At the Advising Charities, Not-for-Profits, and Social Enterprises seminar in November 2013, attendees received an update on legal issues that impact social enterprises.
In addition to information about Canada Revenue Agency policies and practices, rulings and audits, Alicia McKinley of Borden Ladner Gervais LLP discussed the effect of privacy and new anti-spam legislation on charities and not-for-profits. If you were unable to attend the seminar, you can order Alicia’s seminar paper entitled The Effect of Privacy and Anti-Spam Legislation on Charities and Non-Profits.
Other seminar papers that may interest you include:
- Advising the Social Enterprise –Much Ado About Something by W. Laird Hunter QC – this paper seeks to define the term “social enterprise” and goes on to address questions like these: what considerations arise in giving advice to charities and not-for-profit organizations involving social enterprise? How does social enterprise currently fit into our legal system? What are the issues for individuals wanting to set up a social enterprise?
- Obtaining and Maintaining Charitable Status or Not-for-Profit Status under the Income Tax Act by C. Yvonne Chenier QC and Adam Aptowitzer – this paper surveys some of the more difficult areas in the process of achieving and maintaining charitable status, and, for those who do not qualify (or choose not to), provides information on how to create and maintain simple non-profit status under the Income Tax Act.
- Introducing the Community Contribution Company: A New Structure for Social Enterprise by Michael Blatchford and Margaret Mason – this paper discusses British Columbia recently introduced the “Community Contribution Company,” a hybrid of for-profit business corporation and non-profit corporation without share capital. Its purpose is to allow limited investor returns within the context of a traditional for-profit company. This paper discusses the salient features of this new corporate structure, providing a balanced overview of its challenges and opportunities, and it reviews various incarnations in other jurisdictions and outlines its potential uses in BC and Canada generally.
- Legal Risk Management for Directors and Officers of Not-for-Profit Corporations in Alberta by David Sevalrud – this paper represents an update of a 2012 LESA paper. Its scope is a discussion of directors’ duties and liabilities in the context of not-for-profit organizations in Alberta under the Societies Act, the Canada Corporations Act, and the new Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act. In general, the principles and concepts examined in this paper apply to special GST corporations, Crown corporations, condominium boards, and other not-for-profit organizations.
- CRA Charities, Directors’ Policies, and Guidance by Kate Pedlow – this paper presents high-level, basic summaries on a select number of documents in CRA’s Policy and Guidance section most applicable to registered charities carrying out or considering carrying out “social enterprise” activities.
To find out more information about these and other seminar papers as well as LESA’s list of publications, visit Educational Resources.
