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…
January 24, 2021
CBC “Pandemic tests limits of religious freedom as churches set to fight B.C.’s COVID-19 rules in court”
The CBC's Jason Proctor wrote an article today on "Pandemic tests limits of religious freedom as churches set to fight B.C.'s COVID-19 rules in…
December 5, 2020
CRA revokes as a result of audit first 2 charities in over a year
The CRA has revoked its first two registered charities in over a year. Actually, over 13 months not one charity has been revoked. Some think that…
November 18, 2020
Mark Blumberg to present as part of a panel at the AFP GTA Congress 2020 on “WE have a Problem”
Here is a description of the presentation on November 24, 2020: Lunch ’N Learn Panel: WE Have a Problem Jaya Mootoo , Ann…
October 30, 2020
Capacity building, education, and online courses for the Canadian charity and non-profit sector
Our firm has been using online tools for over 10 years – primarily webinars. In 2018, we moved to providing paid online courses dealing with charity…
October 30, 2020
The Charity Report provides a profile of the Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Canadian Charity Sector
We were pleasantly surprised to see that The Charity Report "your independent source of news in the charity sector" recently published an article…
September 30, 2020
The WE Charity scandal and its impact on the Canadian charity sector?
A lot has happened since we originally published this article on September 4th so here is an updated version below. The WE Charity…
September 4, 2020
What will be the impact of the WE Charity scandal on the Canadian charity sector?
The WE Charity scandal has now been going on for over 2 months. A few weeks ago the Minister of Finance resigned and parliament was prorogued. Some…
August 20, 2020
“Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in We Build the Wall Campaign” – some quick thoughts on fundraising and restricted gifts
In this New York Times article published today entitled "Steve Bannon Is Charged With Fraud in We Build the Wall Campaign" it has shocking…
July 19, 2020
We have recently added two new online courses for Canadian charities
We have recently added 2 new full-day courses namely Fundamentals of Running a Canadian Charitable Organization/Operating Charity and Fundamentals of…
June 29, 2020
Some compliance trends or task over the next 6 months for Canadian registered charities
Here are a number of trends or compliance suggestions for charities over the next six months: If you are an Ontario corporation under the Ontario…
June 6, 2020
New course on restricted gifts in Canada by Mark Blumberg
Today we are launching a new course of restricted gifts for Canadian charities: "Restricted Gifts - Managing the Opportunities and Dangers of…
May 19, 2020
What is a Qualified donee under the Income Tax Act Canada in 2020? How many are there?
A qualified donee is an organization that can issue official donation receipts for gifts it receives from individuals and corporations. It can also…
May 11, 2020
Guidance from Charity Commission “Manage financial difficulties in your charity caused by coronavirus”
Here is some really good guidance from the Charity Commission of England and Wales. Guidance Manage financial difficulties in your charity…
May 9, 2020
New Course on Canadian Charities Working with Non-Charities in Canada
We have just prepared a new course on Canadian Charities Working with Non-Charities in Canada. Here is information on the new course and how to…
May 8, 2020
Additional Information from the BC Financial Services Authority on gifts of life insurance to charities
I wrote to the BC Financial Services Authority on May 4, 2020, asking for some clarifications relating to their Information Bulletin entitled…
April 24, 2020
Special purpose fundraising for COVID-19 – be careful what you ask for!
Many groups are doing special purpose fundraising for COVID-19 in which they are specifically soliciting or accepting for COVID-19 related programs.…
April 23, 2020
PGT views of what is “pandemic-related”
We have written about 2 recent notices from the Ontario Public Guardian and Trustee ("PGT") relating to restricted funds and the pandemic. These are…
April 8, 2020
Ontario Ministry Allows Virtual Witnessing of Wills -important for bequests
Many people at home right now have some time on their hands and some are thinking about updating their wills. Some don't have wills at all and for…
April 8, 2020
Further update from the government of Canada on NPOs, charities and the wage subsidy
Today the Federal government released two documents. One was entitled Government provides further flexibility for employers to access the Canada…
March 22, 2020
If your Canadian charity has assets/reserve and you don’t have a reserve fund policy you should stop fundraising
There is a backlash brewing against charities that are putting up desperate requests for funding but when people look at their annual report,…
March 19, 2020
Corona Virus/COVID-19 charity issues – cancelling events, refunds and the possibility of a charitable donation
The COVID-19 crisis is affecting charities in numerous ways. In this short note, we will discuss cancelling events and refunding money or attempting…
March 18, 2020
Registered Charity Q&A with Blumbergs – Friday March 20, 2020
With the Charities Directorate call centre suspended till April 5, 2020, we thought we would have a Registered Charity Q&A on Friday, March 20.…