This article explains the 2025 financial statement requirements for not-for-profit organizations (including registered charities) incorporated under the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA) and Canada Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (CNCA).
In recent years, significant changes have been made to modernize the legislation governing non-for-profit organizations in Canada. Previously regulated under various jurisdictional Corporations Acts, these entities often faced challenges as laws designed for for-profit enterprises were not always suitable for the not-for-profit sector. To address this, the CNCA came into effect in 2011 for federally incorporated not-for-profits.
Similarly, our home province of Ontario passed the ONCA in 2010, and it officially came into effect on October 19, 2021. A three-year transitional period was given to existing not-for-profit organizations registered in Ontario prior to October 19, 2021, to align with ONCA’s financial reporting and compliance requirements. The transitional period ended on October 18, 2024.
Every not-for-profit must prepare financial statements each year which comply with the annual requirements of the ONCA and CNCA. The financial statements must be prepared in accordance with Canadian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) as set out in the CPA Canada Handbook.
The ONCA classifies not-for profit organizations as public benefit corporations and non-public benefit corporations. An organization is a public benefit corporation if it is a registered charity or if it has received more than $10,000 annually in a financial year from the government or as public donations from people or organizations who are not members, employees, officers, or directors.
The financial statement requirements under the ONCA are as follows:
The CNCA classifies not-for-profit organizations as soliciting corporations and non-soliciting corporations. An organization is considered soliciting when it has received more than $10,000 yearly from public sources in a financial year. Public sources include gifts or donations from non-members, grants from government and funds from another corporation that also received income from public sources.
The financial statement requirements for soliciting corporations under the CNCA are as follows:
The financial statement requirements for non-soliciting corporations under the CNCA are as follows:
Contact Ratanamol Toor, CPA, Partner at Forbes Andersen LLP. If you would like additional information or clarification regarding your organization’s financial reporting requirements, Ratanamol can be reached at ratanamol.toor@fa.ca or by phone at 416-947-0464 ext 251.
