Nicole D'Aoust

Nicole D’Aoust is a partner specializing in charity and not-for-profit law. She advises on organizational structure, governance, tax, CRA regulatory and compliance issues, operational and financial matters, domestic and international activities, social finance, charitable gifts and receipting, fundraising, endowments, investments, related business activities, donor advised funds, audits, restructurings, mergers, advocacy, anti-spam, and privacy. Nicole is fully bilingual and works with clients across Canada in French and English.

In 2020, Nicole was appointed to the federal government’s Technical Issues Working Group (TIWG) as a representative of Imagine Canada. TIWG advises CRA on issues related to the regulation of registered charities and other qualified donees in Canada. Nicole is a member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Charity and Not-for-Profit Law Executive and the Chair of the Canadian Association of Gift Planners’ Government Relations Committee.

Nicole has completed CPA Canada’s three-year In-Depth Tax Course. She is the former co-editor of Canadian Tax Focus, a Canadian Tax Foundation (CTF) newsletter and a former member of the CTF Young Practitioners’ Steering Committee. Nicole is the past co-chair of the Toronto Symphony Orchestra’s Young Leadership Council.

Ontario Bar, 2012

A frequent speaker and writer on sector-related issues, Nicole previously served as co-editor of Canadian Tax Focus and has co-chaired the CBA Charity Law Symposium since 2022. She was a co-presenter at the ABA Business Law Spring Meeting (Non-Profit Organizations Subcommittee) on cross-border charity granting rules in April 2024; presented “Eliminating Charitable Red Tape” at the Canadian Animal Law Conference.

Nicole has co-authored two papers with Robert Hayhoe for the Canadian Tax Foundation.