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Explaining the New Proxy to Condo Owners

This blog post refers to an older version of the proxy form. Be sure to read our more recent blog post.

The condo industry is going through significant changes aimed at improving the lives of condo owners in Ontario. As part of the many changes implemented through the Protecting Condominium Owners Act, the province has developed mandatory forms aimed at streamlining how condo corporations conduct their affairs.  Many of these forms may initially appear foreign to the average condo owner. In this post, we (try to) explain how to complete the new Proxy form.  We already have another post on this but, in light of the general confusion that continues to exist on how to complete this form, we are providing you with a more visual guide.

This turned out to be a painfully detailed blog post for a crucially important form. Hopefully you find it useful.

The purpose of the proxy

In simple terms, the condo proxy is a document allowing you to appoint someone to represent you at a meeting of owners. If, for instance, you cannot attend the Annual General Meeting (AGM), you can appoint someone else to attend for you.  The condo proxy has two purposes:

  • Reaching Quorum: Condos can only conduct their meeting of owners if they have quorum (25% of all owners must be present at the first attempt). If you cannot attend in person, you can give your proxy to someone who will attend for you. This way, you will be counted towards quorum as if you were present;
  • Voting: Many issues are submitted to a vote at the AGM.  Think of the election of directors, for instance. With a proxy, you can cast your vote (or ask your proxy holder to decide how to vote) even if you are absent.

Who to pick as a proxy?

You can give your proxy to anyone who will be present at the meeting of owners.  The proxy holder does not have to be an owner. It can be your tenant, a trusted neighbour, a friend or even someone on the board of directors. For instance, you could name the president of the board (or any other board member) to be your proxy.  Pick someone you trust to represent you properly.

How to complete the proxy?

It is important to properly complete the proxy to ensure it is accepted at the meeting of owners.  Below are instructions on how to complete your proxy form.  Please note that we have coloured sections of the proxy form to facilitate your review of this post.  Obviously, these colours will not appear on the actual proxy form.

 First page

Blue section: Every page of the new proxy form is divided in two (left and right sides). You must complete both sides. Information which is of a more personal nature (such as your name, unit number and signature) goes on the right side. This way of dividing the information allows for the inspection of the proxies at a later date, while shielding out confidential information.

Don’t forget to insert your name, your condo address and unit number in this section.  You must also sign the proxy.

Green section: Insert your corporation number. Your corporation number may be something like YCC 123 or MTCC 123 or CCC 123. Your corporation number should appear in most of the communications from the board. If you are uncertain, ask your property manager or board of directors.

Purple section: In this section, check the applicable box depending on whether you are the owner, the mortgagee or someone authorized to act for either of them. In most cases, it is the owner who completes the proxy.

Yellow section: You must insert the date, month, year and time of day at which you complete and sign the proxy. If you ended up submitting more than one proxies, the most recent one will be kept. The older ones will be discarded.

Second page

Purple section: Identify here the date of the meeting of owners at which you want your proxy to be used. Usually, the date of the AGM.

Green section: Identify here who you want to give your proxy to (ie. who will represent you at the meeting). Pick someone who will be present at the AGM. You could also pick a board member (the President, for instance). You can put more than one name in case the person you named ends up not being present at the AGM. You could for instance, name Robert Smith under #1 or The president of the board under #2. If Robert Smith does not show up, the president will be able to exercise your proxy.

Red section: This section is crucially important. You must check one of these two boxes.

  • Check the first box if you want your proxy to only count towards quorum (and vote on procedural matters such as adjourning the AGM). If you check this box, your proxy will not be used to cast a vote for the election or removal of a director or any other matter.  If you check this box, neither you nor your proxy holder can vote.  If you check this box, you do not need to complete the rest of the proxy form;
  • Check the second box if you want your proxy to be used to vote for the election or removal of a director or to vote on other specific issues. If you check this box you have an important decision to make:
    • If you want to decide yourself who to vote for, you must complete the rest of the proxy (see yellow section for instance);
    • If you leave the rest of the proxy empty, your proxy holder will be able to decide how to vote for you.

Yellow section: In this section, you either indicate how you want to vote or you leave it blank if you want your proxy holder to decide for you.   

  • If you want to decide yourself how to vote, you must check the box in the yellow section and you must insert the names of the directors for which you want to vote. If you pick more directors than there are positions available for election, your votes will be considered in the order you have listed the directors until all positions are filled.  Therefore, you must list the directors in order of preference. If you locked-in your votes, the proxy holder does not get a ballot at the time of registration.
  • If you leave this section blank (and have checked the second box in the red section), your proxy can decide how he or she will vote. In such a case, your proxy holder should be provided with a ballot at the time of registration.

Blue section: Remember to sign or initial on the right side every time you complete a section on the left.

If the only vote to take place at the AGM is the election of directors, you can leave the rest of the proxy blank.   The rest of the proxy only applies if:

  • there will be a vote to remove directors;
  • there will be a vote for a director which can only be elected by owner-occupied units;
  • there will be a vote on another matter, such as the passing of a rule or a by-law.

Third page

Complete the third page of the proxy only if there will be a vote to remove director(s).

Yellow section: If you want to decide yourself whether to keep or remove a director, you must check the box in the yellow section and you must indicate, for each director whether you want to have them removed (“in favour of removal”) or whether you want them to stay on the board (“Against Removal”).  

If you leave this section blank, your proxy can decide how he or she will vote.

Green section: If you want to decide yourself who to vote in place of the directors to be removed (assuming they are removed), you must check the box in the green section and you must insert the names of the directors for which you want to vote. Again, list your directors in order of preference in case you list more directors than there are positions available. 

If you leave this section blank (and have checked the second box in the red section on page 2), your proxy can decide how he or she will vote.

Blue section: Remember to sign or initial on the right every time you complete a section on the left.

Fourth page

Complete the fourth page only if there will be a vote for:

  • the election of a director who can only be elected by owner-occupied units;
  • a vote on another issue, such as a vote on a rule or by-law.

Yellow section: If you want to decide yourself which owner-occupied director you want to vote for, you must check the box in the yellow section and you must insert the name of the director(s) for which you want to vote. Again, list your directors in order of preference in case you list more directors than there are positions available. 

If you leave this section blank, your proxy holder can decide how he or she will vote.

Green section: This section only applies if there is going to be a vote on other specific issues, such as a vote on a rule or a by-law. If you want to decide yourself how to vote on these issues, you must check the box and identify how you vote on each issues (whether you are in favour or against the issue being vote on).

If you leave this section blank, your proxy can decide how he or she will vote.

Blue section: Remember to sign or initial on the right every time you complete a section on the left.

What to do with the proxy once it is completed?

Once you have completed your proxy, you should give it to the individual you have chosen as your proxy holder (the person who will attend the meeting for you). If you have completed all sections and have “locked in your votes” (ie, if you are not letting your proxy holder chose how to vote for you), you can return the duly completed proxy to a trusted member of the board or to the corporation’s manager.

Hopefully these visual instructions helped! Feel free to write to use if you think of ways of clarifying these instructions.  We’d love to hear from you.

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