Have Questions? We’re here to help.

If you are a charity, fundraiser or donor, please reach out to us at info@canadahelps.org and we will make sure your question reaches the right person!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

If you have a common question, you might be able to save yourself a phone call or an email by reviewing the list of frequently asked questions and their answers below.

If you haven’t received your tax receipt or you can’t find the email, please visit our Receipt Download Tool and select the year and the email address you used to make your donation. Your tax receipts for the selected year will be emailed to you.

If you have a CanadaHelps account, you may have selected “Send me a single receipt at the end of the year.” In this case, log in to your CanadaHelps account to find your receipt. If the current year is not over and you still need your receipt, please visit “Donations and Receipts” in your account and click the link for “Generate a receipt.”

Here are a few common reasons the tax receipt download tool does not work.

  • Typo in the email address entered
  • An incorrect email address was entered at the time of donation
  • An incorrect tax year was entered
  • Space(s) before or after the email address

Here’s what you can do:

  • Ensure the correct email address was entered
  • Select the correct tax year for which the donation occurred
  • Remove any additional space(s) before or after the email address
  • Ensure the email address entered matches the email used when the initial donation was made. If you have more than one email address, try another address.
  • If you give donations monthly or have selected to receive one aggregated, roll-up receipt at the end of the year in your account, your receipt may not be available yet. You can always generate a receipt in your account at any time.

To begin, please use our search tool to find a charity you’d like to support.

You can make a single donation, set up a monthly donation schedule, make a donation of securities or mutual funds, or redeem a CanadaHelps Charity Gift Card!

If you’d like to make your donation in honor or memory of someone special, you can dedicate your donation and even send an eCard to announce your gift.

If you received an error message and have not received an email confirmation along with your tax receipt, your donation was unsuccessful.

Sometimes the issue is easy to solve. Some of the reasons donations are unsuccessful include:

  • Cached data or cookies in your browser. Please try clearing cached data and cookies from your browser history
  • An incompatible browser. Please ensure you’re using Chrome, Firefox, Microsoft Edge, or Safari and that your browser is up to date. If you still encounter issues, you may want to try another browser entirely.
  • Your financial institution has blocked the transaction or some of your card details are incorrect. Please ensure you’ve entered the correct information, try another credit card, or contact your bank.
  • The postal code you provided does not match the postal code for your credit card’s billing address. Please verify postal code is correct
  • You are using a public WiFi or VPN connection. Please try using a different internet connection;

If you’re still having trouble completing your donation, please contact us at info@canadahelps.org

You can reset your password using our Forgotten Password tool.

If you no longer have access to your email or if you’re still having trouble, please contact us at info@canadahelps.org

Donations submitted before 11:59 PM on December 31, 2022 in your local timezone will be eligible for a 2022 charitable tax receipt. Any donation submitted after midnight will receive a tax receipt for the year 2023.

We’re unable to edit a donation amount after it has successfully gone through. Furthermore, The Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) stipulates that a registered charity cannot return a donor’s gift. Once your donation is completed, the charity is obliged to use the gift in carrying out its charitable purposes.

The date on tax receipts for securities and mutual funds donations are based on the date the shares are sold and settled and are not based on the date the donation was initially submitted. Processing time for donation of securities varies so we have recommended submission deadlines to help ensure you can receive your tax receipt for the current year.

Please submit your mutual funds donation before December 7th and submit all other securities donations before December 16th.

Please note: Typically, it takes 10-15 business days to sell and receive funds from a donation of mutual funds. In rare cases it may take longer. Please consult your broker or financial advisor with any questions. For all other donations of securities, it typically takes 3-5 days from the date that we receive your securities donation to sell and settle the trade.

While we continue to process securities received after these deadlines, up until December 31st, 2022, please complete your securities donation as early as possible in order to receive a tax receipt for the current year.

We disburse donations to charities on a regular schedule.

95% of the donations we receive are directed to charities that have set up electronic fund transfers (EFT). We transfer funds once every week. Donations made from Sunday to Saturday are disbursed the following Friday. It can take a few days to clear in the charity’s bank account, depending on its arrangements with its bank.

For charities that have not signed up for a free account and set up electronic fund transfers (EFTs), we issue and mail paper cheques once a month.

For more information, please read our Donation Delivery and Refund Policy.

To make changes to your CanadaHelps account, please log into your account and select the Account Info tab. The following article provides further information on the changes you can make:

https://charityhelp.canadahelps.org/en/articles/account-settings/

To modify your monthly donation, please log into your CanadaHelps account and click on the Monthly Donation tab (if you’re on mobile, tap on Dashboard > Monthly Donations). For further information, please refer to this Help Article. If you do not remember your password please reset your password using our Forgotten Password tool.

Hours of Operation

Regular Hours
Monday – Friday
9:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern Time

Closed on Canadian statutory holidays.

 Email

info@canadahelps.org

 Phone

  • (416) 628-6948 (Toronto Area)
  • (877) 755-1595 (toll-free in North America)

 Mailing Address

186 Spadina Avenue
Units 1‑5
Toronto, ON
M5T 3B2

 Social Media

 

Handling of Complaints:

CanadaHelps is committed to handling complaints about our services from our clients and stakeholders in a timely, effective, responsible, and consistent manner. CanadaHelps will make every reasonable effort to ensure that all complaints are treated fairly, professionally, and with respect. If you have a complaint about your experience with CanadaHelps, please send it in writing to info@canadahelps.org or at our mailing address with the following information:

  • Date of incident
  • Your name
  • Nature of the complaint and the circumstances
  • Name of the person who is the subject of the complaint
  • The product or the services which are subject of the complaint

If your complaint is regarding a charity other than CanadaHelps, please reach out directly to that charity.