groups are interested in trying to arrange such a presentation then let me know.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 11/02/2010 |
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CIDA
Here is information from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) Partnerships with Canadians Branch (PWCB) on a new $75 million “call for projects over $500,000 to take a comprehensive and integrated approach to address maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH), under its Partners for Development Program.”
October 2010
Here is a copy of the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List newsletter for October 2010.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 10/25/2010 |
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CIDA
CIDA today released further information on its third and last priority theme:Sustainable Economic Growth. CIDA had previously discussed food security and children and youth.
September 2010
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/30/2010 |
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CIDA
Here is CIDA’s “Report to Parliament on the Government of Canada’s Official Development Assistance 2009-2010”. It is 47 pages long and provides some details on Canada’s official development assistance (ODA) or “foreign aid” activities. This is the second report under the Official Development Assistance Accountability Act.
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/INET/IMAGES.NSF/vLUImages/ODAA/$file/ODAAA-2009-2010_EN.pdf
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/30/2010 |
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CIDA
Here is a press release reminding Canadians that the Pakistan Flood Relief Fund matching period ends October 3
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/27/2010 |
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CIDA
Those interested in CIDA may find these 4 papers from the Walter and Duncan Gordon Foundation interesting. Here is a copy of the press release.
I will be delivering some workshops on the new CRA guidance on foreign activities by Canadian charities in Calgary, Edmonton and Winnipeg.
The recent floods in Pakistan have resulted in CIDA setting up a matching fund and here is my article entitled Understanding CIDA’s Matching Funds for Pakistan Flood Relief Fund.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/13/2010 |
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Ethics and Canadian Charities
Once every three years the Ontario Council for International Cooperation (OCIC) organizes its Global Citizens Forum. It promises to be a great two day conference in Toronto on international development, global citizenship and humanitarian assistance. http://www.ocic.on.ca/Page.asp?IdPage=9241&WebAddress=ocic Here is the 4 page program http://www.ocic.on.ca/PDF/OCIC_Program_V1.pdf It is fast approaching.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/12/2010 |
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Here is the press release from the Canadian government on the extension of the contributions to the Pakistan Flood Relief Fund to October 3, 2010. http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/En/FRA-911134657-NUX?OpenDocument Registered charities will have until October 18, 2010 to report donations.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 09/10/2010 |
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Ethics and Canadian Charities
In CIDA’s Frequently Asked Questions on the Pakistan flooding here is the CIDA advice on picking a good charity to donate to. Also CIDA correctly discourages in kind gifts in favour of cash.
Here is my “Blumbergs Canadian Charity Law List - September 2010”. You can add yourself to our newsletter at: http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/index.php/pages/subscribe/
August 2010
Here is a link to CRA’s new page “Floods in Pakistan” http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/whtsnw/tms/pkstn-fldng-eng.html It also has links to CIDA’s matching program.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/23/2010 |
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CIDA has announced that it will have a matching fund for donations raised by Canadian charities for the Pakistan relief from August 2 to September 12. The Pakistan Floods Relief Fund will not be given to each charity that raised funds but instead there will be an application process in which charities can apply for the funds and they will have to demonstrate that they have the capacity to do the work effectively. This is similar to the Haiti earthquake fund a few months ago.
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 08/20/2010 |
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CIDA
For those who could not attend the CIDA presentation today in Toronto here is a copy of the CIDA presentation and material on Partnership with Canadians Branch- August 2010. There are some questions posed in this document that CIDA is looking for input by Wednesday August 25. Here is a cleaner copy of the CIDA presentation from the OCIC, without the questions.
July 2010
Posted by
.(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) on 07/29/2010 |
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CIDA
Here is a press release in which CIDA Minister Bev Oda announces further steps to achieve aid effectiveness. http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/acdi-cida/ACDI-CIDA.nsf/eng/CEC-722111726-KXG There is also a backgrounder. This document is a must read for any organization receiving CIDA funds or hoping to one day. There is a lot in this document and it will be interesting to see if practically this makes any real difference at CIDA.
CRA has just released a new guidance called “Canadian Registered Charities Carrying out Activities Outside Canada”. http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/chrts-gvng/chrts/plcy/cgd/tsd-cnd-eng.html Although the name indicates “foreign activities” this document deals with a lot more than foreign activities. It covers the relationship between a Canadian charity and any non-qualified donee, whether in Canada or abroad. If a Canadian charity has dealing with, for example, a non-profit that does not have charitable status then the same rules apply as a Canadian charity dealing with a foreign entity. Essentially, almost all organizations outside of Canada are non-qualified donees. If you are going to transfer resources to them you need to maintain “direction and control” over those resources. This documents helps a Canadian charity understand what is required for direction and control. Failure to maintain direction and control can result in a 105% penalty of the amount transfered and/or revocation of charitable status.
