How Bill S-216 Could Transform the Canadian Nonprofit Sector Forever

CharityVillage Connects

In our last episode of CharityVillage Connects, which explored alternative revenue streams for nonprofits, we touched on a piece of legislation that, if enacted, could have a dramatic impact on how charities do their work.

Bill S-216, otherwise known as the Effective and Accountable Charities Act, seeks to amend the Income Tax Act to empower charities by allowing them to more effectively collaborate with a wider range of organizations, including those without charitable status, which the Act refers to as “non-qualified donees”. Proponents of the Bill say the amendments are necessary to get rid of burdensome and expensive redtape and outdated legal bureaucracy. But the key shift proposed by Bill S-216 is much more aspirational: to eliminate the deeply-rooted and historic paternalism that many see embedded in the current rules about how charities can operate.

In this episode, we speak with Senator Ratna Omidvar, sponsor of Bill S-216, and with other nonprofit sector experts to explore the pros and cons of this legislation, as well as the deeper implications of what it means for Canadian charitable organizations if it becomes law.

Meet Our Guests in Order of Appearance

· The Honourable Ratna Omidvar, Senator for Ontario, The Senate of Canada

· Susan Manwaring, Partner at Miller Thomson LLP

· Cathy Taylor, Executive Director of the Ontario Nonprofit Network

· Mark Blumberg, Partner at Blumberg Segal LLP

· Bill Mintram, Director Indigenous and Northern Relations at Rideau Hall Foundation

· Kris Archie, Chief Executive Officer of The Circle on Philanthropy and Aboriginal Peoples in Canada (The Circle)

About your Host

Mary Barroll, president of CharityVillage, is an online business executive and lawyer with a background in media, technology and IP law. A former CBC journalist and independent TV producer, in 2013 she was appointed General Counsel & VP Media Affairs at CharityVillage.com, Canada’s largest job portal for charities and not for profits in Canada, and then President in 2021. Mary is also President of sister company, TalentEgg.ca, Canada’s No.1, award-winning job board and online career resource that connects top employers with top students and grads.

Resources from this Episode

We've gathered the resources from this episode into one helpful list:

· Bill S-216: The Effective and Accountable Charities Act

· Speech on Bill S-216 (The Honourable Ratna Omidvar)

· Open Letter by Charity Lawyers in Support of Bill S-216

· Unfunded: Black Communities Overlooked by Canadian Philanthropy (Foundation for Black Communities)

· Canadian charities giving to Indigenous Charities and Qualified Donees – 2018 (Canadian Charity Law)

· Concerns about Bill S-216 (Mark Blumberg)

· Orange Shirt Day

· Budget 2022 (Government of Canada News Release)

· Nonprofits brief MPs on impact of key legislation (Imagine Canada)

· Bill introduced in House of Commons to remove ‘direction and control’ (The Philanthropist)

· The new qualifying disbursements rules: An improvement? (Miller Thomson LLP)

Learn more and listen to the full interviews with the guests here.