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…
September 5, 2021
Blumbergs’ Snapshot of the Ontario Charity Sector 2019 – information on registered charities in Ontario from the CRA T3010 annual filings
Here is the Blumbergs' Snapshot of the Ontario Charity Sector 2019. We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for…
September 5, 2021
Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2019 – information on the Canadian registered charity sector from the T3010 filings of Canadian charities
Here is the Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Sector Snapshot 2019. We recently reviewed the T3010 Registered Charity Information Return database for 2019…
September 4, 2021
Conservatives propose Foreign Agents Registry Act which could prevent large Canadian charities from receiving foreign funding costing universities and others billions of dollars
The Conservatives have put forward some proposals in their platform that are unclear and could have a significant negative effect on the charity…
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
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…
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…
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 29, 2021
Updates to CharityData.ca
We have recently made a number of updates to CharityData.ca. The most important update is including more 2020 and 2019 charity returns. Also, if…
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 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…
February 4, 2021
Canada adds 13 organizations to list of terrorist entities including Proud Boys, The Base and Al-Quaeda and ISIS affiliates
Canada just added 13 new listed terrorist organizations including the Proud Boys, Atomwaffen Division, the Base, and Russian Imperial Movement. They…
January 31, 2021
Some additional WE Charity documents from CRA finally arrived
I requested a long time ago from CRA some WE Charity early documents. They only arrived this week and here they are: …
January 23, 2021
CRA provides additional information on foreign activities by Canadian charities
After years of seeing less and less transparency about registered charities in Canada coming from the CRA, for various reasons, we now have one…
January 14, 2021
Going the Extra Mile: The Liability of Foreignness in U.S. Foundation International Grantmaking to Local NGOs
I recently ran across a very good article entitled: "Going the Extra Mile: The Liability of Foreignness in U.S. Foundation International Grantmaking…
December 29, 2020
Bloomberg Businessweek: “How a Charity Superstar Innovated Its Way to Political Scandal” – with coverage of the WE Charity scandal
Today an article appeared in Bloomberg Businessweek entitled "How a Charity Superstar Innovated Its Way to Political Scandal: The Kielburger brothers…
December 29, 2020
Happy Holidays from the OECD – a very interesting report on different countries and how they treat philanthropy and charities
An interesting report from the OECD on charities in many different countries recently was published. It was given a really exciting title namely…
December 20, 2020
Why does CRA ask about charitable “activities” and not just about charitable “purposes”
In a recent CRA document, we obtained that was released through access to information, it provides a good explanation of why CRA cares about…
December 12, 2020
Mark Blumberg’s testimony to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) on CSSG/WE Charity Scandal
On Friday, December 11, 2020 I gave testimony to the Standing Committee on Access to Information, Privacy and Ethics (ETHI) on the CSSG and We…
November 30, 2020
Some are calling for changes to Canadian charity rules for foreign activities
I wish I did not have to write this article about the Canadian rules around international philanthropy and foreign activities but unfortunately, a…
November 27, 2020
CRA releases foreign activity guidance after multi-year delays as well as guidance on intermediaries working in Canada
CRA released today the updated guidance CG-002, Canadian registered charities carrying on activities outside Canada. Essentially, this guidance…