Charities – Articles Archives

By Alexandra Tzannidakis Is campaigning for political changes a charitable pursuit? The line between the political and the charitable tends to shift around depending on which country you’re asking: in Australia, since very recently, the answer is a pretty resounding “yes”. In the US, England and Wales, and Scotland, the ...

 By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC   A recent decision of the Manitoba Court of Queen’s Bench[1] is an interesting exposition of the interpretation of a will clause which offered a large sum of money to the University of Manitoba. But for reasons which will become apparent, the University elected to go ...

By Adam Aptowitzer Over a year ago then Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced that there would be major changes in the way Canadians would be taxed at death. The new system created what was called a Graduated Rate Estate (a “GRE”) which, amongst other things, entitles the estate of a ...

By Adam Aptowitzer Several years ago then Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced in Budget 2013 that the CRA would begin delaying the assessments of Income Tax returns submitted by Canadians who had participated in certain tax shelters. At the time it was understood that this time was needed to allow ...

By Tanya Carlton On March 19, 2015, the Supreme Court of Canada rendered its verdict in the case of Loyola High School v. Quebec (Attorney General), 2015 SCC 12. Loyola High School (“Loyola”) is a private, English-speaking, Catholic high school for boys in Québec. In 2008, Québec’s Minister of Education, ...

By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Donors are happy and charities are sometimes amazed (and perhaps a bit skeptical) when told that anyone can amass information about charities without even picking up the phone to call the charities themselves. Besides a few private research services that gather information about charities, much ...

 By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC          A ruling letter issued early in 2015[1] by the CRA dealing with third-party fundraising offers nothing particularly new in the way of interpretation but does offer a bit of clarification. The question posed seemed to be by an official of a charity who was questioning situations ...

By Karen J. Cooper The second draft of a new law dealing with the activities of foreign non-governmental organizations operating in China has been released for public consultation on the website of the National People’s Congress of the People’s Republic of China.[i] This law, The People’s Republic of China Overseas ...

Mark S. Anshan Non profit organizations (NPOs) are constantly looking for new talent to fill leadership roles that will ensure their ongoing viability and success. Leadership development and succession planning have become important issues being addressed by NPOs. There is competition for experienced and highly skilled leaders. The challenge for ...

By Adam Aptowitzer Recent budget changes may herald new opportunities for social entrepreneurship. The Federal Government proposed changes in Budget 2015 to allow charities to own LP units. The change was apparently intended to resolve a technical problem involving investments by charities, but it may have a useful side benefit ...

 By Tanya Carlton The CRA recently released its 2015 Charities Program Update.[1] According to Cathy Hawara, the Director General of the CRA’s Charities Directorate, the purpose of the Update is to promote transparency in regards to the programs of the CRA and the diverse activities of the charitable sector. The Update ...

By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Those who want to incorporate a non-profit organization in Alberta are faced with the decision whether to incorporate under the basic Societies Act or the more complex Companies Act, Part 9 (if they choose not to be created under the new federal Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations ...

By Alexandra Tzannidakis The CRA’s Charities Directorate continually develops and updates a variety of policies and guidance for public consumption that are presumably predicated on their own internal policies. It has an extensive list of policies available online that are aimed at registered charities, voluntary sector professionals, and (according to ...

By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC    Several recent articles in the Globe and Mail dealt with the apparent failure of some major donors to honour pledges made in conjunction with the expansion of the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. A Globe and Mail investigation[1] showed the Royal Ontario Museum is still ...

By C. Yvonne Chenier, QC Since 2007 Albertans have enjoyed what has been dubbed by some a “Super Credit” for donations to their favourite charities.  In the spirit of generosity in 2007, the Alberta Government enhanced the tax credit to 21% from 12.75% on total annual donations over $200.  Combining ...

By Tanya Carlton Registered charities, except charities designated as private foundations, may run related businesses; however, the Income Tax Act does not define what a related business is - except to state that a volunteer-run business is to be considered a related business even if there is no link between ...

By Joel Secter This article provides information on holding meetings of members under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA). It will be updated for Ontario no-share corporations once Ontario’s Not-for-profit Corporations Act, 2010 comes into force. 1. Calling Annual Meetings Newly incorporated federal no-share corporations must hold their first annual ...

By Alexandra Tzannidakis In the business world, name recognition and protection are well-understood concepts. Companies know the importance of protecting their “brand” and its earning potential. Non-profits may be fundraising instead of selling, and their motivations for collecting money may be different than those of for-profit companies, but ultimately name ...

 By Arthur B.C. Drache, CM, QC         Most readers of this newsletter are well aware of the limitations which are placed on political activities by charities and in recent issues we have run a couple of articles on various aspects of this subject. The best explanation of what is or is not allowed ...

By Adam Aptowitzer One of the questions that directors ask (or should ask) prior to taking on the role is the extent to which they may be personally liable for the debts of a charity. Directors almost never ask about the personal liabilities which could arise should the charity be ...

By Adam Aptowitzer The current media interest in the application of the political activities test for charities is indicative of the lack of nuance in our charity regulatory system. As we have written before on the history of the political activities test as it applies to charities, the provision in question, which allows ...

By Tanya Carlton Charities and not-for-profits wishing to carry on activities in provinces other than that in which they were incorporated need to be aware of their obligations as extra-provincial corporations. This is especially true for corporations incorporated federally under the Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”), as a determination must ...

By Karen Cooper A rare potential conservation donation in Georgian Bay, Ontario, with a common potential environmental conservation tax barrier recently produced a successful gift and good news for taxpayers and land conservation organizations. The Georgian Bay Land Trust (GBLT) had an opportunity to protect an undeveloped island featuring undisturbed ...

By Joel Secter In an era of spending cuts, federal support for the Canada Council for the Arts has remained steadfast. In fact, in our Budget 2014 Update, we reported that the Government of Canada had made permanent the $25 million supplements to the Parliamentary appropriation, which in recent years ...

 By Alexandra Tzannidakis The internet seems to constantly be evolving new uses, not to mention new additions to the lexicon. A popular concept recently has been ‘crowdfunding’, in which people bypass traditional methods of accessing funding for a project by using the internet to make a direct appeal to the ...