This page will discuss issues relating to the new Canada Not-For-Profit Corporations Act and the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations. Act, 2010
Today the Ontario government announced the release of the plain language guide to the ONCA.
Industry Canada today announced today that “The forms under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act have been modified to ensure a high level of Web accessibility to which the Government of Canada is committed. Only the format and look have been modified. The content of the forms remains unchanged. Corporations Canada will continue to accept applications that use the old versions of the forms. Please refer to our website to find specific forms.”
The Ontario government has published an ONCA draft organizational by-law.
On April 18, 2013 we will have the first Blumbergs’ Charity Law Boot Camp in Toronto. It will be a one day boot camp on compliance and standards issues for Canadian charities led by charity lawyer Mark Blumberg.
The following text is from the Ontario government website: “ONCA is targeted to come into effect no earlier than January, 2014. Existing not-for-profit corporations will have a three-year transition period once ONCA is in effect. Community Legal Education Ontario (CLEO) will provide support to not-for-profit corporations as they make the transition to ONCA.” Therefore, the July 1, 2012 target date has been delayed by at least 6 months. Also the Ontario government is noting that CLEO will be providing support but no details have been provided at this time.
Andy Levy-Ajzenkopf recently posted an article on Charity Village providing some comments and information regarding the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA).
I will be speaking at an upcoming Ontario Bar Association conference on April 8, 2013 dealing with “Not‐for‐Profit and Charitable Organizations in the Health Sector: Evolving Governance & Compliance Issues”. My topic will be: “Tax issues – Canada Revenue Agency’s new fundraising guidance, receipting and inter‐charity transfers”
I have been concerned that it is not easy for people interested in Ontario non-profit and charity sector to obtain information on Ontario non-profit corporations. With the Federal government the information is available online and free. I have been requesting from the Ontario government a list of Ontario corporations, to publish the list, and to make it easier for the public to verify if an organization is an Ontario corporation. I recently received an e-mail from the Ontario Ministry of Government Services. They advised “when the new Ontario Business Information System (ONBIS) is launched (tentatively scheduled for July 1, 2013), most of the data you are requesting will be available to the public online and free of charge. Fundamental information about a corporation such as the name, corporation number, date of incorporation, type and status will all be available. The Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 is currently targeted to come into effect at the same time as the new ONBIS system.” Making some basic information from the ONBIS system available to everyone free of charge is a small but important step in assisting Ontario non-profits with the ONCA.
Here is my article on the new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“ONCA”) that I prepared for the Ontario Trillium Foundation blog http://www.scribd.com/doc/124033018/Opportunity-Knocks
For many Canadian non-profits under the CNCA it is easier to file the annual return online. This can now be done at the Industry Canada’s Online Filing Centre.
Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario.
To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides to Canadian charities and non-profits please visit www.canadiancharitylaw.ca or www.globalphilanthropy.ca
Corporations Canada has announced its Client Outreach Session for Toronto will be held on February 7, 2013.
The Ministry of Consumer Services’ has added some information to their website on the Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 including a glossary of key terms, an FAQ and a basic transition checklist. There is more information that is yet to come such as the regulations, a revised non-profit incorporators handbook etc.
On November 28, 2012 we will be having the Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Institute in Toronto. It will be a full day of practical legal and ethical compliance information geared toward charities, professional advisors and those interested in regulatory issues affecting charities.
Delighted to have 120 registrants so far for the program.
Some of the highlights include:
•head of the Determinations Division of the Charities Directorate of CRA, which determines whether charitable applications will be accepted, will talk about issues with applying for charitable status;
•lawyers from the Ontario government will discuss progress and issues with the new Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act (ONCA);
•a representative of Corporations Canada of Industry Canada will provide a short primer on the Canada Not-for-profit Corporation Act (CNCA) and transition requirements as well as deficiencies with the applications that Industry Canada is receiving and common questions asked by practitioners.
•a top corporate lawyer will focus on lessons learned, issues and challenges with the CNCA and what to expect with the ONCA;
•hearing directly from CRA about changes relating to political activities of Canadian charities, other policy developments and upcoming guidances;
•discussion of major challenges with receipting and unacceptable donor restrictions;
•recent changes in transparency and availability of charity information from a transparency expert;
•update from Mark Blumberg on the charity sector, recent developments and the ongoing political processes in Ottawa affecting charities and donors;
•and much more.
Here is a link to the information and registration page: http://charitylaw.eventbrite.com
I will be presenting in Vancouver a full day presentation on charity law and compliance for registered charities on November 6, 2012. It is being put on by CoDevelopment Canada & BCCIC and it is entitled “Charity Law 101”. Just completed a similar session at Carleton University in Ottawa and it went really well.
We know that there are about 19,000 Federal corporations under the Canada Corporations Act that will need to continue under the new CNCA by October 17, 2014. We are approaching one year since the CNCA was brought in. Non-profits only have 2 more years to make the transition. So how many have made the transition? According to a note from Coleen Kirby at Industry Canada today it is 350 CCA non-profits! No doubt the pace will improve. It had better or a large number of Federal non-profit corporations will potentially be dissolved. We have done a number of Federal continuances and are working on about 25 more. We are finding it is hard to keep up with the volume.
In this article we discuss “Should Ontario non-profits or charities be worrying about the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA)?” The short answer is: probably not.
The ONCA received Royal Assent on October 25, 2010. It has not yet come into force. The Ontario Government was targeting implementation of the ONCA for January 1, 2013. Today the Ontario Government announced that their target date for implementation has changed to July 1, 2013. The Ministry of Consumer Services (MCS) and the Ministry of Government Services (MGS) are working on the ONCA.
Corporations Canada of Industry has advised that CNCA and certain other federal corporations may use either a residential address or another address for the address for service of directors of the corporation. This will allow directors to use a address, other than their own residential address for Industry Canada purposes.
Here is the Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law List - September 2012 http://www.globalphilanthropy.ca/index.php/newsletter/email_september_2012/
I will be delivering for the Carleton Centre for Community Innovation a full day workshop entitled “Charity Law Boot Camp: compliance and standards issues for Canadian Charities”. It will be on October 12 at Carleton University.
Mark Blumberg is a lawyer at Blumberg Segal LLP in Toronto, Ontario.
To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides to Canadian charities and non-profits please visit www.canadiancharitylaw.ca or www.globalphilanthropy.ca
The ONN recently called for a delay in the implementation of the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“ONCA”) which is currently expected to be brought into force on January 1, 2013. I personally think that we should get on with the new ONCA and not delay its implementation any more. The ONCA will bring a modern framework for governance to Ontario non-profits. A lot has happened since the 1950’s and it will be helpful to bring our corporate non-profit legislation into the 21st century.
The new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) came into force October 17, 2011. Industry Canada has placed hundreds of pages of information on the new act on their website in over 70 different documents. We have tried to accumulate the information in one PDF document which is now over 500 pages. For up to date information check the Industry Canada website. We have also included for registered charities information from the Charities Directorate of CRA. This document may be helpful because it is easier to save a PDF to your computer or laptop especially if you will not have internet connectivity. Furthermore, one can word search (usually Control F) for words through the document. This document is not comprehensive and in the future we may update it.
The new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) is targeted to be brought into force by the Ontario government January 1, 2013. Both the Ministry of Consumer Services (MCS) and the Ministry of Government Services (MGS) will share responsibility for the administration of the ONCA MCS and MGS have just posted outlines of the regulations that will be needed under the ONCA. MCS and MGS are asking for comments on the outlines. These outlines are not the regulations and they don’t yet provide the details of what will be in the regulations. These ministries are providing the public with the opportunity to provide comments. Comments need to be made by August 31, 2012.
The Ontario government has released Background Information on the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (2010). In the background they note that the “ONCA is targeted to come into force on January 1st, 2013”.
Corporations Canada will be having a Client Outreach Session in Toronto, March 8, 2012. Here is further information.
There will be another Being Good at Doing Good conference on February 13 and 14, 2012 organized by the Charity Law Information Program - you don’t want to miss this conference. We will have some of the top experts from Canada, the US and the UK on governance, financial management and compliance. Here is the registration page: http://www.clipconference.wildapricot.org/ The conference is “Doing Good” at registrations with over 205 people signed up so far. Here is the Preliminary Conference Schedule
Here is the Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law List - January 2012
Here are some upcoming Charity Law Information Program (CLIP) seminars which I will be presenting across Canada. The format will be a morning discussing the 2011 Budget provisions for charities, some information on the new Federal Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act, and a detailed discussion of fundraising regulations in Canada. The afternoon will focus on The Dos and Don’ts of Charitable Receipting.
The new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) is in force as of October 17, 2011. Industry Canada has placed hundreds of pages of information on the new act on their website in over 70 different documents. We have tried to accumulate the information in one PDF document which is now over 400 pages For up to date information check the Industry Canada website. We have also included for registered charities information from the Charities Directorate of CRA. This document may be helpful because it is easier to save a PDF to your computer or laptop especially if you will not have internet connectivity. Furthermore, one can word search (usually Control F) for words through the document. This document is not comprehensive and in the future we may update it.
The CRA released on November 1 a bulletin on the new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA).
If you require legal advice with respect to Canadian or Ontario non-profits or charities please contact Mark Blumberg
