New Societies Transitional Interim Regulation
May 10, 2016
BY Kevin Zakreski
Late last month, the Executive Council for British Columbia promulgated a new Societies Transitional Interim Regulation. This short regulation deals with three transitional matters for societies:
- it clarifies that a special resolution may include a special resolution as defined in section 1 of the old Society Act—this is significant in light of the change coming in the new act to the default voting threshold for special resolutions;
- it establishes how a society can vary that new voting threshold upwards, which must be done by using one of the following three methods:
- [setting] out the higher voting threshold as a fraction or percentage of the votes cast or as a specific number of votes,
- [establishing] the higher voting threshold by requiring a unanimous decision of all the voting members, or
- [setting] out a formula for calculating the higher voting threshold;
- it sets out a timing rule for when a society may validly pass a special resolution to alter a previously unalterable provision in the society’s constitution or a reporting society provision in a society’s bylaws—this can only be done after the society has transitioned to the new act.
The new regulation comes into force on 28 November 2016. On that date, the existing Societies Transitional Interim Regulation will be repealed.
