Throughout June, various pieces of federal legislation progressed through Parliament that will impact the charitable sector. The following update is current as of the time that Parliament rose for its summer recess in late June.

Bill C-31, budget 2014 implementation legislation

On June 19, Bill C-31 (Economic Action Plan 2014 Act, No. 1), which implements a portion of Budget 2014’s proposal that affects charities, received Royal Assent. As a result of the Bill C-31 amendments, several proposals have come into force. The carry-forward period has been extended from five to ten years for certain donations of ecologically sensitive land and applies to donations made after February 10. The Minister of National Revenue has now received a new de-registration power, which enables the minister to refuse to register a charity or revoke its registration where it accepts a donation from a state supporter of terrorism. The provision granting this power applies to gifts accepted after February 10. For certified cultural property acquired as part of a gifting arrangement that is a tax shelter, the exemption that deems the value of a gift to be no greater than its cost to the donor has been removed. This has also come into force and applies to donations made after February 10.

Bill C-31, Trade-marks Act amendments

Bill C-31 also contains provisions that will amend the Trade-marks Act. These amendments will come into force on a day to be fixed by order of the Governor in Council. The amendments are intended to ensure that Canada meets its international trade-mark obligations as defined in the Nice Agreement, the Madrid Protocol and the Singapore Treaty on the Law of Trade-marks.

According to the Canadian intellectual property office, the coming-into-force date will not be determined until after the trademark regulations have been revised and relevant IT systems have been updated. Those within the sector estimate that it may take one year or longer before the amendments are fully implemented.

Upon proclamation, changes will include the following:

• A reduction of registration terms from 15 to 10 years.
• The abolition of trade-mark use requirements to obtain a trade-mark registration. As such, applicants will not need to identify a date of first use of a mark in Canada. Further, an applicant for a trade-mark in Canada will not have to file a declaration of use as a condition to trade-mark registration.
• The expansion of the definition of a trade-mark to include more types of non-traditional marks, including 3-dimensional shapes, holograms, moving images, sounds and textures.
• The adoption of the goods and services classification system under the Nice Agreement, which is currently in use in other jurisdictions, such as the USA and EU.

Canadian charity and nonprofit brand owners who have previously relied on unregistered common law trade-mark rights should anticipate an influx of trade-mark applications in Canada. The brand owners will want to consider taking steps to secure registration of their unregistered common law trade-marks in Canada, ideally before the new legal regime comes into force.

Bill S-4, the Digital Privacy Act

Despite a much-published warning from Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien, the government is moving forward with Bill S-4 (the Digital Privacy Act). The bill has been passed at the Senate and entered into first reading in the House of Commons on June 17. It proposes amendments to the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA) that would expand organizations’ ability to disclose personal information to certain organizations and individuals without the subject’s knowledge or consent. In certain instances, Bill S-4 will also prohibit organizations from informing individuals that their personal information was shared with enforcement and security agencies.

In steep contrast to this new legislation, the Supreme Court of Canada eviscerated voluntary disclosure by organizations on June 13 in R. v Spencer (2014 SCC 43). In light of this decision, the Privacy Commissioner is encouraging “Parliamentarians to carefully consider the implications of this ruling as they deliberate” on the legislation. The House of Commons began their summer break on June 23 and is not set to resume until September 15. As such, Bill S-4 will remain in limbo until that time.

Criminal Code regulations on terrorist entities updated

Charities that conduct foreign activities need to be aware of terrorist entities listed under the Criminal Code. On June 6, the Regulations Amending the Regulations Establishing a List of Entities annexed to the Criminal Code of Canada were amended to include two new terrorist entities. The terrorist entities list now includes the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) as well as Al-Murabitoun. Along with 61 other listed terrorist entities, it is now a criminal offence to knowingly deal in the property or finances of these groups.

2015 federal budget pre-budget consultation launched

On June 6, the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance launched its pre-budget consultation process for the 2015 federal budget and has invited the Canadian public to participate in the process. The Minister of Finance will consider suggestions along with the pre-budget report compiled by the committee when developing the 2015 federal budget. The budget almost always impacts charities in some way. As such, all charities with concerns are encouraged to participate in the pre-budget consultation process. Written submissions must be made by the August 6, 2014 midnight (EST) deadline and must be no longer than 2,000 words in length, including an executive summary.

For more details on the consultation and for contact information, please visit here.

Terrance S. Carter, B.A., LL.B., TEP, Trade-mark Agent, is managing partner of Carters Professional Corporation, practicing charity and not-for-profit law, and intellectual property law, is editor of www.charitylaw.ca and can be reached at tcarter@carters.ca.