INTRODUCTION:
Observations and Findings
Six observations can be made about the electronic resources related to charity
law and regulation that are available to the public and sector participants.
1. Electronic resources are difficult to locate.
The search for web resources was conducted by a trained library technician
under the direction of, and assisted by, a professional librarian. Both are
highly proficient in web searching. Despite their expertise, they found it
difficult to locate some web resources.
Initial searches were conducted using common search strategies and terminology
that might be used by members of the public on popular search engines (e.g.
Google, Yahoo, Explorer, Netscape, or using government sites). This type
of search was not highly productive. Although some key resources could be
found this way, many were missed. Search results varied widely depending
upon the search engine and the terminology used.
Follow up searches were done using advanced search strategies such as might
be used by librarians and other professionals. There were still difficulties
in finding materials, and in feeling comfortable that all relevant sources
had been located.
Key materials are scattered, sometimes difficult to find. Logical search
techniques did not produce quality results. There is no single source where
Canadians might start their search for suitable web resources with the confidence
that they will find the appropriate and applicable information they need.
2. There are wide variations in the approach that is taken to organizing
information about charity law.
The lack of consistency in the approach to organizing information from province
to province, both in how websites are used to convey information and in how
charities are handled within the administrative structure poses a significant
challenge for members of the public and the sector in locating information.
It is very difficult to know where to look for information about charities
on a particular provincial government website. For example, in Ontario
some information is found on the Attorney General website in the section
related
to the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee; in Alberta, similar
information is found under Alberta Government Services; in British Columbia,
under Corporate
Registry; and in Québec, under Revenu Québec. Even within
a particular government website, inconsistencies appeared in the organization
of information related to charity law.
Every province has a different manner of naming the legislation applicable
to charities. For example, Alberta has the Charitable Fund-raising
Act while Ontario has the Charities Accounting Act covering
the same information. Although this is understandable in a federal
system, it creates barriers for people searching for the legislation
relevant to their particular province. No province has succeeded in
drawing together all relevant information in one location. For example,
in Ontario there is information concerning charity regulation within
the following provincial and federal acts [Hoffstein, M. E., Carter,
T. S., & Parachin, A. (Eds.) (2003). Charities law, 2003/2004
Edition. Butterworths Canada Ltd.]:
• Charitable Gifts Act
• Charities Accounting Act
• Trustee Act
• Corporations Act of Ontario
• Donation of Food Act
• Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Inquiries Act
• Religious Organizations' Lands Act
• University Foundations Act
• Canada Corporations Act
• Cultural Property Export and Import Act
• Charities Registration (Security Information) Act
• Canada-United States Tax Convention Act, 1984
• Income Tax Act (Canada)
3. Electronic resources on applicable provincial law and regulation are
scarce and hard to locate.
While some good quality resources related to provincial laws and regulation
are available on the web, they are scarce and not easily located. Where available,
most of the provincial resources about charity law and regulation come directly
from provincial governments and are often integrated with more general non-profit
information pages. Although each province has relevant legislation online,
it is difficult to determine how to find the appropriate acts and regulations
or to know what name to search under. Many provincial government pages for
charity information refer directly back to the federal CRA charities page.
Where information is available, it is often scattered through a variety of
locations on the site.
Resources providing “how-to” information or online forms and
instructions are not generally available from provincial government sites.
British Columbia provides an online information package for registering non-profit
entities, but it is buried within a larger corporate registry package, and
does not show up on a search for “charities” or “charity”.
Ontario provides an online handbook for non-profit incorporation. However,
it is found under “Other Services” of the Public Guardian and
Trustee, which is found under Family Justice section of the Attorney General’s
webpage.
Québec has extensive resources but they are located in a variety
of locations and are somewhat difficult to find. Saskatchewan Justice
has a number of worthwhile webpages related to charities found under
the section on corporations and business regulation. Alberta has wide
variety and quality of resources specifically related to charity law
and regulation and organized in a user-friendly manner on the Government
Services webpage.
4. There are few sources of electronic information about charity
law and regulation.
The primary sources of information for both the public and the sector are
the federal government, the sector itself, and private law firms. There appears
to be very little work done with respect to charity law by the major public
legal education organizations in Canada. Aside from the Legal Studies Program
at the University of Alberta, only two other Canadian public legal education
organizations have been included in this bibliography.
Many of the websites of charity sector organizations concentrate on fundraising
and operations, but do not deal in any comprehensive way with law and regulation.
These were not included in the bibliography. Others (such as Canadian Centre
for Philanthropy, Volunteer Sector Initiative, nonprofitscanada.ca) are included
if they provide significant information about the law.
5. Searching for electronic information is complex because a wide variety
of terminology is used to describe the charitable sector.
The minimal quality of the search functions on several sites means that
any inconsistency in terminology creates unreliable search results. For
instance, using “charities” instead of “charity” produces quite
different results. Even greater inconsistencies appear if the user chooses
to search for charity law by using the terms “non-profit”, “nonprofit”,
or “not-for-profit”.
6. There is a limited number of high quality resources designed for the
public.
Quality resources designed for the public do exist, but there are
few of them. Some notable exceptions include Canada Revenue Agency
newsletters, the Not-for-Profit law column in LawNow
magazine, the Not-for-Profit and Charity Law website, Revenu Québec,
and Charity Village. Our searchers found no guides or tip sheets for
users who want to find out about charity law by using the web.
There are many excellent full-text resources available, but they are almost
exclusively aimed at professionals and are academic in nature.
There is a lack of resources in languages other than English.
The researchers found no attempts to address accessibility issues (e.g.
larger print options).
Introduction: Selection Parameters
