By-laws

The by-laws do not need to be submitted when submitting a request for incorporation.

The by-laws are nevertheless very important to the cooperative as they are its internal governance rules.

The Act requires the by-laws to cover at least the following areas (section 15):

• qualifications and procedures for acceptance of members;
• rights of joint members, if any;
• rights and obligations of members and, if any, auxiliary members;
• transfer or assignment of members' interest;
• selection, qualifications and term of office of directors;
• distribution of any surplus earnings;
• definition of any agency relationship the cooperative has with its members;
• conditions of termination of membership; and
• electronic voting at members' meetings, if permitted.

The by-laws may also address:

• representation by delegates;
• classes of membership;
• dispute resolution process; and
• any other matter that the members consider necessary or desirable.

In addition to the above, the by-laws of non-profit housing cooperatives and worker cooperatives must include certain provisions. Refer to section 355 of the Act for non-profit housing cooperatives and section 360 for worker cooperatives.

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