Ontario not-for-profit corporations and dealing with ONCA

The Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (“ONCA”) came into force on October 19, 2021, and it replaced the Ontario Corporations Act (“OCA”). There was a three-year transition period that started when ONCA came in, and that is now over. In this revised course, we discuss how Ontario non-profits can deal with ONCA.

This course is focused on Ontario non-profits who have not made changes to their governing documents, including letters patent and by-laws. Unfortunately, at the moment this is the majority of Ontario non-profits!

Many Ontario corporations have not changed their governing documents in decades and these failure to act can have a number of negative impacts depending on the organization, how it is funded and how it operates.

Some Ontario non-profit corporations may choose to update their governing documents and stay under ONCA with new articles and by-laws, while others may move from Ontario to the Federal Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”).

Some Ontario non-profits are charities or registered and therefore the complexity and the amount of time required to obtain regulatory approvals is far greater.

In this presentation, we will discuss:

• How an Ontario non-profit can update its governing documents to bring them into compliance with ONCA and also basic good governance; and

• Some of the advantages and disadvantages of an Ontario non-profit moving from the Ontario jurisdiction to the Federal jurisdiction.

Here is an overview of the topics covered:

1. What is your non-profit?
2. What is ONCA
3. How is it different than the CNCA?
4. Big picture
5. Questions to Prepare
6. The Ontario Business Registry and Company Keys
7. Recent Changes and end of the three-year transition period
8. Option 1 – Update governing documents and stay under ONCA
9. Option 2 – Moving from Ontario to Federal CNCA
10. Charities and Registered Charities
11. Resources on ONCA
12. Brief Overview of ONCA

This course is for Ontario non-profit corporations formerly under the Ontario Corporations Act or OCA and now under new Ontario Not-For-Profit Corporations (ONCA). It is not intended for groups that are under the Canada Not-for-profit Corporations Act (“CNCA”) or other provincial non-profit acts.

For lawyers, this event qualifies for 2 hours of Law Society of Ontario (LSO) Substantive Hours but does not qualify for Professionalism Hours. It may also qualify for 2 hours of continuing education for some other professional advisors.

Timing and content is subject to change.

Tickets are fully refundable until March 21, 2025, but not thereafter. If you register and are unable to attend, you are welcome to substitute someone else at any time. The date may be subject to change should circumstances arise. All efforts will be made to notify you as soon as possible in this event.

If you have questions, please call Lindsay Hazell at 416-361-1982 ext. 253 or e-mail [email protected].

To find out more about legal services that Blumbergs provides to Canadian charities and non-profits please visit , or

Host or Publisher Blumberg Segal LLP