Emergency Order: Corporate Meeting Flexibility

  • March 31, 2020

The Government of Ontario has taken action to support business corporations, not-for-profit corporations, insurers, and share capital social clubs by implementing an Emergency Order to provide flexibility for corporate meetings. 

Please visit e-laws (https://www.ontario.ca/laws/regulation/r20107) to see an Emergency Order that will:

  • Allow all corporations under the Corporations Act and Business Corporations Act to hold meetings of directors, shareholders, and members virtually (i.e., electronically or by telephone).
  • Extend the timeframe by which corporations under the Corporations Act and Business Corporations Act must hold Annual General Meetings (AGMs) in certain circumstances related to the emergency.

The Emergency Order is in effect province-wide and is retroactive to March 17, 2020, the day the Declaration of Emergency came into effect.

The ability to hold virtual meetings and the extended timeframe for AGMs apply to corporations under the OBCA, and the CA as set out in the Emergency Order.