1. When the prime minister announced his controversial $912-million summer student volunteer program, he said WE Charity had been contracted to administer it.
2. But government and charity officials told Global News the contract was actually with WE Charity Foundation.
3. What is WE Charity Foundation? It was set up in 2018 by 3 WE Charity executives, and shares an address and phone # with WE Charity, but told the Canada Revenue Agency agency it was not a branch or division of any other charity. Despite the overlaps, it is a separate charity.
4. According to CRA papers released to Global News, WE Charity Foundation was created to “hold real estate” for WE Charity.
5. But following the start of talks with the government over the CSSG, it amended its charitable purpose to include promoting volunteering, which is aligned with the CSSG.
6. WE Charity said the WE Charity Foundation was made the “contracting party” for legal liability reasons.