Adam Parachin authored an article on charity law’s distinction between purposes and activities.
Charitable registration under the ITA is a momentous event in the life of a charity. But it is merely a beginning. From this point onward, the charity must translate into concrete action the exclusively charitable purposes required for charitable status. The organization’s emphasis shifts from becoming a registered charity to “doing charity”—from framing abstract charitable purposes to performing tangible charitable activities. Charitable purposes are necessary to achieve charitable status under the ITA, but doing charity is necessary to keep it.
