Co-operative Law

The LTB has become slooooow. Is there relief on the horizon?

May 10th, 2019 by Celia Chandler

Many of our housing clients have been disappointed recently about the length of time it takes to conduct business at the Landlord and Tenant Board. Rest assured, we are doing our very best to push things along as quickly as we can. The LTB acknowledges the delay on its website:

Over past months, parties have experienced service delays at the Landlord and Tenant Board (LTB). The LTB continues to work with the government to improve its services. A number of experienced adjudicators have recently been reappointed and recruitment is under way to fill other adjudicator vacancies. On January 1, 2019, the LTB became part of the newly created Tribunals Ontario organization. A review will be conducted of all tribunals, including the LTB, to identify areas for improvement to make services more streamlined, cost-effective and efficient.

This is not new – the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail both reported on the delay, and on the LTB admission of the problem, six months ago. We see no improvement since then.

Continue reading “The LTB has become slooooow. Is there relief on the horizon?”

Seniors Co-Housing:
Re-Thinking Traditional Housing Models for Canada’s Growing Senior Population

March 28th, 2019 by Brian Iler and Claudia Pedrero

This article was originally prepared for the Ontario Bar Association’s Real Property Law & Elder Law program on March 22, 2019

The Toronto Star recently featured a High Park co-housing project – Wine on the Porch. That project, its story, and a small handful of others like it, has helped spark renewed interest in co-housing (or collaborative housing) in Ontario.

That story began:

“It began half in jest — two couples enjoying their annual weekend getaway, strolling the streets of Stratford, Ont., wistfully admiring the pretty Victorians and wondering aloud about the future.

“Would it be feasible to avoid the loneliness that creeps with age by joining forces in a private home with room for shared meals and laughter and cosy nooks for private chats or reading?”

Continue reading “Seniors Co-Housing: <br/>Re-Thinking Traditional Housing Models for Canada’s Growing Senior Population”

Think your waiver has you covered? It might not.

May 18th, 2018 by Elliot Fonarev

Chances are your organization has dealt with waivers if your services have the potential to create injury or liability to your clients or customers – for example, if you operate sports facilities or provide access to a physical space with potential hazards. If so, a recent decision of the Ontario Superior Court of Justice on the topic of waivers may interest you. It highlights that documents that release liability should be drafted very specifically to make it clear which legal rights are being waived.

Continue reading “Think your waiver has you covered? It might not.”

Case Study: Gay Lea Foods Co-operative Extends its Membership Beyond Ontario

April 5th, 2018 by Michael Hackl

As your organization or business looks to grow or expand, all manner of new issues arise that you will need to address to ensure that the organization complies with its legal, regulatory and governance requirements.  Getting good advice and assistance at the outset of your efforts to expand can help to avoid issues later on.

We recently helped Gay Lea Foods, Ontario’s largest dairy co-operative, open its membership to dairy farmers in Manitoba. The proposition of opening an Ontario co‑operative’s membership rolls to those outside of the province presented some legal challenges that we were able to help Gay Lea overcome.

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Could #MeToo happen in your organization? Consider a Human Rights workshop

February 8th, 2018 by Celia Chandler

From Hollywood to Queen’s Park, every employer is thinking about how to make sure that employees are free from sexual harassment in the workplace.  This includes non‑profits which employ staff.  And it goes double for housing providers which must make an environment free from harassment and discrimination  for their employees and for their tenants or co‑op members.  No easy feat.  Our clients are educating themselves to be on top of this stuff.

Last weekend I spent a couple of hours with a housing co‑op board in Brampton delivering a workshop on human rights and the duty to accommodate;  next week I’m off to a Hamilton co‑op to do the same, this time for the board, staff and interested members.

If you’d like someone from our firm to come to your next board meeting for training on human rights or any other area of law where we practise, please ask.   We think our fees for these tailor‑made presentations are pretty reasonable.  And you know what they say ‑‑ an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

Iler Campbell is proud to be a Gold Sponsor of On Co-op’s 2017 Provincial Co-op Conference

September 12th, 2017 by Iler Campbell

Please join us  at On Co‑op’s upcoming AGM and Conference – the program looks great. We’re proud to be a Gold Sponsor.