28/10/2020 – Jurisdiction Ontario
Part 72 published on 01/12/2020
Requisitioned meeting not validly called
Owners in the condominium had requisitioned a meeting pursuant to Section 46 of the Condominium Act, 1998. The condominium corporation concluded that the requisition was not valid, for failure to contain the signatures of 15% of the owners as required by Section 46, and therefore declined to call the requested meeting. One of the requisitionists then called the meeting himself, pursuant to Section 46 (5). However, the Court said that the requisitionist had not properly called the meeting. The Court said:
(The requisitionist) did not provide notice of the proposed meeting to all unit holders as required. That is enough to invalidate his notice. He also failed to use the required form or to include with his notice the requisition on which the meeting was based. He also did not meet the mandatory time limits. Therefore, the meeting was not lawfully called and cannot transact lawful business of the condominium corporation.
…
For the proposed meeting to be validly called therefore, a notice in the form on the Condominium Authority’s website must be sent to each owner in the specified manner set out in s. 47. It cannot be sent until 35 days has elapsed from the date when 15% of the owners’ signatures were provided to the corporation with the requisition. It must be sent at least 15 days before the proposed meeting. It must also include a copy of the requisition.
…
As noted above, Mr. Sharma has not proved that he delivered a valid requisition. I cannot tell if Mr. Sharma delivered 202 valid signatures for the requisition as required by s. 46 (1). There is a serious issue to be tried either way. A trial or some type of accounting process may be required if the parties cannot agree.
The condominium corporation had arranged for the corporation’s AGM (which was to be held only a few days after the potential requisition meeting date) to be chaired by an independent chair, and had incorporated the requisitioned business into the AGM agenda. The Court therefore held that “the balance of convenience weighs heavily in favour of enjoining any meeting under the requisition for the few days between November 18 and the AGM on November 23, 2020”.
The Court therefore granted the condominium corporation’s request for an interlocutory injunction prohibiting the calling of an owners’ meeting under the requisition pending the AGM.
TSCC 2510, All Owners v. TSCC 2510