Executive Summary
Heather is the lead partner for Gardiner Robert’s Non-Profit and Charities department and works exclusively with charities and non-profits. Her practice includes corporate governance, organizational structuring, commercial agreements, tax compliance for non-profits, and charitable regulatory compliance, including CRA filings, charitable registrations, charitable receipting, endowment funds, gifting agreements and restricted gifts, and working with non-qualified donees. Heather also assists her clients with commercial real estate matters, including leasing, title investigation, development and transactional work.
Heather is actively engaged in sector advocacy through the Ontario and Canadian Bar Association’s Charities and Not-for-profit executives. As part of her work with the Canadian Bar Association, Heather was appointed to the federal government’s Technical Issues Working Group (TIWG), meeting with and providing advice to the Charities Directorate on regulatory issues affecting registered charities and other qualified donees.
Heather began her legal career as a law clerk at the Federal Court of Appeal in Ottawa, and subsequently taught law in The Gambia, West Africa before practicing for several years in a Toronto solicitor-side general practice.
Heather has been volunteering for more than 15 years within the charitable and not-for-profit community in Toronto and is a committed advocate for the voluntary sector.
Expertise
- Non-Profit and Charities
- Business and Corporate Commercial
- Real Estate
Articles and Presentations
- “The How (and WHY) of Supporting Non-Qualified Donees”, Canadian Association of Gift Planners, October 2024
- “Ideas and Perspectives on Qualifying Disbursements”, Canadian Bar Association Charity Law Symposium, May 2024
- “Social Clubs with Share Capital - Options for Continuing” Gardiner Roberts LLP Toolbox Seminar, November 2023
- “Case Law Update”, Canadian Bar Association Charity Law Symposium, May 2023
- “Key Governance Considerations for Ontario Corporations under the ONCA”, Law Society of Ontario, November 2022
- “Strategic Philanthropy During Covid-19”, GTA Accountants and Finance Network and Toronto Foundation, September 2022
- “ONCA Transition Provisions”, Ontario Bar Association, November 2021
- “How to manage dual loyalties on not-for-profit boards”, Canadian Society of Association Executives, Annual Conference, February 2020
- “Case Law and Public Guardian and Trustee Update”, Ontario Bar Association Institute, February 2019
- “Get Ready for the ONCA”, ONN Nonprofit Driven 2019, November 2019
- “Governance in the Not-for-Profit Sector”, Guest Lecture at Seneca College, September 2017
My Blog
Recognition
- Recognized nationwide in the 2023 edition of Chambers Canada — Canada’s Leading Lawyers for Charities/Non-profits
- Recognized in the 2026 edition of Chambers Canada in the area of Charities/Non-profits, Nationwide - Canada
Professional Involvement
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The Law Society of Ontario
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Adjunct Professor, University of Windsor Faculty of Law, Charity and Not-for-profit Law intensive course, January 2022
- Chair, 2023-2024, Canadian Bar Association Charity and Not-For-Profit Law Section
- Chair, 2019-2020, Ontario Bar Association, Charity and Not-For-Profit Law Section