September 15, 2021
How engaged are Canadian registered charities in this election?
I was asked the question "How engaged are Canadian registered charities in this election?" by a journalist and to be honest, I had to say I have no…
September 13, 2021
ACCS submission to Finance on the DQ suggesting no change to the rate is disappointing for operating charities
At a time when charities need funds and private foundations alone are sitting on $95 billion dollars, the Advisory Committee to the Charitable Sector…
August 9, 2021
Many charities with March 31 year ends need to file their T3010 by September 30
Many Canadian registered charities have March 31 year ends. Mostly these are aligned with government funders who have a similar year-end. These…
August 9, 2021
Finance is doing a consultation on whether to increase the disbursement quota for Canadian registered charities
In the 2021 Federal Budget, it was announced that the Department of Finance will be doing a consultation on the disbursement quota and whether it…
July 29, 2021
Blumbergs’ Submission for the Pre-Budget Consultations for the Canadian Federal Budget 2022 with a focus on Transparency and Accountability in the Non-profit and Charity Sector
Here is the Blumbergs' Submission to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance for the Pre-Budget Consultations in Advance of the Upcoming…
July 29, 2021
“Confidence in charity leaders has fallen sharply over the last two decades – what does that mean for the sector?”
In this excellent article by Steven Ayer, he writes that confidence in the charity sector has fallen considerably over the last two decades. The…
July 29, 2021
Grantmaking in Canada can be improved immensely but eliminating structured arrangements is dangerous and a red herring to the real problems with our sector
With respect to a recent bill passed by the Senate, but not the House of Commons, relating to structured arrangements/direction and control we have…
June 19, 2021
Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (ECVO) report on Transforming the Non-Profit Community is well worth reading
I recently read a fascinating report from the Edmonton Chamber of Voluntary Organizations (ECVO) on Transforming the Non-Profit Community in…
May 29, 2021
CRA increasingly emphasizing importance of separation between registered charities and non-qualified donees
In the last couple of weeks I have read two separate CRA notes on the importance of maintaining sufficient separation between a registered charity…
May 13, 2021
CRA adds new webinars dealing with registered charities and receipting over the next couple of weeks
CRA has announced new webinars dealing with registered charities and receipting. Here is a link. Here is the note from CRA: ……
May 7, 2021
CRA warns about tax shelter gifting schemes and the consequences of participating
CRA recently sent out an email entitled "Warning: Watch out for tax shelter gifting schemes". I am not sure if this is just regular communication or…
April 29, 2021
Successful finish for Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2021 (Online)
On April 21, 2021 we had our Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2021. It is the second Boot Camp that we have conducted online and our tenth…
April 19, 2021
2021 Canadian Federal Budget – How will it affect the Canadian charitable sector?
A lot has changed in 2 years when the last Federal budget was delivered. Today, Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland introduced a Federal…
April 7, 2021
Centre for Inquiry Canada publishes report on “The Costs of Religion in Canada”
Someone sent me a link to a report from the Centre for Inquiry Canada entitled "The Costs of Religion in Canada". It is advocating for…
April 4, 2021
“Cross-Border Philanthropy – A U.S. Perspective” by Eric Zolt – excellent paper
I just finished reading an excellent paper entitled Cross-Border Philanthropy - A U.S. Perspective by Eric Zolt. It both provides a good summary of…
March 28, 2021
Statistics Canada report on charitable donors in 2019
Stats Can recently released their Charitable Donors, 2019 report. I have been critical of StatsCan in the past for their annual reports on…
March 22, 2021
The Charities Directorate of CRA announces new webinars on gifting and receipting on March 30 and March 31.
Here is an announcement from CRA relating to new webinars dealing with gifting and receipting on March 30 and March 31, 2021. . Charities…
March 17, 2021
Will changing structured arrangements into a reasonable person test help the charity sector? – Part 4 – Charitable purposes and Conclusion
Recently a bill was proposed in the Senate -BILL S-222 An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources), which will eliminate the “own…
March 17, 2021
Will changing structured arrangements into a reasonable person test help the charity sector? – Part 3 – The Reasonable Person – lots of questions
Recently a bill was proposed in the Senate -BILL S-222 An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources), which will eliminate the “own…
March 17, 2021
Will changing structured arrangements into a reasonable person test help the charity sector? – Part 2 – The Main Provisions and various general concerns
Recently a bill was proposed in the Senate -BILL S-222 An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources), which will eliminate the “own…
March 16, 2021
Will changing structured arrangements into a reasonable person test help the charity sector? – Part 1 – The preamble
Recently a bill was proposed in the Senate -BILL S-222 An Act to amend the Income Tax Act (use of resources), which will eliminate the “own…
March 16, 2021
Report #1 of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector – more thoughts
After my very disappointing first read of the “Report #1 of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector” which was just released last Friday here…
March 13, 2021
What happens when you make it too easy to become a charity?
The US largest organization representing non-profits, which has over 25,000 non-profit members, has called for the IRS to eliminate their Form…
February 21, 2021
Revised P113 – Gifts and Income Tax 2020 – deals with tax benefits of donating to charities
2020 was a turbulent year. The CRA has updated their document P113 – Gifts and Income Tax for 2020. The P113 is a helpful guide to the tax…