FAQs

Q1. Who is the Canadian Rugby Foundation?

The Foundation was established in 2003 as a non-share capital corporation incorporated under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act and is a registered charity under the Income Tax Act (Canada) designated as a public foundation (registration number 869159186).

  • What is a charity? In Canada, a charity is a not-for-profit organisation established exclusively for charitable purposes and registered with the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA). Registered charities do not pay income tax and are legally permitted to issue official tax receipts to donors. Charitable purposes fall into 4 categories, which do NOT include operating a rugby club:
    • Relief of poverty: Examples include food banks and homeless shelters.
    • Advancement of education: Examples include universities and research institutes.
    • Advancement of religion: Examples include places of worship and missionary organisations.
    • Other purposes benefiting the community: Examples include animal shelters and public libraries.
  • What is a Foundation?  In Canada, a foundation is a type of registered charity used for philanthropic giving. Established as a trust or corporation, a foundation generally does not do direct charitable work. Instead, it raises or receives funds and distributes them as grants to other registered charities. Of the two types of foundations in Canada, Public Foundations and Private Foundations, the Canadian Rugby Foundation is a Public Foundation. This means that it generally receives funding from a variety of unrelated sources, such as public donations or multiple arm’s-length individual donations or contributors, and that it is governed by a board where more than 50% of the directors or trustees deal at arm’s length with each other.

Q2. What is the role of the Canadian Rugby Foundation?

The Canadian Rugby Foundation has as its mandate the building of permanent endowment funds and capital funds, the income from which will be used to develop and grow rugby in Canada. It is  administered by an independent Board of Directors elected by major donors or appointed by Rugby Canada

Its objectives are to:

  • Create funds across Canada to aid specific projects, entities, and areas such as clubs, schools, universities, regions, and student awards
  • Grow and promote the game from the grass-roots across Canada to the Senior Men’s and Women’s level
  • Build the capabilities of, and deepen the talent pool of, Canadian players, coaches, officials, and administrators.

The CRF manages endowed funds, helps create new funds, and disburses funds used for rugby-specific purposes, awards, and capital projects.

In addition, the CRF has funds dedicated to Rugby Canada teams and programs such as the Captains’ Fund which has provided extensive support to the Rugby Canada U20 program, and the Monty Heald National Women’s Fund which supports the National Senior Women’s Program, and the Men’s and the Women’s Age-grade Rugby teams.

The CRF also supports Canadian rugby initiatives and championships from its Unrestricted Fund (e.g., Men’s and Women’s High-performance Rugby Initiatives,  McTavish Cup (Canadian University Men’s Rugby Championship), and Thunder Indigenous Rugby).

Q3. What is an endowment fund within the Foundation?

Endowments are a donation of money or property to a non-profit organization, which uses the resulting investment income for a specific purpose.

  • Most endowments are designed to keep the principal amount intact while using the investment income for charitable efforts.
  • The funds are established by donors or sponsors (e.g., local rugby clubs, estates, and individual donors).
  • The endowment funds in the CRF are Restricted Endowments. These have their principal held in perpetuity, while the earnings from the invested assets are expended according to the donor’s preferences as specified in the CRF Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with each Fund Sponsor.
  • A minimum 50-year commitment is required for any endowed funds. Earlier capital withdrawals trigger a return of accumulated interest and any matched funds to the Canadian Rugby Foundation.

Q4. What is the matching contribution program?

The Foundation assists new funds with a matching contribution that enables a fund to reach a sustainable endowment level more quickly. Once a fund has reached the $20K threshold, it receives an initial matching grant of $5K, and then 25 per cent of any future donations to a maximum of $20K. This means when the fund reaches $80K in donations, it will have accrued a total matching grant of $20K, resulting in a $100K fund.

Q5. What are the returns on each fund’s assets?

All funds within the Foundation receive a return of 3.5 per cent and though not guaranteed, this target has been met every year since the CRF’s inception.

Returns or interest on endowed funds are calculated and published once a year.

  • Individual Year-end Fund reports are published in January/February.
  • Returns or interest is calculated on the average quarterly assets of the fund, and added to the fund after the completion of the year-end according to the following schedule:
    • For funds under $100K,  3.5 per cent. With the impact of the Foundation’s matching contributions, this averages about 4.4 per cent on the first $100K.
    • For funds over $100K, 3.5 per cent for the first $100K, and 4.5 per cent for assets over $100K
    • For funds over $500K to $999.9K, at the option of the fund sponsor, the Foundation’s market returns less an administration fee of 2.0 per cent.
    • For funds over $1M to $1.9M, at the option of the fund sponsor, the Foundation’s market returns less an administration fee of 1.75 per cent.
    • For funds over $2.0M (currently only the 6 Fletcher’s Fields Limited shareholders’ funds), the same return as the Foundation, less an administration fee ranging from 1.0 – 1.7 per cent.

The returns paid into the funds are paid out from the Foundation’s Unrestricted Fund, and the Adminstration Fees are paid into that same fund.

From time to time, the Board may authorise an increase to the annual payout based on anticipated investment returns and to comply with CRA requirements.

Q6. How are disbursements from an endowment  fund made?

  • All disbursements must be used for rugby-related purposes consistent with the Memorandum of Agreement. The CRA requires the Foundation to disburse a minimum of 5 per cent of its three-year rolling average assets; this relates to the overall Foundation, and not the individual funds. For the individual funds, the minimum and maximum disbursements are as follow, effective March 2023:
    • For Funds over $1M, a mandatory 5.0 per cent annually
    • For Funds between $100K and up to $999.9K a minimum 4.0 per cent up to 5.0 per cent annually
    • For Funds between $25K and up to $99.9K a minimum of 3.5% up to 5.0% annually
    • For Funds below $25K: No minimum payout and up to 5.0 per cent annually

 The representatives of the fund, appointed in the MOA and updated from time to time, determine how the annual distribution is spent in accordance with the requirements of the MOA and consistent with the Mission of the Foundation.

  • Fund disbursements are processed through Rugby Canada or other qualified donees approved by CRA, which include universities, and federal, provincial and municipal governments and their agencies, or other charities. Thus disbursements cannot be made to individuals or organizations such as local rugby clubs directly by the Canadian Rugby Foundation. The process for these disbursements, or grants are described in the RC-CRF Grant Manual.

Q7.  How are disbursements from a capital fund made?

Up to 100 per cent of the money donated to a Capital Fund may be withdrawn with the agreement of the Canadian Rugby Foundation and Rugby Canada not to be unreasonably withheld. Capital Funds are not eligible for the matching contributions.

The representatives of the fund, appointed in the MOA and updated from time to time, determine how the capital disbursement is spent in accordance with the requirements of the MOA and consistent with the Mission of the Foundation, but this must be for capital expenditures, not annual operating expenses.

Q8. Who manages the funds?

All funds are managed in a pooled investment account by Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel, a leading Canadian institutional investment manager and overseen by the Foundation’s Investment Committee in accordance with the Foundation’s Investment Policy Statement (IPS).

Optionally, at the discretion of the Fund Sponsors, the funds with over $2M in assets may, upon approval, have their own investment policy and have their assets invested and reported on separately, though still within the Foundation’s portfolio.

Q9. Who governs the Foundation?

The Foundation is overseen by a volunteer Board of Directors of 15 members elected by the Voting Members, with 1 Director appointed by Rugby Canada and 4 members appointed by the Fletcher’s Fields Limited Board of Directors. Voting members are those corporate and individual donors who have donated $25K or more over their lifetime, and one designated representative of each Fund whose assets have exceeded $100K for at least the two previous years.

Q10. How can I make a donation to the Foundation or one of its funds?

Donations can be made online through the Foundation’s online portal at CanadaHelps.org. This can be done through the Foundations Unrestricted Fund or any of the individual Restricted Funds’ donation page here. Note that there is a transaction fee charged by Canada Helps of approximately 3.0 per cent, so we encourage you to make larger ($1K or more) donations directly to the Foundation using the methods below. This ensures a greater percentage of the donation lands in the selected fund.

Direct donation methods

1) Cheque c/o Canadian Rugby Foundation, 709 Yates St., PO Box
8003, Victoria, BC, V8W 3R7 with the Fund name in the memo line of the
cheque and the donor’s name if it is written on a company cheque. Beware of
the threatened Canada Post strike, If you plan to send a cheque.

2) E-transfer: Send to payments@canadianrugbyfoundation.ca AND also send
email with the details of the deposit for tax and allocation purposes; i.e.,
Amount, Full Name, Address, Fund name to Breann King
at cdnrugbyfoundation.financial@gmail.com

3) Bank wire transfer using the banking information and address below and an
email to Breann King with the details of the deposit for tax and allocation
purposes; i.e., Amount, Full Name, Address, Fund Name
at cdnrugbyfoundation.financial@gmail.com
CIBC 3147 Douglas Street, Victoria, B.C.
Account No. #05030-7605617, Canadian Rugby Foundation,
Bank No. # 010, Swift # CIBCCATT

4) Securities or mutual funds
Go to: https://www.canadahelps.org/en/securities/donate or email Jeff Chan for
our Securities Donation or Mutual Fund Donation form with Leith Wheeler

Q11: How do I contact the Foundation?