The government of Ontario released an Order In Council on Friday April 24th to permit condominium corporations to hold meetings virtually, and to extend the time period in which corporations must hold their AGMs. This is welcome news for the condominium industry, as the government made similar accommodations for business corporations weeks ago.
The Condominium Act normally requires corporations to enact a bylaw in order to permit electronic voting or attendance; the Order in Council establishes new temporary provisions which will permit electronic voting or attendance despite not having a bylaw in place which permits it. The Order deems an owner to be present at the meeting if he or she "votes at the meeting or establishes a communications link to the meeting".
Additionally, rather than requiring the AGM to take place during the emergency period, it allows a meeting to be held within either 90 days or 120 days of the end of the emergency period in Ontario (depending on when the 6 months a corporation had to hold their meeting comes to an end).
The order also does the following:
▪Allows a corporation to serve owners' and directors' meeting notices electronically, even if the bylaws do not permit this; and
▪Removes the requirement that all directors consent to meeting by teleconference.
The order is retroactive to the beginning of the emergency period on March 17th, and will continue until the emergency period comes to an end.
The full text of the Order in Council is available here- please refer to Schedule 4 of the Order for the Condominium Act changes.
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