Charities Partnership and Outreach Program

Overview

The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) registers qualifying organizations as charities, gives technical advice on operating a charity, and handles audit and compliance activities.

Registered charities are required to file an annual return with the CRA and must meet certain requirements of the Income Tax Act concerning their expenditures and activities.

Charities Regulatory Reform Initiative

The Canadian Government recognizes the value of charitable giving and the important contribution that Canada's more than 81,000 registered charities make towards improving quality of life. In the 2004 Federal Budget, the Government of Canada reaffirmed its support and recognition of the voluntary sector by committing $12 million annually to improve the regulation of registered charities.

The CRA, in collaboration with the Department of Finance, has developed the Charities Regulatory Reform Initiative in an effort to improve the regulatory framework for charities, enhance voluntary compliance, and increase public and voluntary sector confidence in the regulation of charities.

The Charities Regulatory Reform Initiative is being implemented through reforms in five key areas: service delivery for charities and the general public; public awareness and sector outreach; monitoring of charities; redress process for registered charities; and jurisdictional collaboration among federal, provincial, and territorial governments.

The Charities Partnership and Outreach Program is one component of sector outreach. The Program is designed to provide funding to non-profit organizations and registered charities to develop and deliver innovative compliance related education and training to charities.

Charities Partnership and Outreach Program Objectives

The overall objective of the Program is to increase charitable sector compliance with relevant parts of the Income Tax Act. The main objectives of the Program are to:

• raise awareness among the charitable sector of regulatory obligations under the Income Tax Act;
• increase the capacity of the charitable sector in meeting regulatory compliance requirements in a sustainable fashion;
• improve the capacity of the sector to develop and deliver sustainable compliance-based training/education solutions.

Funding priority for 2005-2006

The funding priority for fiscal year 2005-2006 is the Registered Charity Information Return (Form T3010A). Projects that educate/inform registered charities about Form T3010A, including the requirement to file a return, how to properly complete a return, and when to submit a completed return will be considered for funding.

Available Funding

Funding under this Program is limited to $500,000 per project, per year (April 1 to March 31), with multi-year projects being limited to a maximum of three years. Since funding is limited, it is possible that not all eligible projects will be funded.

How to apply for funding

Funding submissions are accepted through calls for applications only. A funding guide has been prepared for organizations interested in applying for project funding under the Charities Partnership and Outreach Program. It contains the eligibility criteria for funding, information about the application process, an application form, a glossary of terms, and an application checklist.

For more information

Charities Partnership and Outreach Program Officer
Charities Directorate
Canada Revenue Agency
Place de Ville "A", 7^th Floor
320 Queen Street
Ottawa, Ontario
K1A 0L5

Phone: 1-866-816-7604