Canadian Charity Law

The Canadian Charity Law Association is delivering some upcoming webinars. Registration is free but space is limited. Topics are subject to change. 

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As of November 14, 2018, CRA will no longer send out the peel and stick barcode labels with the T3010 annual information return package. These stickers were on the back of Form TF725, Registered Charity Basic Information Sheet. Charities will continue to receive Form TF725, on which they will be able to verify and make changes to their telephone number, fax number, email, website address and/or mailing address.

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The CRA released today their Report on the Charities Program 2016 to 2018.  They note: "We made the report shorter by reducing the amount of text and added more visuals. The report is now easier to understand and has a more modern look."  There is far less information in this report than previously provided which is unfortunate.   Although with all the crazy changes Finance is coming up with on political activities I am surprised that CRA had the time to prepare this report at all. 

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On Wednesday November 28, 2018 I presented to the Senate Committee on Finance in Ottawa. My presentation dealt with Bill C-86, Budget Implementation Act, 2018, and specifically the proposed changes to the rules and regulations on political activities carried out by charities within the Bill. 

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Here is our article "Informal Risk Reviews are Excellent Value for Money for Registered Charities"

The Government of Canada recently announced that it will now be using the Market Basket Measure (“MBM”) to measure Canada’s poverty line. Previously, Canada did not have an official measure of poverty; rather MBM was used along with Low Income Cut-Off (‘LICO’) and low income measure (‘LIM’). With Canada’s First Poverty Reduction Strategy, announced in August 2018, the Federal Government needed an official poverty measure to guide this new strategy.

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On Monday November 19, 2018 I presented to the Special Senate Committee on the Charity Sector in Ottawa.  My presentation dealt with a number of areas especially transparency of non-profits and registered charities, good charity regulation, and political activities by charities.

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Here is our article Finance 2018 Fall Economic Statement and its Impact on Canadian Charities, Journalism and Social Finance.   

There have been a number of articles in the media on a Catholic school in Toronto called St. Michael’s College School over the last week and a number of recent incidents involving sexual assault and what the National Post describes as "Broomstick sexual assault".  St. Michael's College School is a registered charity.  Here is information on our Charitydata.ca website on St. Michael's College School. 

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Here is the new Canadian Charity Legal Checklist.  For those who are interested in reviewing legal compliance for their registered charity they may find the checklist helpful.  

Canadian registered charities must file their Registered Charity Information Return (Form T3010) on an annual basis within 6 months of their fiscal year end.  Generally, CRA will send the T3010 package (which includes the peel-off labels) to the Charity’s mailing address within a month of a Charity’s fiscal year end.  And if not yet filed, CRA will send a Reminder to file the T3010 to registered charities by regular mail after the initial T3010 package was sent. 

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The Companies Branch of the Ontario Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (“MGS”) is very heavily backlogged at the moment.  Estimated times for processing applications that generally would have taken 6 – 8 weeks are now taking 4 or more months! 

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The CBC today covered the issue of Canadian pro sports teams and their fundraising charities in "Pro sports charities hoarding cash, overspending on fundraising, watchdog says".   This is a follow on to the coverage by the Toronto Star from 2010. 

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There have been large changes over the last week in the rules for Canadian registered charities and political activities.  Here is our article Finance Changes to Political Activities and Canadian Charities.

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Even with the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act ("ONCA") looming, we are still seeing recently incorporated non-profits that are set-up under the Ontario Corporations Act ("OCA"). Here is an article on some of the reasons why this is generally not a good idea, and why it is better for our clients to set up new entities under the federal Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act ("CNCA").

On October 25, 2018 the Department of Finance posted Legislative Proposals Notice of Ways and Means Motions and Explanatory Notes which among other things change the rules for Canadian charities carrying out political activities.

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For many reasons a charity may decide that it is beneficial to change its fiscal year.   CRA has guidance on how to request such a change and now CRA has published an infographic on the topic.  

Here is Blumbergs' submission to the Department of Finance on their recent Draft Legislative Proposals Regarding Political Activities of Charities.  For further information on political activities and Canadian registered charities see our directory of blogs and documents.  

We launched today at the Blumbergs' Charity Law Institute 2018 the Blumbergs Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2016.  It has some interesting statistics on the Canadian charitable sector from the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return filings.  

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Join us on Tuesday October 16, 2018 in Toronto for a financial capacity building workshop with Gordon Holley from Humanity Financial Management.  Gordon will show organization leaders what they can do to increase the financial capacity of their charities and not-for-profit organizations.You can sign up here.

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The Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency today released guidance on "Charities and public policy advocacy".  This is on the heels of the Finance Department releasing draft legislative proposals recently and requesting comments by October 13, 2018.   CRA notes that it accepts suggestions to guidances on an ongoing basis -  in other words, you can comment at any time on this guidance.  I will be discussing the topic of political activities at our upcoming Blumbergs' Charity Law Institute.  

If your Canadian registered charity conducts foreign activities there are rules that apply.  If you are having trouble explaining that to foreign groups that you work with you might find our article "Canadian Charities and Foreign Activities – A Very Simplified View of the Process" to be helpful.

CRA is asking for some volunteers to provide feedback on their Charities IT Modernization Project (CHAMP) T3010 system.  If you are interested here is the information from CRA.  I understand that there is limited space for participants at this point but that CRA will have other ways of receiving further feedback from the sector on an ongoing basis once the services go live in June 2019. 

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Here is our updated article on Foreign Universities Applying for Prescribed University Status in Canada 2018.  If your university or alma mater is outside of Canada then this article can be vital in terms of understanding how to more easily and tax effectively fundraise from Canada.  

Here is our article on How Much Should a Canadian Registered Charity Spend on Administration?