What’s the difference between a charity registered under the province and CRA?
In his office - He carries on his daily work as a senator at his office at the Senate Building. This is also where he receives guests and visitors from the Filipino community. Photo by Kubo Magazine
ACCEPTING NEW CHALLENGES Like any other immigrant, Tobias had a hard time convincing future employers to recognize his credentials from the Philippines. Armed with an Economics degree from Letran College and work experience in the banking sector, he knocked on doors of prospective employers when he set foot here in Canada about 30 years ago. Time and again, his credentials were always questioned. He first nailed down a job at CIBC and then jumped to BMO. Undeterred by trials and faced with a growing family, he went back to school. This time, the focus was on emerging technology: computers. When asked whether he got intimidated by new technology, he replied quickly: “No! You have to learn to adapt.” Tobias said that he accepted early on that he had to start from the bottom to be a success. “I realized that there’s a lot of challenges before I could prosper so what I did was to meet the challenge and accept the challenges. I worked from the mail room. I had to study. I had to
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take a lot of courses,” recalled Tobias. Tobias is married to Rosemer, and their three daughters are Rystle, Rocel and Reeza. He obtained a certificate on Computer Studies at Centennial College and earned a Masters certificate in Photo by Kubo Magazine Project Management from the Schulich School of Business at York University. “Sometimes, what you did in the Philippines, you might not be able to do (here) but as long as you are flexible enough, you take the necessary courses and get the necessary experience, eventually you will get into the niche that you need to be.” Due to this experience, the senator is in pursuit of getting the credentials from abroad recognized in Canada. He explained that the task is going to be complicated as education is under the provincial and territorial jurisdictions. When asked what the government could do for the community, he turned the tables around and echoed former U.S. president John F. Kennedy’s mantra: “For me, it’s not a matter of what the government can do for you, it’s what you can do for the country to make it better.”
Months after Tobias Enverga Jr. was appointed to the Senate as the first Filipino-Canadian appointee, he was dogged with by a controversy regarding a claim that an organization he recently founded is not a registered charity. “I have never claimed that the PCCF (Philippine Canadian Charitable Foundation) is registered with the CRA (Canada Revenue Agency),” he said to Kubo magazine. PCCF has been approved as a charity by Ontario’s Ministry of Government Services (MGS), which used to be called Ministry of Consumer and Commercial Relations. This corroborates President Romy Rafael’s post on the organization’s website early this year of its registration under the MCCR as a charity. The main difference between charities registered under Ontario versus CRA registered charities is the later is required to issue official receipts to donors. Apart from that, certain tax requirements also take effect and the charity is also obligated to file an annual Public Information Return and financial statements. Brendan Crawley, spokesman of the Ministry of the Attorney General, said that to be a registered charity under CRA is a two-step process. “The first step is to establish the charitable organization. This can be done by incorporating with the Ministry of Government of Services. The second step is to make a separate application under the Income Tax Act to Canada Revenue Agency to obtain a charitable registration number.” “Approved as charity means that the organization, having met certain requirements, was incorporated by the Ministry of Government Services as a charitable corporation,” he explains further. To confirm whether a charity is registered under the Ministry of Government Services, you can contact the Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee’s Charitable Property Program at 416-326-1963.