Bylaws that satisfy the law and fit how your organisation runs, drafted by a lawyer who spent a decade as counsel to Canada's charitable sector.
Book an Introductory CallBussey Ainsworth drafts and reviews bylaws for charities and non-profits across Ontario. The work brings the rules that govern your organisation into line with the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act (ONCA), and writes them to reflect how your board and members actually operate.
ONCA changed many of the rules that bylaws must follow, and the deadline to bring older bylaws into conformity has now passed. Provisions that conflict with the Act are treated as automatically amended, which often leaves a board unsure whether it is following the ONCA requirements when they follow their own unrevised bylaws. Clear, compliant bylaws remove that doubt.
At Bussey Ainsworth we focus on non-profit and charity law. We have helped numerous non-profit boards achieve peace of mind by ensuring their bylaws are in compliance with ONCA.
Whether you are starting fresh or updating bylaws that no longer fit, we prepare a set that satisfies ONCA and reflects your organisation as it really works. We review your existing documents, identify the gaps and conflicts, draft bylaws in plain language, and guide the board through approving and recording them properly. Where the bylaw work forms part of a wider review, it can be handled together with an ONCA compliance audit.
This work suits:
Under ONCA, a sound set of bylaws should deal with, among other things:
Bylaws are not the part of charity work that anyone finds exciting, but I have seen what happens when they are neglected. A dispute that should have been settled in a single paragraph instead consumes a board for months. For ten years I served as Director of Legal Affairs at a national charities umbrella organisation, advising charities across the country, and I have worked with churches, charities, and community groups for more than thirty years.
Good bylaws are quiet insurance. My aim is to give your organisation a rulebook it can rely on, so the board can spend its energy on the mission rather than on procedure. I take on a limited number of these files, so each organisation has my direct attention.
The best place to start is a brief conversation, at no charge, about your organisation and its current bylaws. Barry will tell you candidly whether they need attention and what the work would involve.
Or call the Peterborough office at (705) 749-0628.
We'd love to hear from you. Give us a call or send us a message below. Typically, we pick up the phone. But if we're busy, we'll get back to you within one business day.
