Family charitable foundations are often equally about the family working together as they are about charity. While the purpose of a foundation must be exclusively charitable, the founders’ hope is that future generations of family will have a place to work together and act on their values. But how,…
Category: Philanthropy/Charitable Giving
Total 164 Posts
The tax treatment in Canada of testamentary charitable remainder trusts (CRT) has long been an exercise of metaphysical complexity. Although a charity may receive property from a trust established by will, tax receipts are rare. What looks like a gift isn’t for tax purposes. The new “estate donation” rules in…
Contrary to public perception, it is quite common for charities to die. The majority of charities are small, volunteer-run entities and some run out of steam and are deregistered. Since 2011, over 7,536 charities have had their status revoked by Canada Revenue Agency for reasons ranging from exhaustion and mergers…
On January 15th, 2016 the Department of Finance announced changes to the trust and estate donation rules that came into effect at the beginning of 2016. Three measures affected charitable donations, including two improvements to the “estate donation” rule. 1. Timing of Transfer Estate donations – gifts by will and…
Fine art is an asset class that has been growing in importance among the affluent and is beginning to be a significant part of certain estate plans. One estimate pegged the international art market at €51 billion in 2014, and Canada has seen record prices at auction. Many collectors are…
Pretty much anything related to Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan garners headlines. The announcement that they would be giving away 99 percent of their fortune – currently worth $45 billion in Facebook shares – prompted visions of a massive private foundation in the manner of Bill…
In the first half of the 20th century Lionel Conacher was perhaps the most famous for his multiple endeavours, but there are some recent candidates.
The combination of “private foundation and perpetuity” is a bit like “Fred and Ginger”, always linked in the public mind. Since 2000, however, the charitable status of 1,750 Canadian private foundations has been revoked. Of that number, 1,088 private foundations deregistered on a voluntary basis at the request of trustees…
The Health Innovation Collaborative (HIC) is a three year project supported by The Green Shield Canada Foundation . Under the helm of Sarah Saso, the executive director, funding was provided to bring major community based organizations to collaborate to improve the lives of seniors. The goal of the project was…
Norwegian lawyer Fredrik Heffermehl thinks the Nobel Foundation has blatantly ignored the intentions of Alfred Nobel for his namesake Peace Prize. Nobel’s will stipulated that the prize be awarded to the ”most worthy champions of peace”. Specifically it should go to “the person who shall have done the most or…