Bill 65 - Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 recognizes commercial activities for nonprofits in Ontario

At long last, the Not-for Profit Corporations Act has been introduced. The 'magnetic attractor' that galvanized the Ontario Nonprofit Network will, among other important governance issues, "allow not-for-profit corporations to engage in commercial activities where the revenues are reinvested in the corporation’s not-for-profit purposes."

This is huge in light of the original text and in the context of the growing federal concerns around nonprofits generating a planned surplus. A recognition that nonprofits can engage in commercial activities where revenues are reinvested in our social purpose is a huge step and reinforces the sectors efforts to build a stronger and more resilient nonprofit sector. After the expert reference group of ONN has a chance to go through the details, it will be fun to see how the details pan out, but I do believe that it is a call for celebration.

When this issue reared its head back in May 2008, we approached the government of Ontario from the perspective of building a partnership - an effort to jointly address the concerns affecting this huge sector in Ontario. We were delighted to find leadership at the Ministry of Citizenship, who, working with their colleagues in Government Services and now Consumer Services, were willing to undertake meaningful consultations and engage in a genuine collaboration. The introduction of this legislation is a huge step and sets an important platform for the "Partnership Project" that has been initiated (with our prompting) by the Ontario Trillium Foundation and the Ministry of Citizenship. We have a strong foundation for partnership moving forward.

The government is open to partnership and the sector is feeling more empowered than ever before. You can probably tell that I am hopeful about the process of strengthening this partnership. This said, it will be vital to be clear that the sector is an able-bodied, intelligent and professional sector that expects to be treated like the full and equal partner that we are becoming. Like all good partnerships, it will be essential to build respect and trust in order to ensure that this Bill 65 is only just the beginning of leveraging the true potential of the nonprofit sector to help fix our future.

The full bill is supposed to be at this link (wasn't there when I posted) http://www.ontla.on.ca/web/bills/bills_detail.do?locale=en&Intranet=&Bil...

and the Government Briefing is attached.