Ministerial Order to Address Legislative Requirements for Charities Under the Charitable Fund-Raising Act
On April 9, the Government of Alberta issued a Ministerial Order that provides administrative relief to temporarily modify provisions in several acts and regulations related to timelines, location, and distance, as well as utility payments and access to information requests, including the Charitable Fund-raising Act and the Charitable Fund-raising Regulation.
These changes provide relief to charities during this challenging time as they respond to the COVID-19 pandemic while also remaining compliant to existing legislation and regulations. The changes will remain in place for the duration of Alberta’s State of Public Health Emergency.
Under the Charitable Fund-raising Act, the following changes are made:
Section 11 (2) requires a fund-raising business to deposit monetary contributions into the charitable organization’s bank account within 3 days. This has been extended to 15 days to accommodate COVID-19 challenges.
Under the Charitable Fund-Raising Regulation, the following changes are made:
Section 9 (5) regulation sets out the time period for the registration of a charitable organization which may not exceed 12 months. Section 9 (5.1) is added to state that any existing charitable organization registration that expires during the order is extended by 3 months.
Section 10 (5) sets the time period for the license of a fund-raising business which may not exceed 12 months. Section 10 is modified to add 10 (4.1) which sets out that any existing fund-raising business license that expires during the order is extended by 3 months.
For more information on the Ministerial Order, click here.