Many Mansions – Federal Court of Appeal confirms revocation of charity’s registration on the grounds that it let its pastor occasionally use office space in his personal business

Laskin JA confirmed CRA’s decision to revoke the charitable registration of a charity (Many Mansions, whose object was advancing Christian tenets and observances) on various grounds, including that it “furnished its pastor with an office and permitted him on three occasions during the audit period to use meeting rooms on Many Mansions’ premises in operating a private business.” He rejected Many Mansions’ submission that such use “was merely ancillary or incidental to the fulfilment of Many Mansions’ charitable purposes,” and found:

While paragraph 149.1(6)(a) permits a charitable organization itself to carry on a related business without contravening the requirement to devote all its resources to charitable activities, the pastor’s private business does not come within this exception.

Neal Armstrong. Summaries of Many Mansions Spiritual Center, Inc. v. Canada (National Revenue), 2019 FCA 189 under s. 168(1)(b) and s. 168(1)(e).