By way of background, changes to the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (“ONCA”) were first proposed by way of Bill 85, Companies Statute Law Amendment Act, 2014 (“Bill 85”). After having waited three years since the demise of Bill 85 in May 2014, it is exciting news that the Ontario government is again moving forward with the corporate reform for the not-for-profit sector in releasing Bill 154, Cutting Unnecessary Red Tape Act, 2017 (“Bill 154”), which proposes changes to the Ontario Corporations Act (“OCA”), ONCA, and other legislation. The News Release announcing Bill 154 states that it is intended to “build a smarter, more modern regulatory environment by rooting out unnecessary burdens and streamlining regulations” by proposing amendments to more than 40 statutes. The Backgrounder to Bill 154 indicates that the proposed amendments would “enable the future proclamation” of the ONCA and the proposed amendments to the OCA would “enable Ontario not-for-profit corporations to benefit from some of the ONCA features prior to its proclamation, such as allowing notice of members’ meetings to be sent electronically and members’ meetings to be held electronically.” As well, these proposed amendments would “increase flexibility, encourage participation in meetings, provide clarity and reduce burdens and costs for not-for-profit corporations.”
This Bulletin highlights key proposed amendments to the ONCA but a detailed review of the proposed changes is outside its scope. This Bulletin does not review proposed amendments to other statutes contained in Bill 154. For the balance of this Bulletin, please see Charity & NFP Law Bulletin No. 409.