Donations of time and money do not create a trust: A look at Mee et al. v. Y.M.C.A.
A recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice was unequivocal in its refusal to recognize a trust in certain recreational lands owned by the YMCA. The court did not mince its words. It said to find otherwise would...
The new qualifying disbursements rules: An improvement?
The proposed qualifying disbursements rules have since changed since the publication of this article. Please refer to Miller Thomson LLP’s article, ‘Funding non-qualified donees just got one step easier for Canadian charities’ dated June 6, 2022, which summarizes the latest...
2022 Federal Budget Review
Introduction The 2022 Federal Budget was tabled in the House of Commons on April 7, 2022 by the Honourable Chrystia Freeland, Canada’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance. With a Foreword that began with a thank you to Canadians...
2022 Federal Budget: Highlights for the Charitable and NPO sector
Introduction On April 7, 2022, the Honourable Chrystia Freeland tabled a new federal budget (the “2022 Budget”). This is only the second federal budget since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic and a lot has happened since the 2021 federal...
( Available in French only )
Résumé des mesures du budget fédéral affectant les organismes de bienfaisance et sans but lucratif
La ministre des Finances et vice-première ministre fédérale, Chrystia Freeland, a déposé le budget fédéral le 7 avril, 2022. Le budget propose des changements qui concernent les organismes de bienfaisance et les organismes sans but lucratif. En bref, le budget...
Charity lawyers strongly support Bill S-216
A group of 42 prominent charity lawyers have signed a second open letter (PDF) in order to voice their full support for the adoption of Bill S-216: Effective and Accountable Charities Act (the “Bill”). As of February 22, 2022, the...
Key considerations for gift agreements
It is not necessary to have a gift agreement in order to make a gift. However, it is important for charitable gifts and charitable pledges made by donors to charities be documented. A gift agreement provides evidence that a gift...
Report on the Charities Program 2020 to 2021
The Report on the Charities Program provides a snapshot of the Canadian charitable sector and an update on the Canada Revenue Agency’s (“CRA”) Charities Directorate’s activities during fiscal year 2020 to 2021. According to the Charities Directorate’s administrative data for...
Charitable donations to Ukraine: Four problematic assumptions
The Lawyer's Daily
Stephen Hsia authors an article for The Lawyer’s Daily outlining some problematic assumptions to be aware of when making charitable donations: Canadians are concerned about the armed conflict and humanitarian crisis in Ukraine. Donors and charities want to help —...
Can not-for-profit organizations run a business?
One matter that comes up from time to time, and with increasing frequency in the past few years in response to a decrease in available funding, is the extent to which, as a means to generate revenue, non-profit organizations (“NPOs”)...
