Over ten years in the making: Proclamation of the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010
The long-awaited Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (the “ONCA”) will be proclaimed on October 19, 2021, replacing the Ontario Corporations Act (the “OCA”). Passed by Ontario Legislature back in 2010, the ONCA will come into force after numerous delays due...
Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector releases third report
The third report of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (the “ACCS”) released on July 15, 2021 (the “Report”), expands on the Committee’s first report and second report, adding a series of recommendations for reforming the relationship between charities...
Filing obligations under BC Land Owner Transparency Act
Effective November 30, 2020, the British Columbia (“BC”) Land Owner Transparency Act (“LOTA”) came into force, bringing into existence the new BC Land Owner Transparency Registry (“LOTR”). This is a publicly searchable registry containing names, citizenship and other information of...
Canada Elections Act: What you can do without registering
In our last article, we discussed the registration requirements that may apply to charities and non-profits that carry on certain regulated activities, including election advertising, election surveys, and partisan activities (in the case of non-profits). For more information about the...
Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act comes into force on October 19, 2021
Earlier today, the Ministry of Government and Consumer Services (“Ministry”) announced that the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (“ONCA”) will come into force on October 19, 2021. The coming into force of the ONCA has been long anticipated by the...
Public messaging during an election period: You may need to register ASAP
Under the Canada Elections Act, there must be a general election on the third Monday of October in the fourth calendar year after the last general election. However, the Prime Minister may ask the Governor General to call an election...
Two very welcome Federal Court of Appeal decisions
The Federal Court of Appeal has now overturned two separate decisions of the Minister of National Revenue denying the applications of two sports organizations for registration as registered Canadian amateur athletic associations (“RCAAA”). One decision involved an appeal by an...
Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector focuses on reconciliation, national data strategy, and charity designations in second report
The second report of the Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector released on April 28, 2021 (the “Report”) expands on its first report, adding eight recommendations for sector reforms. The Advisory Committee on the Charitable Sector (the “ACCS”), established in...
Consenting to proposed budget amendments
Among the few technical tax measures affecting the charitable and non-profit sector proposed in the federal budget tabled on April 19, 2021 (the “2021 Budget”), one of the proposed budget amendments expands the ability for the Minister of National Revenue...
Why it matters that the Supreme Court decision reinforced the existence of hidden contracts in charity/nonprofit governance
Covenants, which lawyers call contracts, lie at the heart of many of the world’s religions. If we reflect on the Kendrick brothers’ film, Courageous, contemporary North American culture is similarly attracted to the use of resolutions or covenants between not...
