Operating a registered charity
Important notice for Ontario charities
Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) three-year transition period ended on October 18, 2024. Corporations that did not update their governing documents by October 18, 2024 will not be dissolved or prevented from operating. Generally, after the transition period, any provisions in a corporation’s governing documents that were previously valid under the Corporations Act (CA) but have not been amended to bring it into conformity with ONCA are deemed amended as necessary to comply with ONCA. However, for example, some provisions in governing documents, such as the by-laws, may no longer apply to the corporation if they fail to be amended as necessary to conform with ONCA. Please note that updated by-laws do not need to be filed with the Ministry of Public and Business Service Delivery and Procurement.
For more information, see Guide to Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 and Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 – Transition Considerations.
Topics
- Checklists for charities
Easy-to-follow checklists to help with the responsibilities of operating a registered charity - Toolbox for directors, officers, and volunteers
Resources for maintaining charitable registration - Registration number
Every registered charity is issued a nine-digit business number, with a program identifier of RR, and a four-digit reference number - Obligations of registration
Annual return, spending requirement, books and records - Activities
Guidelines for certain activities such as business, social, fundraising, and gifting to non-qualified donees - Fundraising activities
Activities, issuing receipts for fundraising events, cause-related marketing. - T3010 charity return
What is a complete return? When is the return due? Which form should you use? What is the correct mailing address? What are complete financial statements? - Compliance and audits
How the CRA promotes compliance, audit information, non-compliance issues - Policies and guidance
Policies and guidance about operating a registered charity - Issuing receipts or receiving donations
Information about receiving gifts and issuing receipts - Annual spending requirement (disbursement quota)
What is the disbursement quota? Avoiding common mistakes, spending too little or too much - Books and records
What are adequate books and records? How long must they be kept? Where must they be kept? - Making a change to your organization
How to change the legal name, address, director, authorized representative, legal status, purposes, activities, and bylaws of a registered charity. How to initiate a request for a fiscal year-end change, re-designation, associated status, permission to accumulate funds, disbursement quota reduction, or an amalgamation, merger, or consolidation - Educating charities about the risks of terrorist abuse
How terrorists abuse charities, assessing and reducing the risks, checklist for charities, and how to report suspected terrorist abuse - Questions and answers
Answers to questions about operating a registered charity - Transition to Ontario’s Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 Information for registered charities incorporated under Ontario’s Corporations Act
- Transition to the new B.C. Societies Act
Information for registered charities currently incorporated under the Society Act of British Columbia
Related links
- The Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (NFP Act) – Information for federally incorporated charities
- Rules for not-for-profit and charitable corporations – Information for charities incorporated in Ontario
- The New Societies Act – Information for British Columbia societies (not-for-profit corporations)
- GST/HST checklist
- Payroll
- CRA forms and publications
- Alphabetical index of topics
- Glossary
- Contact information
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