Virtual Meetings and Electronic Notices: How the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act Will Impact Condo Corporations

By Slonee Malhotra and Nathan Henderson

On June 8, 2023, Bill 91—the Less Red Tape, Stronger Economy Act, 2023—received Royal Assent. Schedule 7 of the Bill introduces several amendments to the Condominium Act, 1998 (the “Act”) to replace temporary legislation enacted during COVID-19. These amendments aim to enable condominium corporations to implement certain digital and virtual processes without requiring the passage of new corporate by-laws or owner consent to do so.

The changes focus on two main areas: (1) Allowing condos to hold virtual or hybrid meetings, and; (2) Allowing condos to facilitate the sending of notices or other documents by electronic means.

Some highlights from the impending amendments include:

• Defining “telephonic or electronic means” within subsection 1(1) so that it applies to the entire Act.
• Amending the content requirements with respect to a notice of a meeting of directors
• Allowing meetings of directors or of owners to be held entirely virtually or in a hybrid manner, and allowing votes to be collected in the same manner. All meetings held in such a manner must provide that all persons attending the meeting are able to communicate with each other simultaneously and instantaneously.
• Allowing notice to be given to owners via the electronic communication address that appears in the record of the corporation.
• Amendments to the record-keeping requirements when appointing a proxy for meetings of owners.
• Authorizing the Lieutenant Governor in Council to make regulations governing transitional matters and the giving of a notice under clause 47(4)(c) or 47(5)(c) of the Act.

The above-mentioned amendments, among others, will come into effect on October 1, 2023. Check out the entire Bill to see the full list of changes.

If you have any questions about these changes or their potential impact, please contact one of our qualified condo development lawyers: Slonee Malhotra (slonee@sorbaralaw.com) or Nathan Henderson (nhenderson@sorbaralaw.com).