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How Boards Work

Running Owners’ Meetings

Condo boards run corporations on behalf of owners and play a critical role in nurturing strong and vibrant condo communities. One of the best ways to achieve this is by governing in a transparent way and running smooth owners’ meetings.

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Summary

  • Boards must host regular owners’ meetings, including a yearly AGM
  • Effective communication is the best way to show owners that their condo is well governed
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Owners’ meetings

Annual General Meetings, owner requisitioned meetings and other kinds of owners’ meetings are a critically important opportunity for the condo community to come together and level-set on important matters affecting the corporation.

An owners’ meeting may be held entirely by phone, virtually, in person, or any combination of these formats, depending on the condo corporation’s by-laws and provided all individuals are reasonably able to participate.

 

Consider doing these things before an owners’ meeting:

Make sure the meeting is being called and run in accordance with your condo’s governing documents.

Work with your condo manager if you have one to understand what their role is – particularly in issuing notices.

Create a plan for taking good minutes.

Send out the notices within the right timelines. Check our condo calendar tool for AGM notice deadlines.

Set aside a realistic amount of time for discussions.

Host an informal rehearsal with other directors and managers.

What to do during an owners’ meeting?

Confirm if quorum requirements have been met

Confirm if the issue being discussed needs a majority vote to pass or some other proportion

Keep good minutes

Facilitate an open and inclusive discussion

What about town halls?

Town halls and information sessions are not referenced in the Condo Act and should not be used to conduct official business. Owners’ meetings have specific requirements about notices, timelines, voting and quorum, which is why boards should use them.

Read this Tribunal case where the central issue was that the board indicated a meeting was an ‘information session’ rather than an owners’ meeting

Rafael Barreto-Rivera v Metropolitan Toronto Condominium Corporation

Better communication with owners

Transparent communication with owners should be a priority for any board. Here are some ways to encourage better communications:

  • Put together a formal way for owners to provide feedback
  • Establish committees with clear terms of reference and goals and allow owners to join them
  • Share all relevant documents prior to owners meetings
  • Establish a time bound newsletter with board member contributions, flanked by ad-hoc email communications on timely issues

Governance guide

Read more about these topics in our governance guide

CAO Best Practices Guide: Governance

Additional resources:

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