The Ontario Government has announced that it plans to proclaim the Ontario Not-for-profit Corporations Act ("ONCA") into force in early 2020. Once in force, the ONCA will replace the Corporations Act (Ontario) – the statute currently governing non-profits incorporated in Ontario. Previously, the Government had announced that it would provide a two-year heads-up as to the proclamation date of the ONCA. While we have not yet been provided with an exact date, we know that the Government is in the process of upgrading its technology to support the changes and to improve service delivery. The Government has confirmed that the three-year transition period will still be in effect once the ONCA is proclaimed into force and that it will provide assistance to organizations to help support a smooth transition. Overall, corporations have a five-year window in which to bring their governance documents into conformity with the ONCA. Unless there is a more urgent need, organizations should not rush to amend their documents yet as the regulations to the ONCA have not yet been released. For detailed information on how the pending ONCA could affect your organization, please see our previous articles published here and here or contact one of our Social Impact Lawyers.
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