September 22, 2019
Blumbergs’ Canadian Charity Law Institute 2019
Join us on Monday October 7, 2019 in Toronto for the 8th Annual Blumbergs' Canadian Charity Law Institute. We will be featuring a number of…
September 21, 2019
CRA announces that it will still accept paper charity applications until September 30, 2019
CRA is encouraging non-profits that want to apply to become registered charities to use their new CHAMP system for the application process. …
September 14, 2019
Just launched our 3rd online course “Fundraising from Canada: A course for groups outside of Canada”
We have just launched our 3rd online course - this one is entitled "Fundraising from Canada: A course for groups outside of Canada". It is geared…
September 5, 2019
When will ONCA come into force and when will we find out more information?
Many people in Ontario are wondering what the status of ONCA is. I just wrote this email to MGCS and look forward to hearing more and…
September 2, 2019
Elections Canada updates guide on political financing and third party registration
Elections Canada in late August 2019 updated their guide Political Financing Handbook for Third Parties Financial Agents and Auditors,…
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 29, 2019
Fundamentals of Running a Private or Public Foundation in Canada
Private and Public Foundations are an important part of the Canadian charity sector. The Blumbergs' Fundamentals of Running a Private…
August 27, 2019
Question to CRA on alter ego trusts and whether transfers are a donation
STEP Canada had a CRA Roundtable on June 6-7, 2019 and they discussed a number of topics. One issue of interest to charities and…
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 28, 2019
Making sense of CRAs new online Canadian charity application system
CRA in June 2019 brought in a new charity application system under their CHAMP modernization program. Here is our article Making sense of…
July 26, 2019
Journalism panel submits report to Federal government about journalism proposals in 2019 Budget
The Journalism and Written Media Independent Panel of Experts released a report that they had provided to the Federal government relating to the 2019…
July 24, 2019
Federal Court of Appeal upholds Revocation of Charitable Status
On June 24, 2019, the Federal Court of Appeal upheld CRA's decision to revoke Many Mansions Spiritual Centre, Inc. ("Many Mansions")'s…
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…
July 18, 2019
Surplus Goods from the Federal Government – act before August 30, 2019
Yesterday, CRA announced that Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC) has surplus items and PSPC is inviting registered charities interested in…
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…
June 27, 2019
Account changes for registered charities under CHAMP
Canadian charities now have more options for doing certain transactions online using the CHAMP system. Charities should look into…
June 27, 2019
Objects of registered charities in Canada are sometimes not charitable
Here is our article on "Objects of registered charities in Canada are sometimes not charitable". Objects are very important and often Canadian…
June 20, 2019
Senate releases report today on the non-profit and charitable sector
The Senate has had a standing committee that has been looking at the voluntary sector in Canada. They released their report today. The report…
June 15, 2019
CRA’s Technical Issues Working Group
I have just completed 4 years on the CRA's Technical Issues Working Group. Most people don't even know that it exists. …
June 9, 2019
Comparison of the CRA’s Charities Listing and Blumbergs’ Charity Data
With the recent changes in May 2019 in which CRA removed about 10 years of public information from the Charities Listing, the differences between the…
June 3, 2019
No updates with the new Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations (ONCA) at the moment
There are a large number of Ontario non-profit corporations under the Ontario Corporations Act (“OCA”). As you may know, the…
May 27, 2019
CRA Q&A on new journalism qualified donee category
Here is a Q&A from CRA about the new journalism qualified donee category.