Co-operative Law

Provincial Emergency Order extended to co‑operatives and condo corporations

April 27th, 2020 by Karly Wilson

On April 9, we posted about the provincial government’s Emergency Order giving non‑profits flexibility in meeting their governance obligations. As we noted at the time, the order did not extend to organizations governed by the Co‑operative Corporations Act, leaving many of our clients in a difficult position as they tried to balance governing and social‑distancing.

Thankfully, the provincial government has amended this oversight, extending flexible options to co‑operatives and condo corporations by issuing an amendment to the emergency order. The order is retroactive to March 17, 2020, validating any meeting postponements or virtual meetings that occurred in the interim. Continue reading “Provincial Emergency Order extended to co‑operatives and condo corporations”

Free legal webinar series – every Wednesday in May

April 24th, 2020 by Iler Campbell

Every Wednesday in May: Free legal webinars for co-op & non-profit housing, employers and small business.

We know that COVID-19 has brought new challenges, including many legal ones.  We know too that the old legal challenges are all still there. Finally, we know that organizers of all in-person conferences and workshops have cancelled them for the foreseeable future.  The need to learn, however, has not stopped.

We’re here to help.

Join us in May every Wednesday at noon for a free legal webinar series. Continue reading “Free legal webinar series – every Wednesday in May”

Ontario government passes emergency order allowing virtual meetings and AGM extensions for non profits (but not for co-ops)

April 9th, 2020 by Claudia Pedrero

UPDATE: this order has been extended to co-ops and condo corporations. See our update here.

Last week the provincial government passed an emergency order giving Ontario non‑profits some much‑needed flexibility during this challenging time.

Unfortunately, this order does not extend to Ontario co‑operative corporations, so organizations governed by the Co‑operative Corporations Act need to adhere to the rules in that legislation and their by‑laws on when and how to hold meetings. The housing co-op world is still recommending as they did in the March 24 communique from CHFT.

The government passed an emergency order under section 7.1(2) of the Corporations Act that temporarily suspends various sections of that legislation and substitutes the following new rules that affect non‑profits: Continue reading “Ontario government passes emergency order allowing virtual meetings and AGM extensions for non profits (but not for co-ops)”

Free webinar: Worker Co-ops and COVID-19

March 31st, 2020 by Iler Campbell

UPDATE: a recording of the webinar is now available here. Michael’s portion is from about minutes 14 – 35. Access CWCF’s COVID-19 resource page here.

Iler Campbell lawyer, Michael Hackl, is participating in a webinar hosted by the Canadian Worker Co-operative Federation this Wednesday, April 1 from 2 – 3:30 ET.

Below is CWCF’s description of the webinar:

While focused on CWCF members (including worker co-ops & related types of co-ops, associate members, regional WC federations & their member co-ops, & developer (WCDN) members), this webinar is open to others too, space permitting. Notes from the webinar will be posted on our website. Continue reading “Free webinar: Worker Co-ops and COVID-19”

Co-op Education Events Roundup – 2020 Winter/Spring

January 21st, 2020 by Iler Campbell

Happy new year to you all. We’ve settled back in after the holidays and are excited to announce that we will be out and about speaking at housing co-op events over the next few months.

Michael Hackl and Celia Chandler will deliver workshops (cannabis and human rights respectively) this Saturday, January 25, 2020, at the Golden Horseshoe Winter Workshops in St. Catharines. This is a great event with co-opers from the GH area and beyond. Consider joining us. To learn more and register, click here.

Continue reading “Co-op Education Events Roundup – 2020 Winter/Spring”

Fall Event Roundup

October 1st, 2019 by Iler Campbell

While the warm weather makes it hard to believe we’re into fall, we are certainly into the full swing of fall activity.

In September, we were pleased to attend two 25th anniversary parties for housing co‑ops – one in Whitby and another in Pickering. So great to see co‑ops do what they do best – celebrate strong, inclusive community.

In late September, we also delivered an IC Education workshop for housing co‑ops. We were delighted to have Alterna Savings and Credit Union  sponsor the event, allowing co‑ops to attend for free. Thanks to the Central Ontario Co‑operative Housing Federation (COCHF) for co‑organising this with us. Although it was held at a co‑op in Waterloo and many attendees were from COCHF co‑ops, we were delighted to have people attend from Sudbury, North Bay, Toronto, Peel Region and the Niagara Peninsula. If you have ideas about in‑person training and have the space to accommodate it, please be in touch. If we can find a way to deliver training in a way that is cost‑effective for you, we will.

ONPHA has its annual conference, themed “Owning our Future”, on Nov 1‑3 in Toronto. Iler Campbell lawyers are honoured to be on the program a few times: on Friday, Nov 1, Safia Lakhani will help housing providers understand their current obligations to their employees; and Celia Chandler will be part of a panel discussing medical assistance in death and how that relates to housing. On Saturday, Nov 2, Michael Hackl will pair up with another housing lawyer to discuss cannabis in housing; and Celia will return to the conference to offer thoughts on Building Successful Tenancies and Strong Communities with two community mediators.

Continue reading “Fall Event Roundup”