Form T1235: How to Prepare the Directors, Trustees and Like Officials Worksheet

Form T1235 is the least financial part of the T3010 and a recurring reason a return is treated as incomplete. It asks for personal details about everyone who governed your charity during the fiscal period, splits that information into public and confidential halves, and requires fields that boards are often reluctant to supply. This guide covers who has to be listed, what each field means, which parts become public, and the omissions that recur.

Who has to be listed on Form T1235?

Every director, trustee and like official who served at any time during the fiscal period, not just those in post at year end. Someone who resigned in month two still appears.

The term "like official" is the one charities miss. It covers people with governing powers similar to a director or trustee, even where the title is different. CRA gives the example of a religious leader with some governing authority.

That matters for congregations, foundations with advisory structures, and organisations where the governing body is not called a board. The test is governing power, not job title.

Start from your minute book rather than your current board list. The minute book records who was appointed and when they left, which is exactly what the form asks for.

What does each field on the form ask for?

The worksheet splits into public information and confidential data, and both must be completed. Leaving the confidential half blank is a filing error, not a privacy choice.

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The form also asks for the total number of directors, trustees and like officials at the top.

Only the public information column is published. The confidential column is for CRA, though CRA notes that all information collected may be shared as permitted by law, for example with certain other government departments and agencies.

Why does CRA ask for dates of birth and home addresses?

Because CRA needs to identify the individuals responsible for managing the charity, and names alone are not sufficient. The date of birth field is described as mandatory for identification.

Boards do push back on this. It helps to be able to explain two things: the information sits in the confidential section and is not published, and supplying it is a filing requirement rather than an optional disclosure.

Missing dates of birth, missing postal codes and missing arm's length answers are all recurring T1235 omissions.

It is worth knowing what the form does not ask for. There is no field for a director's occupation, their employer, other directorships they hold, or any remuneration they receive from your charity. Compensation paid to a director who is also an employee is captured on Schedule 3, not here.

If a director genuinely will not supply the information, that is a governance conversation to have before your filing deadline, not in the week of it.

What does the arm's length question actually mean?

It asks whether the person is at arm's length from all other members of your board, not from the charity itself. That is a narrower question than it first appears.

At arm's length means the persons act independently of each other and are not related. Not at arm's length is the opposite: related persons, and persons acting in concert without separate interests. Two directors who are married are not at arm's length with each other. Nor are a parent and adult child on the same board.

Answer for each individual against the rest of the board. In a board of seven where two are siblings, those two are the ones answering no.

The answer carries a designation consequence, which is why CRA asks. More than 50% of a charity's directors, trustees and like officials must deal with each other at arm's length for it to be designated a charitable organization or a public foundation. Where 50% or more are not at arm's length, the charity can be designated a private foundation instead, which brings different rules.

The answer is also public, so anyone reading your return can see it.

How does filing online change what you do?

Filing online replaces the paper worksheet with direct entry, but the information required is identical. You enter the total number first, then add each individual.

If you file a paper return, you must complete Form T1235 itself. Alternatively you may use a separate sheet containing the same information in the same format, signed by an authorised representative and attached to the return.

One point that catches charities out. Form T1235 cannot be used to add or remove directors, and it does not give anyone access to your charity account. CRA states this directly. The worksheet is for reporting and transparency, and what it feeds is the director information shown in the List of Charities.

Account access is handled separately. In My Business Account, under your charity's RR account, select "Update registered charity or RCAAA information" and then "Change director." You supply each person's name, position on the board, phone number and, where you want that person to have online access to the charity account, their social insurance number. Other directors cannot see it.

Only members of the board of directors, meaning directors, trustees and like officials, and other authorised representatives such as an accountant, lawyer or bookkeeper can discuss, access or change your charity account. Without a social insurance number a new director gets offline access only, which covers the phone and mail but not the online account. Completing the change director process does not replace the annual T1235.

Since the Charities Directorate fax line closed on 1 April 2026, and CRA aims to have all T3010 returns filed online beginning in 2027, direct entry is becoming the normal route.

How does T1235 connect to the rest of your compliance?

The worksheet is a governance record with a filing deadline attached, and it only works if your minute book is current. Everything on it should already exist somewhere else.

Three habits keep it simple. Record appointments and resignations with dates in the minutes as they happen. Collect the confidential fields when someone joins the board rather than at filing time. And review the list annually against the minute book before the return is prepared, alongside the other charity accounting pitfalls worth checking at year end.

Director information also has to be kept up to date with CRA outside the annual return, through the change director process rather than through T1235. A change of directors partway through the year is not something you hold until the next filing if CRA needs to reach your organisation.

There is a filing consequence to getting this wrong. A return missing Form T1235, or carrying an incomplete one, is not a complete information return. The six month deadline is met by a complete filing, so an omission on the worksheet can leave you late on a return you believed you filed on time.

Governance credibility is one of the things donors and funders assess, and the public half of T1235 is part of what they see. Our about page sets out how we work with boards on the records behind these filings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do we list directors who resigned during the year?

Yes. The worksheet covers everyone who was a director, trustee or like official at any time during the fiscal period. Enter their term start date and their end date. Leaving them off makes the list incomplete.

Is our directors' personal information published?

Only the public column, which is name, position, term dates and arm's length status. Home address, telephone number and date of birth sit in the confidential section and are not published, though CRA may share collected information as permitted by law.

What counts as a like official?

Someone with governing powers similar to a director or trustee, whatever the title. CRA's example is a religious leader with some governing authority. The question is whether the person exercises governing power over the charity.

A director refuses to give their date of birth. What do we do?

The field is described as mandatory for identification, and an incomplete worksheet can make your return incomplete. Explain that it sits in the confidential section. If the refusal stands, it becomes a board matter, and it should be resolved well before the deadline.

Do we file T1235 separately from the T3010?

No. It forms part of a complete information return and is filed with it. When you file online, you enter the information directly rather than attaching the form.

Does being on T1235 let a director speak to CRA for us?

No. CRA states that Form T1235 cannot be used to add or remove directors or grant access to your charity account. Access is arranged separately through the change director process in My Business Account, and a new director needs to supply a social insurance number to get online access.

This article covers Form T1235 as at August 2026. Director reporting obligations also arise under your incorporating statute, and those requirements are separate from CRA's. Confirm both apply correctly to your organisation.

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