OBCA Amendments To Come Into Force On July 5

Highly anticipated amendments to the Business Corporations Act (Ontario) (OBCA) will take effect on July 5, 2021. As covered in our previous article on the OBCA amendments, two major changes are coming to Ontario's corporate law landscape:

• Removal of the Canadian residency requirement for directors; and
• Simplifying the shareholder resolution approval process for private corporations.

Corporations can prioritize expertise and representation over Canadian residency when determining their board composition. Further, corporate law practitioners in Ontario and their foreign-based clients will no longer have to incorporate in other jurisdictions (e.g. Alberta or British Columbia) solely because they cannot locate a resident Canadian director.