Can one registered charity make a gift to another registered charity in Ontario?

Yes, and this is one of the more straightforward ways charities can support each other's work. A gift from one registered charity to another qualifies as a "qualifying disbursement" under the Income Tax Act, which counts toward the donor charity's own disbursement quota obligations, since the funds continue to serve a charitable purpose in the recipient's hands. There is generally no need for the granting charity to maintain the kind of ongoing direction and control that used to be required for gifts to non-charity recipients.

That said, a granting charity's own directors still owe it a duty to make sure any significant gift is consistent with its own charitable purposes and is properly documented — a grant agreement setting out the amount, purpose, and any conditions is good practice even between two charities, particularly for larger or restricted gifts.

If the recipient charity is itself a private foundation, or the gift is meant to be used for a specific restricted purpose rather than general operations, the arrangement deserves closer attention, since donor-imposed restrictions and foundation-specific rules can still apply even though both organizations are registered charities.