Some co-ops have been worried that they won’t be able to hold their Annual General Meeting (AGM) by the deadline set out in section 143 (2) of the Cooperative Association Act.  In normal circumstances a co-op must hold an AGM within four months of its fiscal year end.

**Update March 2021**

Officials in the Ministry of Finance have indicated that they have extended the deadline for co-ops to hold their Annual General Meetings to April 30, 2021.  There is no need to request an extension; they just ask that co-ops notify their members of the delay of the meeting.

Alternatively, co-ops should actively consider holding virtual meetings rather than postponing their essential business.  CHF BC is leading the country in developing resources to help with virtual meetings.  When properly organized and facilitated, they can be just as or more effective than more traditional meeting forms.  I encourage you to consult CHF BC’s co-op services team for more information and support.

Original message

We offered some advice on March 18, 2020, to address this issue, but the province’s Corporate Registry has just made things even easier.  Co-ops have been given an automatic extension of the deadline for holding an AGM, effective March 31, 2020.  Here is the Corporate Registry Bulletin confirming this information.

Between now and September 30, 2020** you will not need to ask the Registry’s permission to postpone the date of your AGM, but you will have to advise your members if you decide to schedule the AGM after the usual deadline.  This is a very helpful convenience.  There is some ambiguity in the Registry’s announcement and follow-up correspondence, and for the moment it is not clear whether an automatic delay can extend beyond September 30.  We will try to clear this up in the next few days, but for now you can safely assume that any AGM can be delayed at least until September 30 as long as you advise your members of your decision.

You may still decide that you want to hold a “virtual” AGM rather than delay, and in that case please refer to our March 18 memo and contact us at members@chf.bc.ca for more information.