Change purposes and activities

As a registered charity, your mission may evolve over time. When this happens, you must first ensure that any new or revised purposes and activities are considered charitable at law. This responsibility rests with the charity.

The Charities Directorate no longer pre-approves changes to a charity’s purposes or activities. However, our client service representatives are available to support you by directing you to relevant guidance and answering general questions about what is considered charitable.

A charity should report any updates so its file with the CRA remains accurate and up to date. We may review these changes at a later date and contact you if we have concerns or need further information.

Before making any changes

To support charities in navigating updates to their purposes or activities, we recommend reviewing the following resources:

• To change purposes: CG-019, How to draft purposes for charitable registration
• To change activities: Describe your activities

You can also consult our guidance products for more information on charitable activities.

Introducing purposes or activities that are not charitable could put your charity’s registered status at risk.

Report changes to your purposes or activities

If your charity changes its purposes, the revised purposes must be formally adopted in your governing document in accordance with your charity’s internal procedures and applicable legislation.

You should then send us an updated copy of the governing document reflecting these changes, along with a revised statement of activities, so that your file remains current.