An Open Letter to Lisa Thompson, Minister of Government and Consumer Services

 

Re: Extension of Timelines for Annual General Meetings

 

Posted on May 11, 2021

August 12, 2020

The Hon. Lisa Thompson
Minister of Government and Consumer Services
College Park 5th Floor
777 Bay Street, 
Toronto, ON  M7A 2J3

Re: Extension of Timelines for Annual General Meetings

 

Dear Minister Thompson,

I am writing as the Executive Director of the Association of Condominium Managers of Ontario (“ACMO”) to request an extension of the timelines within which condominium corporations may hold annual general meetings by electronic means, without requiring the condominium to make a bylaw change. 

At the outset, we want to thank you and the government for enacting regulations that permitted Ontario corporations to defer annual meetings and to otherwise conduct meetings through telephonic or electronic means. Those provisions aligned with the government’s focus on the need for physical distancing in order to ensure that the spread of COVID-19 was contained. As our members continue to work with condominium corporation boards of directors to organize and schedule AGMs, it has become apparent that further extensions of timelines for holding those meetings virtually are required. 

The passage of Bill 195, the Re-Opening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act, 2019, has resulted in the need to hold AGMs within the provisions of the temporary changes that were enacted to the Condominium Act and its accompanying regulations. For most of the condominium corporations that our members manage, the deadline for AGMs to be held is November 21, 2020, that is, within 120 days after the end of the emergency period on July 24, 2020. For the reasons set out below, we do not believe that this timeline will ensure the continued safety and health of attendees at the meetings.

The amount of space that is required for a safe physically-distanced meeting is significant and unfortunately there are few if any rooms large enough in condominium buildings to hold AGMs within the public health measures instituted to ensure the health and safety of those in attendance. Moreover, many of our members have inquired about the possibility of holding AGMs in private facilities, but unfortunately these venues are not allowing large group meetings. Moreover, while AGMs with 50 attendees could conceivably be accommodated, this limitation would undermine the benefits of ensuring greater numbers and engagement of unit owners in the affairs of their condominium corporations.

We remain concerned that condominium corporations will not be able to schedule, host and hold all of the necessary AGMs by the November 21, 2020 deadline. We are requesting an extension of the November 21 deadline so that AGMs may be held safely through electronic means without a change to the condominium’s bylaws. 

We would be pleased to discuss this with you further at your convenience.

Yours truly,

Paul MacDonald
Executive Director of ACMO

 

cc.  Ali Arlani, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar, CMRAO, Robin Dafoe, Chief Executive Officer and Registrar, Dean McCabe, President, ACMO