Policy Statement

Registration of Organizations Directed at Youth

Reference Number
CPS-015

Effective Date
Revised June 30, 2005

Purpose
This policy statement outlines the Directorate's policy on the registration of applicant organizations directed at youth.

Definitions

youth: youth are people who have not fully reached an age of maturity - the range is between 0 years of age and the early twenties - some full-time university students can qualify as youth if they have continuously been in school

Statement
The courts have recognized as charitable organizations directed at addressing specific problems faced by young people.

Implementation

1. This policy applies to applicant organizations and registered charities directed at youth.

2. To qualify for registration as a charity, organizations directed at youth must be established for the purpose of addressing and preventing specific problems faced by youth, from juvenile delinquency, substance abuse, eating disorders, to teen pregnancies, depression, family conflicts, suicide.

Public benefit

3. The courts have recognized that youth is a sufficient segment of the community. However, the courts do not recognize young people in and of themselves as a class of acceptable beneficiaries of charity. Therefore, an organization with a purpose to simply assist young people would not qualify as charitable.

4. An organization does not need to restrict its activities to troubled or high-risk youth, as long as it provides services and facilities to all youth in the community for the sole purpose of addressing and preventing problems among youth.

5. An organization may restrict its activities to a particular class of youth, for example, to address specific problems encountered by aboriginal youth[Footnote 1], or to address the needs of street kids by providing food and shelter, counselling for victims of physical or sexual abuse, mediation with family members, training in literacy, job skills training.

6. Restrictions should not be placed on eligible beneficiaries that are not consistent with the organization's purposes and activities.

Charitable purposes and activities

7. An organization's purposes must accurately reflect its charitable intentions and restrict its programs and activities to its purposes. If an organization's activities are clearly acceptable but its objects are broad and vague and do not clearly state a charitable purpose (e.g., to represent and promote the interests of youth, to be a voice for youth, or to give youth a sense of belonging), the organization will be required to amend the wording of its formal objects to reflect the problems it actually addresses.

Distinction between the various youth organizations

Community youth organizations

8. A community youth organization can qualify for registration if it operates to prevent and address problems of delinquency and substance abuse by providing crisis counselling, workshops, athletics, instruction in handicrafts and opportunities for healthy recreation.

9. An organization that provides only social or recreational activities, without any structure or a focused attempt to help youth deal with their problems, cannot qualify for registration. "Keeping kids off the streets" is not, in and of itself, a charitable purpose. The rationale being, that without monitoring, teaching, role models or structured activities, youth are still being left to fend for themselves.

10. An organization that provides job skills training and employment assistance can qualify for registration if, in fact, it helps youth find jobs, provide on-the-job training, access to investment funds, and/or common services to assist in preparing resumes[Footnote 2], including helping university students gain practical business training and experience, particularly in the area of decision-making and business responsibility.

11. Promoting youth employment is charitable if the overall aim is to advance education by training young people for a career, or if the training is directed at youth with identified problems, such as training young people with attention deficit disorders.

12. Detox/rehabilitation centres that focus primarily on youth, as opposed to the community as a whole, can qualify and meet the public benefit test provided a connection exists between the service being provided and the special needs of youth.

13. The courts have recognized as charitable programs that advance education, for example, outings and exchange programs, programs that develop positive emotional and moral maturity, leadership skills, good citizenship, social interaction with the opposite sex in supervised settings, as well as programs or facilities for studying and tutoring. However, not every activity involving young people can be seen as inherently educational. Arranging a visit to a historical building may not advance education as it is understood in charity law, but a guided visit to a historical building accompanied by a qualified teacher would be.

14. An organization that provides social or recreational activities for children who would otherwise be left without supervision can qualify for registration. For example, providing latch-key children from harm by providing safety facilities and after school programs, including programs for the safety for children in communities such as block parent organizations.

15. An organization that operates for the protection of children who are at risk or prone to being harmed if left to themselves, or susceptible to victimization because of their relative weakness, can qualify for registration. These organizations operate safe houses for runaways, orphanages, homes for battered children, care for the very young living in poverty.

16. An organization that promotes sports for youth cannot qualify for registration even though it could be argued that sports build character and provide young people with an alternative to loitering in the streets. However, the presence of sports and recreational activities does not necessarily preclude registration as described in paragraph 21.

Programs and activities for youth

17. Counselling and/or workshops that carry out programs to hold discussion groups on topics such as drug or alcohol abuse, depression, suicide or eating disorders, can qualify for registration.

18. Life skills training, such as mentoring services, anger management, how to cope with bullying or peer pressure, how to apply for a job, or how to manage money, can be combined with a detox centre or a rehabilitation service or with a counselling facility. Any combination of these activities will qualify for registration provided the activities carried out are by qualified personnel.

Drop-in centres

19. Drop-in centres will only qualify if they carry out structured programs or activities that are clearly directed toward resolving problems facing youth. Drop-in centres usually include counselling and/or life skills training, on-the-job training, and the following:

1. A safe environment prohibiting alcohol, drugs, weapons or fighting on the premises with specific instructions that individuals under the influence of drugs or alcohol will not be admitted. A drop-in centre is not required to operate only in high-crime or impoverished areas as problems facing young people often arise regardless of their social or economic circumstances. They are often established in affluent neighbourhoods and address problems of substance abuse, delinquency, truancy, or vandalism in these communities.

2. Adult supervision at all times. There should be at least one responsible adult aged 19 or older, on site at all times, to help direct activities, resolve conflicts, and deal with emergency situations. The organization must have qualification criteria and a screening system for individuals working with young people in order to know their age, experience, educational requirements, first aid training, references, police background check for criminal records. Some organizations have on staff social workers, physicians, psychologists, or conflict mediators, while others with fewer resources might recruit individuals who do not have extensive education, but who do have experience working with youth, have an excellent rapport with young people and can serve as instructive role models.

3. An opportunity for young people to share the responsibilities of operating a drop-in centre for young people permitting them to actively participate in its operations, providing self-help and peer support programs, allowing them to help in delivering the programs, participating in the decision making process, assisting in maintaining the facilities, and helping to plan and carry out fundraising activities.

4. Recognition and/or participation in police programs, the courts, a school system, or agencies and organizations that provide social services and refer clients to drop-in centre, and where the drop-in centre may also refer its clients. These organizations often carry out programs that are recognized and funded by municipal or other government bodies.

Recreational activities

20. An organization that is established solely for recreational purposes cannot be considered charitable. However, providing equipment, space, facilities or other opportunities for ancillary recreational activities, such as handicrafts and hobbies, or for sports such as skateboarding, pick-up basketball games or Frisbee, could be acceptable.

21. Generally, an organization should have a structured approach to helping young people, but structure can vary widely from one organization to another. It is considered charitable for an organization to have a relatively unstructured approach to achieve its goals, providing a definite objective exists, and there is an active or interactive role for its staff. For example, encouraging youth to participate in supervisory or administrative capacities, providing there is a monitoring system in place. Or, an organization that operates a centre may have no set agenda but maintains several adult supervisors who interact with youth, are available for counselling and/or listening, and who also organize recreational activities on an ad hoc basis.

22. Recreational camps that are characterized as religious can qualify as charitable to advance education, providing the recreational activities are subsidiary to its religious purposes[Footnote 3].

Social activities

23. Social activities in and of themselves are not charitable, for example, coffee houses, weekend dance parties, places to play cards or video games. Issues such as delinquency or substance abuse will not necessarily nor actively be addressed by simply providing opportunities or facilities where undetermined activities will take place.

24. An organization that is clearly established with charitable purposes can carry out a variety of secondary social activities, such as youth dances, movie nights, concerts, sleigh rides, trips to sporting events, or ski weekends, providing they are supervised by responsible staff. These activities can be offered to prevent boredom, to provide a constructive alternative to undesirable environments that contribute to youth problems, or to encourage young people to return and participate in other programs conducted by the organization. While there is no formula for an acceptable proportion of charitable versus social or recreational activities, the critical factor is the degree of supervision or interaction that exists for these activities, and to what degree these activities are connected and are secondary to the structured programs offered by the organization.

25. Social activities for developmentally challenged or disabled youth are not subject to this policy statement. Organizations that assist developmentally disabled clients to integrate into society, or to provide social and/or physical rehabilitation qualify under the following category of charitable purposes, other purposes beneficial to the community, more specifically, providing relief to the disabled.

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References

• La Maisonnée de Hauterive Inc. v. Canada (Minister of National Revenue) (2001 FCA 171), 2001-05-29.

Footnotes

[Footnote 1]

Benefits to Aboriginal Peoples, CPS-012.

[Footnote 2]

Charities Commissioner Report,1980, p. 27.

[Footnote 3]

Camp Kahquah Corporation Ltd. v. The Queen (1998), Tax Court of Canada, 96-2348(GST).
Shoger Foundation v. Commissioner of Internal Revenue (1981), 76 T.C. (No.28) 2,877.