Starting new activities

When your charity first applied for charitable status, it listed the specific activities that it would undertake to fulfill its charitable objects. If you plan on changing your charitable objects, click here.

If your charity plans to start any major new types of activities not mentioned in your application (that is, they are more than just a change in the scope of what has been done in the past), you should tell the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). These activities must support one or more of the organization’s existing charitable objects or purposes. Here are some examples of new activities that you should tell CRA about:

• Your charity is launching a new recurring event (for example, it will hold an annual continuing education conference when it has never offered continuing education programs before).
• Your charity is starting a new series of events (for example, it will offer weekly art classes when it has never offered classes before).
• Your charity plans on serving a new constituency (for example, it will serve children whereas it has traditionally served seniors).

Here are some examples of activities that you do not need to tell CRA about:

• Your charity is offering a new session in an existing annual conference or a new course in an existing continuing education program.
• Your charity is beginning a new advanced weekly art class when it already offers introductory art classes.
• Your charity is establishing a new program to serve pre-schoolers when it already serves school-age children.

If you are in doubt about whether you need to tell the CRA about a new activity, contact the CRA Helpline. When your charity is starting a new type of activity, tell CRA by postal mail or fax. Send the information to:

Charities Directorate
Canada Revenue Agency
Ottawa ON
K1A 0L5

Fax: 613-954-8037

You can use this template to prepare a letter to CRA.

You should receive a confirmation letter that CRA has received this information within about six months.

If you don't receive this confirmation letter, you should contact the CRA Helpline to confirm that the information has been recorded.

You may wish to make a note to yourself to follow up on this if you haven't received confirmation within six months.