Close Encounters of Special Act Corporations
By Joel Secter The Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (CNCA) establishes a new set of rules for not-for-profit corporations in Canada. These new rules replace the Canada Corporations Act (CCA). Part 19 of the CNCA applies to any corporation without share capital incorporated by a special act of Parliament and not ...
A Charitable Executor
By C. Yvonne Chenier Q.C. Recent conversations with friends and clients in the charity and non-profit world have given me cause to ponder and investigate the question of whom or what can act as an executor of an estate. This question is an important one today. In generations past, many ...
Donations In Kind and Appropriate Due Diligence
By Mark S. Anshan Charities need to be vigilant when accepting donations in kind. These include any non-monetary items, such as art, rare books, equipment and materials, personal objects of value, real property and computer-related assets. Receiving such donations is quite acceptable, but only after proper due diligence and professional ...
Community Foundations as a Wind-Up Destination
By: Arthur B. C Drache C.M., Q.C. When the Income Tax Act was re-written back in 1976 to create a whole new regime for charities (what is now embodied in section 149.1) one of the most far-reaching changes was the requirement for all charities to file public information returns, though ...
Considering Costs in Estate Litigation
By Alexandra Tzannidakis, LL.B. A recent judgment from the Ontario Court of Appeal provides a good reminder to factor in the risk of paying costs before deciding whether to litigate a matter. In Sawdon Estate v Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Canada et al. [2014 ONCA 101], the court ...
Bringing the Provinces Back In – Creating a Federated Charities Council
Written by Adam Aptowitzer Published by the C.D. Howe Institute November 2009 View PDF ...
Fighting the Wrong Battles
By Adam Aptowitzer The firestorm of media attention which has resulted from the Conservative changes to funding for political activity is astonishing given the relatively small impact of these changes. More to the point the media almost never comments on changes affecting the sector, even when those changes are both ...
Stuff the CRA Says
By C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. I have kept a file, with various CRA communications, that I call "Stuff the CRA says" ever since my colleague Adam Aptowitzer got a laugh with a somewhat saltier version of the same line at a slide presentation given to fellow lawyers at a continuing legal ...
Who Signs the Organization’s Cheques?
Who Signs the Organization's Cheques? By Arthur Drache, C.M. Q.C. A couple of months ago in the Ottawa area, there was a puzzling issue with regard to the disappearance of about $70,000 from the accounts of a parents' council at a local primary school. The funds were primarily from monies ...
Avoiding the Wrong Kind of Publicity
Avoiding the Wrong Kind of Publicity By C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Newspaper headlines frequently draw the reader's attention to employee theft from charities and not-for- profit organizations. Recently, there was a headline noting that the former Finance Director at the Royal Academy of Music has been jailed for fraud in ...
Bylaws – Who Needs em
Bylaws: Who Needs 'Em By: Adam Aptowitzer The ongoing changeover of Federal corporations to the Canada Not for Profit Corporations Act is raising interesting questions about the bylaws that may have been used by a corporation since its inception. (It bears mentioning that the same questions arise in the context ...
Google and CRA Q and A
GOOGLE AND CRA QUESTION AND ANSWER by: C. Yvonne Chenier, Q.C. Q: What do Google and the CRA Charities Directorate have in common? A: They both have "quick view". In the case of Google, quick view is a snapshot of actual pages that could be downloaded. In the case of ...
Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands
Taking Matters Into Your Own Hands: Dissolving Before the Government Does it for You By Alexandra Tzannidakis Readers will know that the new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act came into effect in 2011, bringing the regulation of not-for-profits into line with modern corporate legislation. This carries with it an onus: apply ...
Taking the Path Less Travelled – Options Other Than Continuing
Taking the Path Less Travelled: Options Other than Continuing by Brent Randall There has been extensive discussion regarding the positive aspects of not-for-profit and charitable corporations continuing under the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. Most of the analysis focuses on perceived positive elements such as the clear rights afforded to ...
Donation of Flow-Through Shares
Donation of Flow-Through Shares By: Arthur Drache C.M., Q.C. A recent letter published by the CRA[1] offers a comprehensive view of the tax treatment of flow-through shares. By way of reminder, flow-through shares are special shares of mining and exploration companies designed to encourage investment in those sectors. Certain types ...
Continuing Under the New Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations Act
Continuing under the new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act By Alexandra Tzannidakis Any readers involved with a not-for-profit that is incorporated under Ontario legislation should be aware that the law in this area is about to change. The current Ontario Corporations Act (OCA) hasn't changed substantially in nearly 60 years, so ...
Sometimes the Wheels of Justice Turn Too Quickly
By Adam Aptowitzer The name "Parklane Charitable Donation Program" will be familiar to those that follow the news in the charitable sector. Originally the Program, like others, involved an out of pocket expense and charitable donation tax receipt, the former being several times less than the latter. In the case ...
Loss Reduction Activities of a Non-Profit
Loss Reduction Activities of a Non-Profit By Arthur Drache, C.M. Q.C. A recent ruling letter[1] from the CRA came to grips with the issue of whether a non-profit organization can maintain its 149(1)(l) status while trying to recover its losses and continue to meet its objectives. The NPO is currently ...
Taking the Path Less Travelled – Continuing Provincially
Taking the Path Less Travelled - Continuing Provincially By: Brent Randall Last month, we looked at some reasons why an organization may not want to continue under the new Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act ("the CNCA"). We also considered the option of reorganizing the corporation as a charitable trust as a ...
Tax Court Decision of Major Impact to Charity Directors and Tax Professionals Alike
Tax Court Decision of Major Impact to Charity Directors and Tax Professionals Alike By: Adam Aptowitzer A recent decision of the Tax Court of Canada in the Guindon[1] matter has completely changed the way the CRA can assess people who provide advice, information or paperwork related to a filed income ...
Revocations!
REVOCATIONS! by: C. Yvonne Chenier Every once in a while the Charities Directorate of the Canada Revenue Agency sends out a news release with details about a Charity that has had its charitable status revoked. It is interesting to compare the revocations the CRA widely publicizes in this way and ...
Maiden Voyage for the New Political Communication Rules
Maiden Voyage for the New Political Communication Rules By: Brent Randall With the recent provincial election in Quebec, an upcoming election in British Columbia, and speculation that Ontario may do the same, charities across Canada may be considering the impact they can make in the political arena. While we previously ...
Non-Profits and Taxable Subsidiaries
Non-Profits and Taxable Subsidiaries By Arthur B.C. Drache, C.M. Q.C. Tax planning for tax exempt entities often involves the creation of "sibling" or controlled taxable corporations. Properly executed, the created corporations can carry on activities which are either prohibited to the parent or carry some risk that the parent is ...
In Incentive Lies Behaviour – If You Understand the Incentive
In Incentive Lies Behaviour - If You Understand the Incentive By: Adam Aptowitzer Most Canadians are aware of the effect that RRSP contributions have on their taxes, and are aware of the deadline for making contributions each year. This is mostly due to the educational efforts of the banks and ...
Drawing the Line on the CNCA’s Financial Requirements
Drawing the Line on the CNCA's Financial Requirements By Alexandra Tzannidakis The new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act ("CNCA") introduces a quagmire of financial rules based on two new class divisions that interact in inexplicable ways. This head-scratching setup will likely leave smaller federally-incorporated charities wondering where exactly they fall in ...