Ontario emergency order extends deadlines and allows virtual meetings

Published April 28, 2020

At the end of last week, the Province of Ontario issued an update to Emergency Order O. Reg. 107/20, which makes changes to the Co-operative Corporations Act related to meetings. There are a number of changes listed in Schedule 3 of the regulation and they apply regardless of anything in the Act or the co-op’s by-laws. The two main changes are:

• If a co-op was supposed to hold an annual meeting (AGM) during the emergency, the time is extended to 90 days after the emergency ends. If the AGM was to be held in the 30 days after the emergency ends, the time limit will be 120 days after the end.
• Members’ meetings can be held by “telephonic or electronic means” instead of in-person. Participants need to be able to hear each other and will be allowed to vote. This is temporary and will end when the government decides.

With the extension of deadlines, we anticipate many co-ops will plan to wait until they can hold an in-person meeting. But for co-ops that are interested in holding a virtual meeting, it is now an option. CHF Canada is reviewing the order in detail and will be sending out more information about this order and some of the issues to consider if your co-op is planning to hold a virtual meeting.

If you have questions about this emergency order, please contact CHF Canada staff or your local federation.