Additional Information for Caring Hearts Ottawa

In November 2020, BBB investigated Caring Hearts Ottawa after a volunteer brought forward details that caused questioning in the legitimacy of the organization. The volunteer sought after a position with Caring Hearts Ottawa in order to help and give back to the community. The volunteer was appointed "Team Leader" and was told they were able to recruit their own team. Additionally, the volunteer was assigned the task of reaching out to businesses to solicit donations. When the volunteer requested a charitable tax number to be able to provide to those who donated, the organization owner stated they were in the process of acquiring a charity registration number through the CRA and that it was considered a privilege, not a right, to give out charity tax receipts. Following this conversation, the volunteer requested proof of legitimacy, to which the owner then a few days later, provided a charitable tax number.

BBB investigated further and performed a search through the Government of Canada's Charity List database using both the charity name, Caring Hearts Ottawa, and the charity registration number provided by the organization. Both search attempts did not yield any results. BBB therefore contacted the CRA Charity department to determine if the registration number was legitimate. As BBB is considered a third party requesting information, the agent could not disclose any information as to whether Caring Hearts Ottawa had filed an application. The agent however was able to advise that the application process can takes months to complete, and once the acceptance letter is sent to the owner, the website list is updated every evening automatically to reflect any charities that have recently been approved. Thus, had Caring Hearts Ottawa been approved and given a charitable tax number, that information would of been reflected when a search was performed on the Government of Canada's Charity List website.

BBB reached out to the organization owner requesting supporting documentation to prove they submitted an application, or an acceptance letter stating their registered number. Caring Hearts Ottawa failed to provide supporting documentation, and further communications went unanswered.

BBB performed a search on the Government of Canada's Federal Incorporation website, to which zero results were produced. Additionally, a search was conducted on Canada's Business Registry, to which also zero results were produced. This concludes that Caring Hearts Ottawa is neither federally incorporated as a non profit, or incorporated under provincial legislation.

Due to the above stated findings, BBB urges caution if considering donating to Caring Hearts Ottawa. While BBB supports our community in helping one another, we strongly advise verifying legitimacy of non profit charities prior to donating. You can do so by visiting:

https://www.canada.ca/en/revenue-agency/services/charities-giving/charities/request-registered-charity-information.html