What is the difference between a soliciting and a non-soliciting corporation — and does it apply under ONCA?

You will often hear that every not-for-profit corporation falls into one of two categories — soliciting and non-soliciting — but that split comes from the federal CNCA, and Ontario's ONCA does not use it. Under the CNCA, a "soliciting" corporation is one that receives more than a threshold amount (currently $10,000 in a financial year) from public sources — public donations, government grants, or funding from other soliciting corporations. A "non-soliciting" corporation under the CNCA relies mainly on membership fees, revenue from its own activities, or private funding and does not cross that threshold.

The distinction actually comes from the federal CNCA, which imposes stricter governance on soliciting corporations — Ontario's ONCA does not use the concept; its closest analogue is the public benefit corporation. Non-soliciting corporations have more flexibility on all of these fronts — but only federally incorporated organizations need to run this analysis at all.

Many federally incorporated charities are soliciting corporations because of how they are funded, and their status can shift with their revenue mix. An Ontario charity under ONCA skips this analysis entirely — it is automatically a public benefit corporation.