New Public Policy Advocacy Rules for Charities
The federal government is introducing a new set of rules to govern charities’ public policy advocacy.
You may be wondering:
These Qs and As, developed jointly by Imagine Canada, Philanthropic Foundations Canada, and the Ontario Nonprofit Network, may be of help.
What the proposed rules might mean for your organization
How much public policy advocacy would our charity be allowed to do?
The proposed rules say you would be able to engage without limitation in public policy dialogue and development activities* as long as those activities further your charitable purposes**.
Charities would still be completely prohibited from engaging in any partisan activities***.
* Public policy dialogue and development activities can involve research, convening discussions and conferences, and attempts to inform the public and shape public opinion. They can also involve trying to influence the laws, policies or decisions of a government.** The definition of charitable purposes would not change. It still would not include political purposes. To learn more about charitable purposes, click here.
*** Partisan activities include supporting or opposing, directly or indirectly, any political party or candidate for public office.
Why is the Government proposing these changes?
The government has reaffirmed that “charities play an important role in bringing people together and building strong communities—as well as helping to inform public debate and the creation of public policy.” The Government has therefore proposed amendments to the Income Tax Act to change the rules for charities so that they have the full ability to pursue their charitable purposes by engaging in non-partisan political activities and the development of public policy.
Do we still need to keep track of the resources we dedicate to public policy advocacy for the Canada Revenue Agency?
The so-called 10% rule will no longer be applied. At this point we don’t know how the CRA will treat reporting of activities in the annual reporting form, the T3010. It is good practice to keep track of how as a charity you are administering your resources on all activities.