Today also marks the beginning of a two-year transition period, for existing societies to transition from the old act to the new act. Both the government of British Columbia (PDF) and the People’s Law School have published guides on the transition process.

The Societies Act contains a host of changes for British Columbia’s not-for-profit sector. Some useful resources that explain these changes have been made available online by the government of British Columbia, Courthouse Libraries BC (resources available on their website and their Vimeo page), and Volunteer Victoria (PDF).

BCLI has been engaged in law-reform work on this topic since 2006. All our publications in this area are available on the Society Act Reform Project webpage.

The post Societies Act comes into force today first appeared on British Columbia Law Institute.

The Societies Act will usher in a host of changes for societies. BC Registry Services is rolling out information online about the new act, starting with a detailed review of the major changes from the old act.

In addition to being the date on which the new act comes into force, 28 November 2016 will also start the two-year period for pre-existing societies to transition from the old to the new act.

Along with the order in council setting the in-force date of the act, the government has also given the public its first look a the Societies Regulation, which will also become effective on 28 November 2016.

From 2006 to 2008, BCLI carried out its Society Act Reform Project, which was a key contributor to the new Societies Act. BCLI’s final report, along with all other documents published over the course of the project, are available on the project webpage.

The post Societies Act coming into force in November 2016 first appeared on British Columbia Law Institute.

“This bill is a landmark for British Columbia’s not-for-profit sector,” said Margaret Mason, chair of BCLI’s Society Act Reform Project Committee, “which will benefit from modern and up-to-date legislation for years to come.”

BCLI carried out the Society Act Reform Project over two years with the assistance of an all-volunteer project committee and with the generous financial support of the Law Foundation of British Columbia.

BCLI’s chair, Prof. Joost Blom, QC, said “BCLI is very pleased to see the introduction of a bill that carries forward its recommendations for reform. On behalf of BCLI, I would like to thank committee members for their dedication to the Society Act Reform Project.”

BCLI’s Report on Proposals for a New Society Act and all associated documents for the Society Act Reform Project are found on BCLI’s website www.bcli.org.

The British Columbia Law Institute strives to be a leader in law reform by carrying out the best in scholarly law-reform research and writing and the best in outreach relating to law reform.

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Contact: Kevin Zakreski
Staff Lawyer
(604) 827-5336

The post BCLI welcomes Bill 24, the new Societies Act first appeared on British Columbia Law Institute.

BCLI would like to thank the Ministry of Finance for British Columbia for this opportunity to respond to the draft legislation set out in its white paper. The white paper displays the considerable progress that the ministry has made toward the goal of creating a new and modern act governing societies in British Columbia. BCLI’s supplementary report, available for download on our website, notes that progress, and it also discusses several provisions—dealing with access to society records, financial regulation, rights and duties of directors and senior managers, and complaints by the general public—that in BCLI’s view raise some concerns.

The final report for the Society Act Reform Project, along with all other project-related publications, can be found on the project webpage.

The post BCLI Responds to Ministry of Finance White Paper on Society Act Reform first appeared on British Columbia Law Institute.

The supplementary report sets out the areas of agreement between the BCLI’s 2008 report and the ministry’s proposals in the form of a chart and discusses a series of alternative approaches to selected issues that the ministry should consider pursuing.

The supplementary report and all other documents published over the course of the Society Act Reform Project are available here. The Ministry of Finance’s Society Act Discussion Paper is available online.

The post BCLI Publishes Supplementary Report on Proposals for a New Society Act as Response to Ministry Discussion Paper first appeared on British Columbia Law Institute.