Identification

• Bill C-21 is a law passed by the Canadian government in 2009. Its short title is the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act. This law is stated to allow nonprofits to spend less time on paperwork and more time on their missions, according to Minister Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State (Small Business and Tourism), who is in charge of the government unit overseeing nonprofits and charitable trusts.
  
  

Reasoning

• The purpose of the new law is to assist nonprofit corporations and other non-share capital corporations. The new act replaces provisions of the Canada Corporations Act (CCA) that had remained largely unchanged since its passage in 1917. The new act was set to improve the financial accountability of nonprofit organizations as well as clarify the responsibilities of the directors and board members.
  
  

Effects

• This legislation replaces Parts 2 and 3 of the Canada Corporations Act. Part 2 covered the requirements for federal nonprofit corporations. Part 3 dealt with corporations without share capital that were created by Special Acts of Parliament. A nonprofit must amend the corporation by-laws and file new articles of incorporation with Corporations Canada. When this happens, the nonprofit will be issued a continuance certificate to replace any current authorization letters previously issued by Corporations Canada. Corporations subject to Part 2 of the Canada Corporations Act are required to transition to the new law within three years of the new law being enforced. There will be no fees for this process.
  
  

Significance

• This is the first piece of legislation by the Canadian government to simplify the regulations for nonprofit organizations. All nonprofit corporations must comply with the guidelines in effect under the Not-for-profit Corporations Act. If a corporation under this mandate fails to make the transition, the corporation will be dissolved.
  
  

Governance

• This act is enforceable by Corporations Canada, which handles all corporate procedures and guidelines. The jurisdiction was given by the Department of Small Business and Tourism.