Not much participation is expected from most condominium owners, so the least they should do is attend for an hour once each year at their condo corporation's annual general meeting ("AGM"). That sounds impatient, but really, very few condo owners show up, and how hard is it to support our corporations that way? By law 25% of owners must attend in person or by proxy in order to have the required general meeting each year. Those who unavoidably cannot attend should assign their proxy to a neighbour or to the Board's chairperson, so they are represented and counted as present.
Condominium annual meetings are vital because that's when the new Board is elected for the coming year, and you can't run a condominium without a Board. As well, the AGM must decide how many members will constitute the Board, which can have between three and seven members. Another consideration is that the Board's quorum (minimum attendance) depends on the number of Directors. For example, the quorum for a Board of seven is four, while the quorum for a Board of six is three. If you have six strong volunteers at the AGM and one "maybe-I'll-attend-maybe-I-won't" volunteer, I'd recommend that you leave him/her off and create a Board of six members, so that any three of them can hold a meeting and get things done.
The AGM is also when owners usually receive their audited financial statements for the year that recently ended, and can then question outgoing Directors on spending, on reserve-fund saving, and on any project that has been undertaken. Often the past year's chair, who is the President of the corporation, will give the meeting a verbal report on the year's activities. S/he will also be open to questions from homeowners. If there's been grumbling among owners on any issue, this is the occasion to bring it forward and have a frank discussion. Those attending the annual meeting might even give guidance to the incoming Board.
In fact, with advance notice to all owners, the AGM can pass resolutions that are binding on the Board for the coming year. An example would be notice that the AGM will consider a resolution to prohibit dogs. If this is carried at the AGM, it prohibits the Board from allowing any dog to live in the building, and shows that it's not just the Directors who are saying "no dogs allowed". Direction to condo Boards from their annual meetings must, however, be reasonable. It would not be binding on the Board if the AGM directed the Board not to raise condo contributions for the coming year. If the Board finds that more money is needed to run the condo development it must increase condo contributions, regardless of what owners told them at the AGM.
An annual meeting, by its nature, comes around only once each year. It's like election day in that homeowners will choose who will govern their condo community for the year to come. It's the chance for owners to assemble and discuss how things are going, what's been done on their behalf, and what they'd like to see done in future; and then to elect those who will lead them forward. It usually takes an hour, and it's well worth the condo owner's time to attend.
Calgary Condominium Directory
