Natasha Smith of Miller, Thomson has some very interesting news.  It appears that after many, many years of delay (it passed third reading in 2010) the new Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (better known as “ONCA”) will finally be proclaimed into law in 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 further reading, please see the Ontario Nonprofit Network’s pages on ONCA.