Alberta Registered Charity – Apply to CRA for Charitable Status

ACS is a private company. Our CORES-trained agents prepare your filing and submit it through a licensed Alberta registry agent. We are not a government office or a registry agent. The charity application goes to CRA, and we prepare it for you to submit under your organization's name.

Charity vs non-profit: what charitable status CRA grants

Incorporating a society or a non-profit company creates a legal entity under Alberta law. It does not make the organization a charity. Registered charity status is granted by the Canada Revenue Agency after the organization exists, and only to organizations whose purposes and activities are charitable.

The practical difference matters. A registered charity can issue donation receipts and must meet CRA's reporting rules every year. A non-profit that is not registered cannot issue those receipts. Which status your organization needs is a question for its board and, where the purposes are complex, a lawyer. We prepare the application; we do not give tax or legal advice.

Who this is for

• Boards of a new Alberta society or non-profit company who want to apply to CRA with purposes written to fit the charitable categories, rather than guessing at the wording.
• Community groups that have been fundraising informally and now need receipts, grant eligibility or a funder's requirement for registered status.
• Founders of a federal not-for-profit operating in Alberta who want the CRA application prepared alongside their Alberta registration.
• Organizers starting from zero, who need the society or company incorporated first and the charity application prepared as the next step.

How it works

1. Confirm the organization exists. If it does not, we incorporate an Alberta society, an Alberta non-profit company or a federal not-for-profit first.
2. Order online (about 20 minutes). Describe what the organization does, who benefits, where the money comes from and where it goes. The price is shown before you pay.
3. We draft the purposes and activities so each purpose fits a charitable category and each activity shows how that purpose is carried out. Where the purposes are complex, we recommend a lawyer review the draft before it is filed.
4. We assemble the application with your governing documents and the supporting information CRA asks for, within 5 business days of receiving everything.
5. You submit to CRA under the organization's name, and we send you a checklist for what to expect while CRA reviews it.

Common mistakes we catch before filing

• Purposes copied from the society's bylaws that are social or recreational rather than charitable.
• A purpose that is charitable paired with activities that do not show how it is carried out.
• Applying before the organization exists, so CRA has no entity to register.
• Governing documents that allow property to go to members, which conflicts with charitable status.
• Treating the application as a one-time task and missing the reporting obligations that start on registration.

What you need before you start

1. Proof the organization exists. The Certificate of Incorporation for the society, non-profit company or federal not-for-profit, with its governing documents (bylaws or articles).
2. A clear statement of purposes. What the organization exists to do, in plain language. We rewrite it to fit the charitable categories.
3. A description of activities. The programs, services or grants that carry out each purpose, who benefits and where they happen.
4. Directors and officers. Names, addresses and roles for the people who run the organization.
5. Finances. Where the money will come from, how it will be spent, and a simple budget for the first year.
6. A contact person with authority from the board to sign the application and deal with CRA.

Requirements in Alberta

• An existing organization. CRA registers an organization that already exists: an Alberta society under the Societies Act, a non-profit company under Part 9 of the Companies Act, or a federal not-for-profit corporation.
• Charitable purposes. Each purpose must fall under relief of poverty, advancement of education, advancement of religion, or other purposes beneficial to the community that the law regards as charitable.
• The application is federal. It goes to the Canada Revenue Agency, not to Alberta Corporate Registry, and CRA charges no fee for it.
• Provincial filings continue. A society or non-profit company keeps filing its Alberta annual return after it becomes a charity.
• After registration: donation receipts under CRA rules and the annual T3010 information return.

The CRA review is the longest part of the process and runs after our work is finished. Plan your fundraising around CRA's decision, not around the application date.