Legal

September 26, 2023 Published by Eastern Ontario Chapter - By Cheryll Wood

Changes to the Condominium Act, 1998 – Effective October 1, 2023

From the Volume 35 issue of the CCI Eastern Ontario Condo Contact Magazine

Bill 91: “Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023” received Royal Assent in June. This bill implements some amendments to the Condominium Act among other acts. The changes to the condominium act come into force on October 1, 2023. The main purpose of the changes are to:

• Facilitate the transmission of notices and other condominium documents virtually; and
• Allow corporations to conduct virtual/hybrid meetings and conduct voting either virtually, in person or in a hybrid form.

If this seems familiar – that is because it is. Many of the changes are currently dealt with under the temporary provisions to the Act that expire on September 30. There are also a couple of other amendments to be aware of. Although you are likely already familiar with the temporary provisions, this article summarizes the changes and provides comments on what condos should still consider in light of the changes.

Changes to Owners’ Meetings

The amended Act will allow owners meetings to be held in virtual or hybrid format, so long as owners are able to “reasonably participate” in the meeting. The term “reasonable participation” is not defined as a part of the changes.

The amendments also make minor changes to other sections to confirm that, should the meeting proceed virtually, the notice of meeting is not required to specify a place of the meeting (this is due to the meeting being held “virtually” through a video conferencing platform).

Changes to Board Meetings

Board meetings will also be permitted to be held virtually or by hybrid means. Virtual/hybrid meetings will be permitted so long as directors can “communicate with each other simultaneously and instantaneously.”

The amended Act also removes the “unanimous consent” requirement to initiate virtual/ hybrid board meetings. So long as your corporation does not have a by-law requiring unanimous consent, virtual board meetings can proceed without obtaining the consent of all directors.

Additionally, Section 35(3) which sets out the content of the notice for meetings of directors has been amended to require that Directors be advised how to attend the meeting and given instructions for virtual participation if that option is available.

Changes to Voting (Allowing for Electronic Voting)

The amended Act will allow owners to vote either electronically, in-person, or by proxy. Electronic voting can be completed via telephone, fax, or an electronic balloting software. The corporation’s records must also include a record of any votes cast at meetings, regardless of how the vote was cast (whether it be electronically, in-person or by proxy).

One key change that was not previously in the temporary provisions – or not clearly set out – is the ability of an owner to be deemed present at the meeting by casting a vote in advance of the meeting. The change to Section 45 of the Act - to add subsection 9 - confirms that a person that casts a vote in advance of the meeting is deemed present.

Notifying Owners Electronically

The amendments allow condominium corporations to deliver meeting notices and other materials to owners electronically, subject to any by-laws that prohibit it and so long as the owner doesn’t advise that notice cannot be delivered in that manner.

This removes the requirement to obtain consent of owners to provide notices electronically. Conversely – it puts the obligation on owners to notify the Corporation if it does not wish to receive notices that way.

Additional changes

The definition of electronic and telephonic means was moved to the general definition section of the Act to make it applicable to the whole act.

Additionally, there are specific provisions within the amendments to allow condominiums to pass By-laws specific to its own community in order to specify or limit how meetings can be held.

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By Cheryll Wood Lawyer, Davidson Houle Allen LLP Co-Editor, Condo Contact