Assisting people affected by the conflict in Syria
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Assisting people affected by the conflict in Syria
Registered charities
Generally, if your charity has a purpose that permits it to assist or sponsor refugees, it can conduct activities to further this purpose, including fundraising activities. This could include, for example, a purpose to relieve poverty by giving financial assistance to refugees or to facilitate the settlement of refugees by providing supports, including interpretation, counselling, and employment preparation and assistance. It could also include some purposes that advance religion. Your charity can also gift funds raised for these purposes to other registered charities that are established to carry out such purposes.
To avoid placing your registered status in jeopardy, if your charity wants to carry out new programs and activities, you should contact the Charities Directorate to make sure the proposed activities are permitted and determine whether your charitable purposes should be amended.
A charity's purposes (sometimes referred to as objects) are the goals or objectives the charity is created to achieve. Each of its purposes should be stated in its governing document(s), which could be in the form of letters patent, articles of incorporation, a trust document, or a constitution. A charity's purposes may be different from its mission statement. If you cannot locate your governing document(s), you can contact the Charities Directorate for help. For more information, go to Governing documents.
You can ask the Charities Directorate to review your existing purposes and proposed activities, and it will consider them on a priority basis. A charity that wants to conduct new activities should give the Charities Directorate a detailed statement of those activities to make sure they further the charity's purposes. For more information on new activities, go to Changing a charity's activities.
Yes, a charity can change or add to its purposes. If you want to do so, you should send your proposed purposes to the Charities Directorate for review, along with a detailed statement of the activities you intend to conduct to further the purposes. The Charities Directorate will consider them on a priority basis. If they are acceptable, you can then amend your governing documents. For more information on changing purposes, go to Changing a charity's purposes.
It is important to note, however, that there are existing registered charities established to assist or sponsor refugees that have systems in place to effectively conduct such activities. Donating to and working with these organizations may be a more efficient use of resources.
You can apply to the Canada Revenue Agency to be registered, and applications with purposes that address such emergencies will be considered on a priority basis. However, processing new applications may take longer than other options, and setting up the infrastructure required to sponsor refugees may be complex. If you want to provide assistance, we encourage you to work with existing registered charities that are established for, and carrying out, assistance programs. For more information, go to Is registration right for you?
Donors
Only Canadian registered charities and other qualified donees can issue official donation receipts in Canada.
If you have not identified an organization to which you want to donate, you can check federal and provincial websites on humanitarian assistance efforts arising from the conflict, which may help you to identify organizations involved in relief activities. If you want to donate to an organization that is a Canadian registered charity, you should verify the status of the organization by looking at the Canada Revenue Agency's List of charities.
Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is co-ordinating the refugee identification and settlement process in Canada. Also, that department has extensive information on refugee resettlement on the #WelcomeRefugees section of its website, including information on organizations involved in sponsorship. Many of those organizations are registered charities. However, you should verify registration by checking the List of charities. There are also provincial and municipal websites that provide comprehensive information on sponsorship organizations and how individuals can provide assistance.
Donors can gift funds to a registered charity with a general direction that they be used in a particular program of the charity, such as its refugee assistance program. However, all decisions regarding the use of a donation within a program, including what specific beneficiaries will benefit from the donation, must rest with the charity.
If the fair market value of the items can be determined, the charity may be able to issue an official donation receipt. You should contact the charity to confirm this. For more information on receipting, go to Issuing receipts.
A donation may be claimed on your income tax and benefit return in the year it is made or in any of the five years after that year. For example, a donation made in 2015 can be claimed in 2015 or a later year, up to and including 2020.
You can review the Charities and giving webpages. If you still have questions or concerns, you can contact the Charities Directorate as shown below.
Charities Directorate Client Service
Telephone:
1-800-267-2384
TTD/TTY:
1-800-665-0354 – for the hearing and speech impaired
Fax:
613-954-8037
- Date modified:
- 2017-04-27