Co-operative Law

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”

Client Profile: Urbane Cyclist Worker Co-op

September 10th, 2019 by Iler Campbell

Urbane Cyclists worker owners

Urbane Cyclist Worker Co-op is more than your average bike shop. Since opening in 1997, this shop has been part of a movement towards human-powered transportation that promotes, in their words, “the awesomeness of bicycles.” Urbane Cyclist Worker Co-op began as a repair shop geared (get it?!) towards commuters that were seeking an affordable and reliable way to get from Point A to Point B. Urbane recognized that the needs of a commuter are often very different from those of a recreational cyclist. Commuters are interested first and foremost in being as functional and efficient as possible on the bike, without any need for the flashy (and often expensive) bells and whistles that interest the recreational road cyclist. Since then, Urbane has branched out to adventure cycling and is the only shop in the city that specializes in recumbent bicycles.

Continue reading “Client Profile: Urbane Cyclist Worker Co-op”

Free legal workshop | Messy Human Dramas and how to navigate them in your co-op

July 31st, 2019 by Iler Campbell

Messy Human Dramas and how to navigate them in your co-op

You won’t want to miss this evening sponsored by Alterna Savings!

Meet your fellow housing co‑opers September 19th for a light dinner hosted at COCHF member, Shamrock Co‑op.

Then after dinner, Alia Abaya, Director, Community Impact and Member Experience at Alterna will discuss the Alterna Savings CHIP program offer for COCHF coop members, designed to support the continued future financial health of Co-operative Housing Communities.

Celia Chandler, lawyer at Iler Campbell LLP, will then lead you through fifteen common member situations in co‑ops: from accessibility issues to hoarding to smoking to kids to the “unco-operative co-oper” and everything in between!

The evening will conclude with a chance to ask questions of Alia and Celia about their presentations.

Sign up here