Reading Time: 4 minutes The Muttart Foundation, in collaboration with the law firm Miller Thomson LLP, has produced a resource to assist groups in coping with financial hardships. Paths Forward in Financially Troubled Times – A Restructuring and Insolvency Guidebook for Charities and Non-profit Organizations is now available through the Foundation’s website.
NOT-FOR-PROFIT | Model Crowdfunding Statute Released
Reading Time: 4 minutes The Uniform Law Conference of Canada (ULCC) is a body that develops model legislation that provinces can adopt to create a consistent and harmonious legal framework across jurisdictions. It has now provided a roadmap on the issue of crowdfunding, and more specifically internet fundraising. This is timely and helpful. The 2005 ULCC Uniform Charitable Fundraising […]
NOT-FOR-PROFIT | Charity and Non-Profit Law Case Update
Reading Time: 4 minutes The COVID-19 pandemic lead to numerous court proceedings being postponed. So, some important charity and non-profit cases may well remain in limbo as I write this. But, both internationally and domestically, the last few months have also seen some major decisions on a range of sector issues. Aga v Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada […]
NOT-FOR-PROFIT | COVID-19 Support: Getting the ‘best bang for the buck’
Reading Time: 4 minutes The COVID-19 pandemic has devastated charity and non-profit organizations’ revenue sources to an extent rarely, if ever, seen before. Though some high-profile groups saw governments and the public funnel generous support to them and there have been a few clever online initiatives to raise money, that is just a small part of the story. The […]
NOT-FOR-PROFIT | The Pandemic, Charities and Volunteers
Reading Time: 5 minutes As I write this, the coronavirus pandemic is shining an unexpected spotlight on charities and non-profit organizations. Canada is reputed to have – in economic terms – one of the largest and most dynamic voluntary sectors in the world. It is estimated to account for more than two million jobs and to contribute tens of […]
NOT-FOR-PROFIT | What’s a member and what rights does a member have?
Reading Time: 4 minutes A recent Ontario Court of Appeal case, Aga v. Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada (Aga), provides some insight into the vexing question of the extent of “member” rights in not-for-profit organizations. Although the idea of such rights seems straightforward, it is anything but. The litigation in AGA came about because the membership status of […]
NOT-FOR-PROFIT | The Unchanging Meaning of ‘Charity’
Reading Time: 4 minutes 20/20: Looking back over the last 20 years It is often said that the only constant is change. But some things move faster than others. With 5G in the offing, few people now remember the days of dial-up internet and the non-profit groups that sprang up twenty or so years ago to offer access to […]
Registered Charity Policy Advocacy: Rules beyond the Income Tax Act
Reading Time: 4 minutes Although welcome and overdue, the new federal tax legislation and guidance on policy advocacy by registered charities doesn’t mean that compliance worries faced by sector organizations in this area are a thing of the past. For those unfamiliar with the changes, more information on them can be found online. Essentially, these changes free up groups […]
Senate Report Offers Blueprint for Federal Charity Law Reform
Reading Time: 4 minutes With a federal election slated for this October, there is little chance we will see any major changes to the Income Tax Act (ITA) rules governing registered charities in the coming weeks. Once the election is over, however, whichever party forms government could do worse than use the recently-released Report of the Special Senate Committee […]
Ottawa situation highlights governance obligations in managing misconduct risks
Reading Time: 4 minutes News earlier this year of the mass resignation of the Board of the Ottawa Lions Club should come as no surprise to followers of recent developments in organizational governance. The resignations came in response to a report commissioned by Athletics Canada into the group’s handling of allegations of sexual harassment and abuse. The report didn’t […]
