“ONCA” is the legislation for not-for-profit organizations that are incorporated in the province of Ontario, such as the Nepean Sailing Club. The purpose of ONCA is to modernize how not-for-profit corporations are created, operated, governed, and dissolved. ONCA, 2010 came into force October 19, 2021, and was amended effective Oct. 1, 2023. Not-for-profit corporations must update their articles (originally referred to as Letters Patent) and By-laws by no later than October 18, 2024, to be compliant.
The “TL;DR”
The “Too Long; Didn’t Read” summary: ONCA is work-in-process at NSC. Meetings with Ontario Sailing (our Provincial sailing association) and other Clubs have been held. A new Bylaw is being drafted based on the provincial template and modified to suit NSC . Four workshops have taken place and six more are planned including outreach to Members to solicit feedback. We expect to review some notable changes at the Fall Information Meeting scheduled for 6th December 2023 and have a completed draft for review and approval at the next Annual Meeting in March 2024.
ONCA Adoption Plan for NSC
In June 2023, the NSC Board of Directors adopted an approach to evaluate if a template ONCA bylaw could be modified to fit NSC. The template chosen was developed by “Nonprofit Law Ontario” . The template developed by Community Legal Education Ontario is available here and is designed to directly support the Act. The Board chose this approach because:
- It helps NSC quickly ensure alignment with the Act, freeing up some time to focus on any desired changes
- The template is well laid out with sensible questions for NSC to address
- Using a shared template also shares the impacts of any future changes in the legislation
The Board’s procedure will be to engage members on some key questions and to actively rely on reviews with the NSC Commodore’s Council along the way.
Most Recent Updates
- November 2023: Workshop focused on “Definition of Membership”
- October 2023: Analysis of any gaps between template and existing NSC Bylaw
- September 2023: First Briefing to Commodore’s Council
- July & August 2023: Modifying basic template to suit NSC
Upcoming Updates
- December 2023: Workshop focused on Board Governance
- December 2023: Update to Members at Fall Information Meeting
- January 2024: Second Review with Commodore’s Council
- January 2024: Workshop focused on Policy impacts
- February 2024: Final Board Commodore’s Council Reviews
- March 2024: Target date for review with Members and vote at Annual Meeting