Recent amendments to the Canada Elections Act (the “Elections Act”) came into force and effect on June 13, 2019. This article summarizes these significant changes and how they impact non-profit organizations and registered charities.
Readers will recall that 2018 brought many changes to charities’ ability to carry out non-partisan political activities in furtherance of their charitable purposes. Miller Thomson LLP reported on the Canada Without Poverty v. AG Canada decision, as well as the amendments to the Income Tax Act (“ITA”) and new Canada Revenue Agency (“CRA”) guidance. The end result was the government confirmed charities could pursue public policy dialogue and development activities that further their charitable purposes without restriction provided the advocacy is non-partisan. Despite the changes that 2018 brought, charities still cannot support or involve themselves in any partisan political advocacy. If charities do, then they are violating their obligations under the ITA and run the risk of having their charitable status revoked.
The ITA is not the only law that regulates partisan activity. The Elections Act governs all organizations (including non-profits and charities) and what they can say and do (as well as how they can say and do it) in the pre-election period and during the election campaign.[1] Most of these regulations relate to transparency and accountability around what an organization supports during an election.
It should be noted that these regulations do not generally prohibit activity the way the ITA prohibits partisan activity for charities.[2] Rather, the Elections Act is a regulatory scheme that prescribes registering and reporting of activities that an organization or group of organizations pursues at the time of an election.
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