January 18, 2020
Australian Wildfires and Canadian donors
We all see from the media the terrible wildfires in Australia. Some Canadian donors or charities have wanted to assist with the relief and recovery…
January 18, 2020
Recent CRA letters of revocation for Canadian registered charities -2015-2018
Here are the CRA letters from a number of recent Canadian registered charity revocations. These letters from CRA cover many different grounds for…
December 20, 2019
Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2020
Blumbergs is pleased to announce that we will be hosting Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp again on Monday April 20, 2020. An easy enough…
December 18, 2019
Mormon church has US$100 billion dollar fund and questions asked about it.
The Washington Post recently had an article entitled "Mormon Church has misled members on $100 billion tax-exempt investment fund, whistleblower…
December 18, 2019
Another exposé on super wealthy using DAFs in a way that raises lots of questions
There was recently an article in VOX entitled "Google’s Larry Page gave $400 million in Christmas donations. Not a penny went straight to charity.…
December 9, 2019
Donor Advised Funds can have greater secrecy – it can also be a problem
Donor Advised Funds are registered charities in Canada that allow a donor to donate to the charity but the donor retains the ability to recommend…
November 30, 2019
It is giving season time again – some thoughts on effective giving
It is now the giving season. We will hear lots from charities on Giving Tuesday and perhaps you will be inundated with too many emails on Giving…
October 28, 2019
VITREO Brain Trust Philanthropy Podcast on Community Foundations, DAFs and Perpetual Funds
I was recently on a VITREO podcast entitled Episode 31: The Impact of the Community Foundation - How They Have Become Power Players in…
October 25, 2019
Miller v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 204 – the Tax Court of Canada sure can be slow
There was a recent Tax Court of Canada ("TCC") case Miller v. The Queen, 2019 TCC 204. It is not an important or exciting case - it deals with a…
August 29, 2019
Tyee opinion piece “Why Environmental Groups’ Attack on Elections Canada Is Wrong, and Dangerous”
The Tyee, an online magazine, recently posted an opinion piece by Tom McMahon entitled "Why Environmental Groups’ Attack on Elections…
August 29, 2019
CANADALAND Podcast on charities, political activities and the upcoming Federal election
CANADALAND recently had a podcast which dealt with a number of topics but one of them was charities, political activities, Elections…
August 20, 2019
Misinformation about NPOs/charities and political activities during the election is spreading
There has been a lot of media and social media coverage over the last few days about non-profits and charities and the rules around their involvement…
August 13, 2019
NYT article on “Jeffrey Epstein’s Opaque Finances …” and discussion of charities
There have been a number of articles discussing Jeffrey Epstein's used of charities. One of the is the New York Times "Jeffrey Epstein’s Opaque…
July 24, 2019
TCC Ruling on Failure to Maintain Adequate Books and Records with Foreign Activity and Suspension
On June 28, 2019, the Tax Court of Canada released its decision Promised Land Ministries v the Queen, in which it upheld CRA's decision to…
June 28, 2019
Online Charity Law Courses from Blumbergs – 24/7 compliance education for registered charities
We have created two new online courses for those outside of Toronto who are not able to easily attend our programs. They might also be helpful to…
May 24, 2019
Dramatic changes to the CRA Charities Listing
CRA has recently updated its Charities Listing and the most notable change is the fact that they have reduced the amount of information available on…
April 30, 2019
Fundamentals of Receipting by Canadian Charities
Properly issuing official donation receipts has been challenging for many registered charities. According to the CRA, 89% of registered…
April 30, 2019
Fundamentals of the T3010 and Transparency for Canadian Charities
Every year Canadian registered charities must file the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return with the Charities Directorate of CRA. In June…
April 22, 2019
CFA Society of Toronto 2019 Wealth Conference
I will be speaking at the CFA Society of Toronto 2019 Wealth Conference on May 1, 2019 dealing with the topic "Professional Advisors and…
March 25, 2019
Blumbergs’ International Philanthropy Conference 2019 (SOLD OUT)
We are pleased to announce that we will be holding a full-day event on international philanthropy on April 12, 2019: Blumbergs' International…
March 25, 2019
Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp 2019 (SOLD OUT)
The Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Boot Camp will be held again on Monday April 8, 2019. This is a one-day boot camp on compliance and…
March 19, 2019
Canadian Federal Budget 2019 and its impact on non-profits and charities
Finance Minister Morneau delivered the 2019 Federal Budget today. Here is our article "2019 Canadian Federal Budget - How will it affect the…
March 3, 2019
Registered Charities and CRA Charity Audits
The Canada Revenue Agency’s (CRA) Charities Directorate is the de facto regulator of Registered Charities in Canada and they audit between 600 and…
March 2, 2019
SNC-Lavalin Affair and the Charity Sector
The SNC-Lavalin affair has been in the news for a while. Here is an article on how this SNC-Lavalin scandal relates to the charity sector.